Dates, Tickets and Partners of the Berlin Critics' Week 2023
The complete film program and a large cast of guests for Berlin Critics’ Week 2023 are now online, with the final list of attendees as well as a detailed schedule for the opening conference on February 15 to be announced in the coming days. This year, our film screenings and debates will take place from February 16-23, the program’s re-run screenings will be held over three evenings from February 24-26.
Advance tickets are now on sale for all film and debate programs of the Berlin Critics’ Week. Read the program overview at wochederkritik.de and for ticket presales go directly to Hackesche Höfe Kino online.
Tickets for the opening conference are available on the website of the Akademie der Künste.
Access to the events (except for re-runs) is free of charge for reporting press, anyone with Berlinale accreditation, and members of the German Film Critics Association (VdFk). The number of free tickets is, however, limited. We therefore ask you to register in advance: Members of the press and VdFk members should contact Isabelle Mathes (presse@wochederkritik.de) regarding our guest list, while people with Berlinale accreditation should contact Elena Friedrich (akkreditierung@wochederkritik.de). A limited number of remaining tickets will be allocated at the box office according to availability. Free tickets cannot be booked online via Hackesche Höfe Kino or Akademie der Künste. Please understand that we are currently unable to offer a separate accreditation option for film professionals.
Partners of Berlin Critics’ Week 2023
For the ninth edition of Berlin Critics’ Week, the German Film Critics Association receives the support of several partners and sponsors. Funding was made possible by the Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Europe (Multi-sector Funding), the Stiftung Kulturwerk of the VG Bild-Kunst and the Rudolf Augstein Foundation. In 2023, event partners also include the Embassy of Brazil in Berlin, Berlin University of the Arts, the Embassy of Peru in Berlin, the Press and Cultural Department of the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Germany, the Embassy of Spain in Berlin, Filmgalerie 451, the film magazine Panorama-cinéma and the streaming platform Le Panoptique, the UnionDocs Center for Documentary Art and the Hotel Catalonia Berlin-Mitte.
We are grateful for the generous support and dedicated collaboration to the Film and Media Arts Section of the Akademie der Künste in Berlin as well as to Hackesche Höfe Kino, which has made the Berlin Critics’ Week possible ever since the first edition. We also thank the travel agency overtherainbow, the streaming platform DAFilms.com, Berlin Plak and Plakat Kultur.
The media partners of Berlin Critics’ Week 2023 are EXBERLINER, taz – die tageszeitung, Texte zur Kunst, and Indiekino.
All dates at a glance
WE 15 Feb
7 PM
Akademie der Künste, Pariser Platz 4
CONFERENCE:
Cinema of Care – Who Looks After Film Culture?
Doors: 6.30pm, event in English
Debates about the relationship between care work, society and art have intensified in recent years. We take that conversation and apply it to the particularly industrial art form that is cinema. Who gets burned out by the film industry? What responsibilities do the institutions and filmmakers of today have for each other, and which kinds of labor relations are outdated? What would be the costs of a ‘caring cinema’ – and which films point the way forward?
On February 15, we will address these topics in a panel discussion with filmmaker Claire Denis, festival director Marek Hovorka and film curator/critic Abby Sun among others, in addition to a workshop discussion with the artist Elke Marhöfer. A film programme on February 17 will be followed by a debate on aesthetic responses to questions of care and caring.
Welcome address: Thomas Heise (Filmmaker/Director of the Film and Media Arts Section of the Akademie der Künste Berlin).
Guests:
Case study with Elke Marhöfer, moderated by Julia Bee
Panel discussion with Claire Denis, Marek Hovorka, and Abby Sun, moderated by Devika Girish
Keynote: Isabell Lorey
TH 16 Feb
8 PM
MISSING IN ACTION
Debate: “Missing in Action” is a military term, the title of an action film starring Chuck Norris, and also our starting point for a debate on three films which find political traces in the seemingly apolitical realms of advertising and genre cinema.
Guests include: Valentin Merz, Yaela Gottlieb
¿DÓNDE ESTÁ MARIE ANNE?
