Between Revolutions and In Ukraine are among the 28 films selected for the 53rd Forum main programme. Between Revolutions / Intre revolutii is made of archive footage and it follows the destinies of two women, a Romanian and an Iranian, who were colleagues at the University of Medicine in Bucharest in the 70s. The film is a coproduction between Romania, Croatia, Qatar and Iran.
In the documentary In Ukraine / W Ukrainie we see bombed-out streets, destroyed Russian tanks and evening meals in an Underground repurposed into a shelter. Image by image, the directors push beyond easily reproducible images of war to enter the reality the country has experienced since 24 February 2022.
The 9th Berlinale Series presents eight world and international premieres, and it launches an award in cooperation with Deadline. The selected projects include the HBO Original series Spy / Master by Christopher Smith, which is a Hungarian/Romanian/German coproduction shot in Bucharest and Budapest. The story is set in Romania during the Cold War and the international cast is led by the Romanian actor Alec Secăreanu (God’s Own Country). Spy / Master will be released on HBO Max in May 2023.
The 9th Berlinale Series Market (20 – 22 February 2023) will showcase 16 projects, including the US/Serbian coproduction The Ark directed by Dean Devlin and Milan Todorović for NBCUniversal. The 12-episode series was shot in Serbia in March–July 2022.
The Serbian series The Fall / Pad directed by Bojan Vuletić for Superstar TV is based on the autobiographical book by Žarko Laušević. Milan Marić, Andjela Jovanović and Milica Janevski play the main characters. Based on a true story, the series follows a popular Serbian actor who ends up in a Montenegrin prison after becoming the culprit of a homicide.
The Lithuanian series Troll Farm / Trolių ferma directed by Ernestas Jankauskas for the Lithuanian National Television and Radio and TeliaPlay+ tells the story of a wrongly fired corporate diva Ana, who struggles to clear her name, while slowly embracing the dark side of revenge and becoming the monster she’s fighting. The series, consisting of five one-hour long episodes, was shot in May-July 2022. The cast is led by Gabija Siurbytė, Valentinas Krulikovskis and Andrius Paulavičius.
Export Only, the first series project by Romanian producer Ada Solomon and her outlet microFILM, is among the 10 projects selected for Co-Pro Series (21 – 22 February 2023), which will be held within the Berlinale Co-Production Market. The series directed by Cristina Iliescu follows a shawarma vendor in a backwater town, who struggles to stay close to her daughter in order to protect her from her toxic friends and drug-related crime in the border area.
The 73rd edition of the Berlin International Film Festival will be held 16 – 26 February 2023.
Films from FNE Partner Countries in Berlinale Forum, Series, Series Market and Co-Pro Series 2023:
Forum:
Between Revolutions / Între revoluții (Romania, Croatia, Qatar, Iran)
Directed by Vlad Petri
Produced by Activ Docs
Coproduced by Restart
Supported by the Romanian Film Centre (CNC), the Doha Film Institute, Avanpost Romania, Chainsaw Europe Studio, Dacin Sara, UPFAR ARGOA, the Romanian Film Institute (ICR) and the Romanian Filmmakers Union (UCIN), in collaboration with the Romanian public television (TVR)
In Ukraine / W Ukrainie (Poland)
Directed by Piotr Pawlus, Tomasz Wolski
Berlinale Series:
Spy / Master (Hungary, Romania, Germany)
Created by Adina Sădeanu, Kirsten Peters
Directed by Christopher Smith
Produced by Proton Cinema, Mobra Films
Coproduced by Warner TV Serie
Berlinale Series Market:
The Ark (USA, Serbia)
Created by Dean Devlin, Jonathan Glassner
Directed by Dean Devlin, Milan Todorović
Produced by Electric Entertainment
Coproduced by Balkanic Media
The Fall / Pad (Serbia)
Directed Bojan Vuletić
Produced by Firefly Productions
Troll Farm / Trolių ferma (Lithuania)
Created by Domantė Urmonaitė, Martynas Mendelis, Gabija Siurbytė, Ernestas Jankauskas
Directed by Ernestas Jankauskas
Produced by Dansu films
Co-Pro Series 2023:
Export Only (Romania)
Created by Cristina Iliescu
Directed by Cristina Iliescu
Produced by microFILM
Click HERE for the Berlinale Forum press release, HERE for the Berlinale Series press release, HERE for the Berlinale Series Market press release and HERE for the Co-Pro Series press release.
