Fri, Feb 11

TEDDY TODAY

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I have to make a confession: This is the first gossip column of my life. During the following days Karin and me doing them alternative. Day by day. Karin the queen of queer gossiping: that she got recruited one could take for granted. For many years already she’s been satisfying the readers of the Siegessaeule with the juicy details of the rich and famous. But me? How did that happen to me? Paule Schulz, the hero of last year’s column – he got a real job now and being so, isn’t available anymore for this kind of work. Lucky Paul. Probably the chief editors believed I could fill the empty gay space. But because of what? Perhaps because I did wear enthusiastically the long Johns of my cousin when I was 9 years old. Or maybe because of the betray by my Auntie who told someone about pre-puberty gay phase, when I longed for guys with moustaches. My favorites of these times were – believe it or not - Errol Flynn and Burt Reynolds. These days I didn’t actually mind the lack of a penis, I just wanted to have a beard. Therefore I put on a thick razor foam beard on my cheeks, which I shaved properly – afterwards with a plastic ice cream spoon. I got over that – my gay phase is just over now. Problems with femininity left as well.

Well. Here I am at the Potsdamer Platz without the long Johns – trying to put the gay perspective on the screen. Somehow at least.

The first day of the Berlinale:

The film projectors aren’t really busy yet. Just the opening movies are shown yet. The forum got opened by “Lost and found” a film project with 6 short movies from Eastern Europe. In between the actually screen able and serious movies the audience got quite annoyed by absolutely tasteless, horrible and sexiest comic strips – without any respect for the actual films. Why do we have to see something like that?

Opening of the competition by “Man to Man” a historian drama, which was supposed to touch the anti-colonial heart of the good ones in the audience. That fails completely. Kristin Scott Thomas looks amazing as always. But this didn’t rescue the movie from getting booed at the press conference. Speaking of attractive people. She wasn’t the only one. At the reception of the Panorama Home Base I’ve got to meet more of them. Wieland Speck, the Panorama boss, blushed nearly when I asked him how he managed to look that good under such stress.
 
 

Video: Andrea Winter interviews Wieland Speck

Wieland Speck at the opening of Panorama Homebase K44 talking about the first and following days of Berlinale 2005

Video: Andrea Winter interviews Margaret von Schiller (german)

Margaret von Schiller at the opening of Panorama Homebase K44 talking about her first impressions and expectations of Berlinale 2005

Video: Andrea Winter interviews Gal Uchowsky

The Israeli Producer and Director Gal Uchovsky at the opening of Panorama Homebase K44 talking about the differences between Berlinale and other festivals he visited..

The fact that the first shows of the Panorama are already completely sold out – he thinks that’s mad. No tickets: No reason to get pissed. At the Home Base (Köthener Straße 44) you can get at least an impression of 20 years of Panorama. A video installation shows endless pictures of kisses, shoots, car drives and screaming people - things that mean the world to us. Very entertaining actually.

Today's Screenings