Dir: Yaela Gottlieb, AR/PE 2022, 6 min. – European premiere
AT NIGHT ALL CATS ARE BLACK (DE NOCHE LOS GATOS SON PARDOS)
Dir: Valentin Merz, CH 2022, 110 min. – German premiere
LUST (EIN PERFEKTES PAAR ODER DIE UNZUCHT WECHSELT IHRE HAUT)
Dir: Valie Export, AT/DE 1986, 12 min.
FR 17 Feb
8 PM
AESTHETICS OF CARE
Four films translate the questions of our “Cinema of Care” opening conference to the screen: We explore which cinematic styles might make a more caring society not only conceivable, but palpable too.
Guests include: Leonor Noivo, Brieuc Schieb
prendas – ngangas – enquisos – machines {each part welcomes the other without saying}
Dir: Elke Marhöfer, CU 2014, 26 min.
THE DEMANDS OF ORDINARY DEVOTION
Dir: Eva Giolo, BE/IT 2022, 12 min.
KOBAN LOUZOU
Dir: Brieuc Schieb, FR 2022, 60 min. – International premiere
DAWN (MADRUGADA)
Dir: Leonor Noivo, PT 2021, 28 min.
SA 18 Feb
8 PM
MIDNIGHT METABOLISM
Cinema can’t escape the grasp of genre narratives, they are in the DNA of countless classics throughout the history of film. A debate on cinematic roots, stylistic evolution, and art which plays with expectations.
Guests: Amat Vallmajor del Pozo, Syeyoung Park, Daniel Bird, Sara Neidorf
CAFÉ FLESH
Dir: Stephen Sayadian, US 1982, 73 min.
MISSION TO MARS (MISIÓN A MARTE)
Dir: Amat Vallmajor del Pozo, ES 2022, 71 min. – International premiere
THE FIFTH THORACIC VERTEBRA (DASEOS BEONJJAE HYUNGCHU)
Dir: Syeyoung Park, KR 2022, 65 min. – German premiere
SU 19 Feb
8 PM
GENTLE GIANTS
Men, men, men, their bodies and images of them, are in the spotlight of a debate on political bodies, popular culture, realism and heroism – inspired by films that show what it means to be larger than life.
Guests include: Kristina Aschenbrennerova, Savina Petkova
SHIN ULTRAMAN
Dir: Shinji Higuchi, JP 2022, 113 min. – German premiere
SERRÃO
Dir: Marcelo Lin, BR 2021, 18 min. – European premiere
TU 21 Feb
8 PM
REACTION SHOT
A debate on particular films which take a stance and show how their makers are entangled with history while it unfolds. We discuss filmmaking as action and political images in the face of propaganda.
Guests include: Vadim Kostrov, Go Hirasawa
SOLMATALUA
Dir: Rodrigo Ribeiro-Andrade, BR 2022, 15 min. – German premiere
STILL FREE
Dir: Vadim Kostrov, RU 2023, 31 min. – World premiere
REVOLUTION+1
Dir: Masao Adachi, JP 2022, 80 min. – International premiere
WE 22 Feb
8 PM
CINECOLOGY
On dream spaces: we discuss togetherness and apartness in the places where mammals and other creatures encounter objects and buildings: in cities, in the cinema and beyond – until we reach areas only cameras can show.
Guests include: Ariadine Zampaulo, Dominique Loreau, Senthuran Varatharajah
TEATRO AMAZONAS
Dir: Sharon Lockhart, US 1999, 40 min., 35 mm
MAPUTO NAKUZANDZA
Dir: Ariadine Zampaulo, BR/MZ 2022, 60 min. – German premiere
SUCH A LONG MARCH (UNE SI LONGUE MARCHE)
Dir: Dominique Loreau, BE 2022, 62 min. – German premiere
TH 23 Feb
8 PM
SOFTLY SURREAL
How does cinema today manifest the visible and invisible aspects of society? Are visionary films a thing of the past? We discuss fantastical and fanatical films in which resistance and tenderness magically coexist.
