Berlin Panorama Title ‘Concerned Citizen’ Debuts Trailer, M-Appeal Sells at EFM (EXCLUSIVE)

Resembling more of a personal tribute than exhaustive biography, Pietro Marcello‘s Lucio Dalla documentary, “For Lucio,” takes its title as an invitation. A rambling eulogy that is just as often confusing as it is profound, Marcello’s wisp of a film (running less than 80 minutes) may be missing key context for those not already versed in the life and music of the politically-oriented Italian singer-songwriter.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Kazakh filmmaker Askar Uzabayev’s domestic violence drama “Happiness” snagged the Audience Award in the Berlin Film Festival’s prestigious Panorama sidebar, a good sign of its potential appeal in cinemas and festivals worldwide. Whether it will secure distribution in its native Kazakhstan is another matter, however.Based on actual events, “Happiness” centers on a lovely influencer who promotes a product line called Happiness, which she pitches as a surefire path to happiness, beauty and success.But her home life reflects the opposite where her abusive husband grows ever more violent.

Emiliano Granada World premiering in the Berlinale’s Forum, “Dry Ground Burning” marks the second feature collaboration between directors Joana Pimenta and Adirley Queirós, after Pimenta DP-ed Queirós’ “Once There Was Brasilia.”So it’s no surprise that by this point the directorial couple have refined a common language that in “Dry Ground Burning” delivers a movie that’s stylistically refrained, while walking a fine line between documentary and a fiction with sci-fi and Western overtones.Produced by Cinco Da Norte and Terratreme with Pimenta once again behind the camera, the duo returns to their portrayal of the inhabitants of Ceilandia, a district on the periphery of Brasilia which has been a recurring subject in both filmmakers work. The film follows sisters Chitarra and Léa, leaders of an all female gang who refines oil drawn from an oil pipeline to sell to motor bikers in the Sol Nascente favela.

The Panorama prizes have been handed out at the Berlin International Film Festival, with top honours going to Baqyt (Happiness) and Aşk, Mark ve Ölüm (Love, Deutschmarks and Death).

Gail Halvorsen was a United States Air Force pilot known as the “Candy Bomber” for dropping candy over Berlin from his airplane during the Berlin airlift in 1948.  Gail Halvorsen joined the Air Force as a pilot during World War II, serving as a transport pilot in the South Atlantic. After World War II, Berlin was divided into four sections occupied by the United States, France, England, and Russia.

Leaves rustle in the wind, sand swiftly lifted from the ground as it resumes its nomadic journey, taking from one place to give to another. Around it, all seems to be consumed by stillness, but, in the safety of this deceiving quietness, life bursts through settled roots to create anew.

Emiliano Granada Colombian-Canadian director Lina Rodríguez’s third feature, “My Two Voices”,  a 68 min documentary that through its short runtime  artfully orchestrates a polyphony of emotions, colors, textures and voices in its portrayal of three immigrant women.Produced by Canada’s Rayon Verde, the same production company behind her previous film “This Time Tomorrow,” Rodríguez’s meticulous approach interweaves the voices of Claudia Montoya, Marinela Piedrahita and Ana Garay Kostic as they share their experiences of immigrating to Canada. Energized by a rich soundscape, the film achieves a deep intimacy, while refusing to draw borders, between spaces, between voices, between there and here, who I was and who I am, between I and Us.

Berlinale Series Market. It has grown into one of continental Europe’s biggest TV events. Following, seven takes on this year’s edition.TV Tail Wags Film DogThe Berlinale Series Market used to be a burgeoning sidebar.

John Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentAdding to its notable lineup in Latin American movies, Paris-based sales agent MPM Premium has taken international sales rights to “Fogaréu,” from writer-director Flávia Neves, part of Brazil’s new wave of female filmmakers, which is one of the most exciting developments the country’s cinema currently has going for it.MPM Premium is introducing the film at this week’s Berlin Festival, where it world premieres in Panorama on Feb. 15.First glimpsed at 2020’s Ventana Sur project market, “Fogaréu” shares a sense of attitude and a feminist agenda and a visual verve with fellow Brazilian Ventana Sur titles “The Pink Cloud,” Iuli Gerbase’s a sci-fi character-driven thriller, and “The Joy of Things,” Thais Fujinaga’s portrait of motherhood, also playing at the same market.

Naman Ramachandran Kino Lorber has acquired U.S. rights to writer-director Ajitpal Singh’s debut feature, “Fire in the Mountains,” which premiered in the World Dramatic Competition of the Sundance Film Festival in 2021.A powerful feminist tale set in a tourist homestay in the Himalayan foothills of northern India, the film centers around a woman (Vinamrata Rai), the sole breadwinner of the household, who scrimps and saves for her son’s medical treatment, while her alcoholic husband believes that an expensive shamanic ritual is the answer to all their woes.The film is produced by Alan McAlex and Ajai Rai of prolific Indian arthouse producers Jar Pictures alongside Mauli Singh and Amit Mehta.

