BERLIN APOSTLES. Despite the gloomy weather forecast, Berlin The sun welcomed us. As if the sun, rare for the season, wanted to compensate its visitors Berlinale suffered in the last two years or did not come at all due to prohibitions, fear and rules imposed in the midst of a pandemic. This year it all seems like a bad memory.

73rd Berlin Film Festivalwhich yesterday opened its curtain with a sparkling opening ceremony, aims to give ten days of cinema, but also fruitful exchange, “transformation” through films, as jury president Kristen Stewart put it.

The American Hollywood star appeared at Thursday morning’s press conference, visibly nervous but also full of spontaneous enthusiasm for the honor bestowed upon her by festival officials, stating that “We are ready to change from all these films and the people around us.” Festivals are not only about honoring each other. This is an acknowledgment that someone managed to say something amazing or that they did something very difficult. We may not like the film, but we can admit that he realized his vision in the best possible way. Moreover, this event has always been controversial (in a good way) and political. Our job is to “deprogram” and see everything with open eyes.”

Indeed, this year’s Berlinale has its own political agenda. Part of it focuses on the ongoing war in Ukraine – in this context, Volodymyr Zelensky delivered an online greeting during the opening ceremony – and also emphasizes the struggle of women and men of Iran for greater freedom and justice. Iranian Goldshifte Farahani, the star of Asghar Faradi’s films among others and this year’s jury member, said with feeling: “Given what is happening in Iran, Ukraine and most recently with the strong earthquakes in Turkey, you feel that the world is about to collapse “. collapse . In such an environment, art is like a fire around which we can all gather. And although we now live in the epicenter of rampant consumption – both films and TV shows – it is encouraging that we can still gather in a place like this and watch great movies together. At the opening yesterday, there were also climate change activists with their hands on the red carpet.

Among the Greek works, the premieres of the films “Inside” by Vasilis Katsupis and “Music” by Angela Sanelek stand out.

Premieres

But what are these films that will premiere in Berlin over the next ten days? True to its tradition, this year’s festival has once again selected films from all over the world. Despite all this, this is probably also the year when most movie stars will walk the red carpet of the Berlinale for at least the last five years, which is headed by Carlo Satrian. Already yesterday morning, a crowd of fans and photojournalists gathered on the side street of the Berlinale Palast to take a closer look and ask for autographs from Peter Dinklage, Anne Hathaway and Marissa Tomei, who came to their own press conference. The film they are in, Rebecca Miller’s She Came to Me, opened the Berlinale that evening and is one of the so-called special screenings of the programme.

As for the last, but also the competition section, this year in Berlin we will see Helen Mirren, Mia Goth, John Malkovich, Jesse Eisenberg, Odessa Young, Louis Garrel and others. As for the Greek presence, which we will write about much later, the premiere in “Panorama” of the film “Inside” by Vassilis Katsoupis and the Heretic, starring Willem Dafoe, stands out. In addition, the competition includes “Music” by the German Angela Sanelek, where among the actors we meet Marissa Triantafyllida and Argyris Xafys.