The Berlinale is in full swing: after Timothée Chalamet, Robert Pattinson has now thrilled the fans at Potsdamer Platz when he presented his new film Mickey 17. The big - and small - stars and their films were also celebrated in the other cinemas and sections. In the Panorama and also in the films for children and young people, where there are always great discoveries. After all, the Berlinale is much more than the Competition and the red carpet at Potsdamer Platz.
Le rendez-vous de l'été
The new competition for feature film debuts Perspectives, launched by Tricia Tuttle, also offers discoveries, focussing on up-and-coming international filmmakers. The French entry Le rendez-vous de l'été by Valentine Cadic, who has made several short films to date, celebrated its premiere here on Saturday.
A light summer film in the middle of a grey Berlin winter: In the tradition of Rohmer's Paris films, the film Le rendez-vous de l'été tells the story of the Olympic summer in Paris in a delicate, light-hearted and easy-going way.
Like so many people from the provinces, Blandine has travelled to Paris to take part in the Olympic Games. But Paris has a different pace to her tranquil village in Normandy. And she is plagued by bad luck: her girlfriend has left her and so she has to travel alone, she can't get to the venue with her rucksack, she is thrown out of her halls of residence because it is her birthday and she is now too old for it. Her half-sister, with whom she is staying, also has no time for her, and then she is even arrested as an alleged anti-Olympics demonstrator.
In the end, luck smiles on her, at least briefly, and so you leave the cinema with a smile - back from the Parisian sunshine to the Berlin snow.
Paternal Leave
A grey winter mood prevails on the Italian coast, the sea is cold, the beach has been torn up by excavators and the facilities are empty and deserted. Fifteen-year-old Leo, who has secretly travelled from Berlin to northern Italy, also feels less than welcome. She has just learnt the identity of her father, whom she has never met before. In the closed beach bar, she meets her surprised father Paolo, who doesn't know how to deal with the situation.
Luca Marinelli plays Paolo as a man who has never really got a grip on his life and who would prefer to avoid all difficulties. Leo's very existence overwhelms him, especially as he is trying to be a better father to his young daughter Emilia. Leo reacts to the rejection with anger and defiance, but struggles to find his affection. But the mutual accusations end in a bitter argument.
Director Alissa Jung skilfully avoids all clichés and cheap resolutions, carefully telling of pain and loss, but of self-knowledge, which is not easy to achieve. The setting on the wintry coast is also wonderful, cold and forbidding - but with its pink flamingos (real or plastic), it promises the happiness of summer to come.
So it's no wonder that a plastic flamingo came on stage with the stars after the performance. It's also no wonder that the audience enthusiastically cheered the film.