Guests include: Lucía Seles, Tom McCarthy
THE FILM TO COME (LE FILM A VENIR)
Dir: Raúl Ruiz, FR/CH 1987, 8 min., 35 mm
MOON NIGHT
Dir: Manaka Nagai, DE 2022, 15 min. – German premiere
SMOG IN YOUR HEART (SMOG EN TU CORAZÓN)
Dir: Lucía Seles, AR 2022, 112 min. – European premiere
All Special Screenings at a glance
FR 17 Feb
5 PM
ARTISTIC DIFFERENCES: GHOSTS OF A DAMNED EARTH
LAVRA DOR
Dir: Ana Carolina, Paulo Rufino, BR 1968, 10 min.
O TIGRE E A GAZELA
Dir: Aloysio Raulino, BR 1977, 14 min.
WHITE DEATH OF THE BLACK WIZARD
Dir: Rodrigo Ribeiro-Andrade, BR 2020, 11 min.
Guests: Cíntia Gil, Victor Guimarães, Jenny Miller, Christopher Allen
SA 18 Feb
4 PM
MELTING INK (JEDER SCHREIBT FÜR SICH ALLEIN)
Dir: Dominik Graf, DE/FR 2023, 167 min. – World premiere
Guests: Dominik Graf
TH 21 Feb
5.30 PM
AKA SERIAL KILLER
Dir: Masao Adachi, JP 1969, 86 min.
SU 26 Feb
10.30 AM
SATURDAYS DISORDERS
R: Lucía Seles, AR 2022, 97 min. – International premiere
SU 26 Feb
12.45 PM
WEAK RANGERS
Dir: Lucía Seles, AR 2022, 126 min. – International premiere
All re-run screenings at a glance
FR 24 Feb
6 PM
THE FILM TO COME (LE FILM À VENIR)
Dir: Raúl Ruiz, FR/CH 1987, 8 min.
MOON NIGHT
Dir: Manaka Nagai, DE 2022, 15 min.
SMOG IN YOUR HEART (SMOG EN TU CORAZÓN)
Dir: Lucía Seles, AR 2022, 112 min.
FR 24 Feb
8.30 PM
SHIN ULTRAMAN
Dir: Shinji Higuchi, JP 2022, 113 min.
SERRÃO
Dir: Marcelo Lin, BR 2021, 18 min.
SA 25 Feb
6 PM
¿DÓNDE ESTÁ MARIE ANNE?
Dir: Yaela Gottlieb, AR/PE 2022, 6 min.
AT NIGHT ALL CATS ARE BLACK
Dir: Valentin Merz, CH 2022, 110 min.
LUST (EIN PERFEKTES PAAR ODER DIE UNZUCHT WECHSELT IHRE HAUT)
Dir: Valie Export, AT/DE 1986, 12 min.
SA 25 Feb
8.30 PM
CAFÉ FLESH
Dir: Stephen Sayadian, US 1982, 73 min.
MISSION TO MARS (MISIÓN A MARTE)
Dir: Amat Vallmajor del Pozo, ES 2022, 71 min.
THE FIFTH THORACIC VERTEBRA (DASEOS BEONJJAE HYUNGCHU)
Dir: Syeyoung Park, KR 2022, 65 min.
SU 26 Feb
6 PM
MAPUTO NAKUZANDZA
Dir: Ariadine Zampaulo, BR/MZ 2022, 60 min.
SUCH A LONG MARCH (UNE SI LONGUE MARCHE)
Dir: Dominique Loreau, BE 2022, 62 min.
SU 26 Feb
8.30 PM
SOLMATALUA
Dir: Rodrigo Ribeiro-Andrade, BR 2022, 15 min.
STILL FREE
Dir: Vadim Kostrov, RU 2023, 31 min.
REVOLUTION+1
Dir: Masao Adachi, JP 2022, 80 min.
___________
Program overview at wochederkritik.de
Details on the conference at wochederkritik.de
Advance sale for the film and debate program on the Hackesche Höfe Kinos website
Pre-sale for the conference on the website of the Akademie der Künste
Press contact: Isabelle Mathes, presse@wochederkritik.de
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Berlin Critics’ Week is an event organized by the German Film Critics Association and supported by the Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Europe (Multi-sector Funding), the Stiftung Kulturwerk of the VG Bild-Kunst and the Rudolf Augstein Foundation. The opening conference will be held in cooperation with the Film and Media Arts Section of the Akademie der Künste.