protean depravity

As I've written before, this year's Berlinale was a bit frustrating and not all that amazing, but I was able to watch a couple of films nonetheless (even though most of them at the Uber Hall which is cold, and too big, and uncomfortable). I don't want to complain too much, though, I was still able to see nice films, just not super good ones. So this year there's no winner since none of the pictures struck me as great or wonderful or whatever. Here's a short overview of my film haul.

...because that's when Berlinale starts again!

These past two weeks Berlin wasn't only blessed with icy cold and incredibly sunny weather, there were also film lovers running all around the city because it was Berlinale time again! For the 75th time this year! Although the film selection wasn't necessarily the best of all time, it was decent enough and I had the chance to finally satisfy my hunger for lots of movies from around the world despite financial concerns (the tickets get more expensive by the year and it's going off my vacation budget), frustration over sold out showings, and lots of other personal stuff I had to take care of. I'm happy that I was able to join three screenings followed by director interviews, I think two of them were even premieres, and that despite the unsettling collective cacophony of coughing and sneezing and sniffling I made it out halfway healthy. Let's take a look at the films now, here's my festival in a nut shell!

I'm a little bit crushed and inconsolable right now... February is the one month I am waiting for the whole year because of all the amazing film festivals, and this year I missed a big chunk of the biggest one, of the Berlinale, due to some personal issues combined with a health condition. So I ended up watching only three films. Not in a day, mind you, I'm talking about the whole duration of the festival... I watched them on the first and last day of the festival, before and after my sick dates. Quite some money on unused tickets and days from my annual leave burnt up; but it is the films I haven't been able to watch for which I mourne and I can't recover from. This year started so bad already, I hope I can stop crying some time and get over everything quickly.