Spain has two films in this year’s main competition at the Berlinale, and a record haul of films participating across all sections. Similarly, the country boasts an impressive list of productions looking for buyers at the festival’s EFM. Below, a list of standouts from Spain looking to make moves on the global market.“Prison 77” (Alberto Rodríguez)A potential jewel in Spanish cinema’s 2022 crown, “Modelo 77” is produced by Spanish pay TV-VOD giant Movistar Plus and Madrid-based Atípica Films, Rodríguez’s career-long producer.

Naman Ramachandran Protagonist Pictures has closed multiple deals for several key territories on Sundance selection and Berlin Film Festival competition title “Call Jane.”Territories sold include DCM for Germany, Austria and Switzerland, Umbrella Entertainment for Australia and New Zealand, Mis.label for Scandinavia, Eagle for Italy, Shaw for Singapore and Empire for South Africa.Directed by Phyllis Nagy, the Oscar nominated writer of “Carol,” the film stars Elizabeth Banks, Sigourney Weaver, Kate Mara and Chris Messina. The film follows Joy (Banks), a traditional 1960s housewife who unexpectedly falls pregnant and finds the Janes, an underground abortion movement led by Virginia (Weaver).

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorDutch-Caribbean teen documentary “Shabu” has debuted an exclusive clip, ahead of its screening at Berlin Film Festival on Monday. Reservoir Docs is handling world sales, except for Netherlands, Belgium and France.The film, directed by Aruban-Dutch filmmaker Shamira Raphaëla, world premiered at IDFA, winning the best youth documentary award, and also played at Rotterdam Film Festival.

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorThe trailer for Gu∂mundur Arnar Gu∂mundsson’s teen drama “Beautiful Beings” has debuted ahead of the film’s world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival on Friday. The film, which plays in Panorama, is being sold by Jan Naszewski’s New Europe Film Sales.

Jamie Lang One of the hottest titles from Spain at this year’s European Film Market, is Catalan director Carla Simón’s sophomore feature “Alcarrás,” the hotly anticipated follow up to her 2017 debut “Summer 1993.” There, Paris-based MK2 Films will be talking to interested buyers of the recently-finished arthouse entry. To mark the occasion, the sales company has given Variety access to an early clip.A smash hit with critics and festivals alike, Simón’s autobiographical debut “Summer 1993” won the Best First Feature Award and the Generation Kplus Grand Prix jury prize at Berlin in 2017.

Holly Jones In anticipation of its world premiere at the Berlinale, Latido Films, which is handling international distribution, has provided Variety exclusive access to the international trailer for Alauda Ruiz de Azúa’s debut feature, “Lullaby.”The film, which takes an earnest glimpse into the fraught dynamics of cross-generational caregiving, will be included as part of the Panorama strand at the fest, which lends a platform to projects covering societal taboos and topics not oft-breached by commercial cinema.In “Lullaby,” an exhausted Amaia (Laia Costa) is tasked with seeking comfort and aid from her aging parents as her husband, Javi (Mikel Bustamante), follows his career out of town after the birth of their child. A wide range of emotions are displayed as Amaia learns to understand and engage with her mother, Begoñia (Susi Sanchez), while forging her way towards independence. “We never talk about motherhood as a crisis.

Ed Meza @edmezavarThe Berlin Film Festival’s European Film Market is gearing up for its second virtual edition with an improved online infrastructure for exhibiting companies and a wide-ranging conference program that focuses on a transforming industry and the changes that are shaping its future.For Dennis Ruh, who took over as EFM director in 2020, it’s the second market that has been forced online due to the pandemic — a disappointing development after physical space at the Gropius Bau and Marriott Hotel, the event’s main venues, had been nearly completely booked.“The biggest challenge was to switch from a hybrid to an online event — to make this decision,” says Ruh.With Germany and much of Europe hit by the Omicron onslaught in December and January, a physical event was no longer feasible. “We had to make this decision by the beginning of January and that was not an easy one,” he says.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor“1341 Frames of Love and War,” which world premieres in the Berlinale Special section of the Berlin Film Festival, has debuted its trailer with Variety. World sales are being handled by Reservoir Docs, excluding North America, Israel, Greece and Portugal, which are being sold by the filmmakers.The film is a documentary portrait of one of the world’s leading war photographers, Israel’s Micha Bar-Am.

Manori Ravindran International EditorEvan Rachel Wood, Eliza Scanlen, Rufus Sewell and Vanessa Redgrave are set to lead an adaptation of World War II-era book “All That I Am,” Variety can reveal.AGC Studios is fully financing the film, which will be shot in Berlin and Sydney in late summer. The studio, led by Stuart Ford, introduced the project to buyers this week as part of the virtual European Film Market, which generally runs alongside the Berlin Film Festival.

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorIrish writer/director Colm Bairéad’s narrative feature debut “The Quiet Girl,” which world premieres at the Berlin Film Festival in the Generation Kplus section, has debuted a clip from the film with Variety. Rosa Bosch Films is handling world sales.The film is a complex and delicate coming-of-age drama that explores questions of family, neglect and grief through the eyes of its young protagonist. Commenting on the film, director Mark Cousins said: “What a tender jewel of a film.