The Berlinale brings together people in the film industry from around the world. This year, 3,675 journalists from about 80 countries participated in the 1,384 screenings in ten festival cinemas. Just waiting in the press office you can hear many different languages and observe numerous exchanges between people from completely foreign backgrounds. Press conferences are held in several languages with real time translators, sometimes leading to misunderstandings and embarrassing moments. Actors, directors, producers and other film crew come to Berlin to gain insight from the public about their films. So many films offer varied and often unique perspectives on life, love, politics, entertainment and other issues that affect everyday life. The cultural backgrounds of the filmmakers inherently influence the films, which are then viewed by the journalists who watch each film biased by their own predisposed notions. Clearly the Berlinale provides an enormous opportunity to learn much about our global community, which makes the trip to Berlin definitely worth it.

One of the most difficult aspects of attending the Berlinale is choosing which films to screen. Setting aside scheduling and ticketing problems, the sheer variety of films can be daunting. How about a film on: Pirate lesbian lovers? Facing terminal cancer? Automatons that require live sperm to survive? Running for a seat in German parliament? Interpreting Chekhov short stories? Singing and dancing nurses at a rest home? Exposing intimate confessions of a Chinese courtesan? Failing miserably as a discount mattress salesman? Mourning the last of the Samurais? Concentrating on films that examine different cultures narrows the choices.

Education and Heritage

There are numerous interpretations of what is meant by culture. The following documentary films are a look at culture from the perspective of education and heritage.

Enlightenment. Asian superstar martial arts fighter Jackie Chan has been making films for over twenty years. In 1999, as his mother’s health was failing, Chan’s father thought it was time to tell Jackie the true story of his family. The family history evolved into the documentary Traces of the Dragon: Jackie Chan and His Lost Family. Rumors had been rampant for years that Jackie was not his father’s biological son, he had siblings and Chan was not his real name. Now that his father was ready to talk, Jackie turned to Mabel Cheung (Hong Kong/China), experienced in dramatic films, to document his story. Together they traveled to Australia where Cheung thought they would shoot the family and listen to family gossip. But as she listened to the family history, she realized that it was more than just a home video. Chan’s father had worked as a spy for the Nationalist Party during Chiang Kai-shek’s regime and was forced to flee when Communists came to power. Meanwhile, his mother had lost her first husband during the Japanese invasion and had to support her family by smuggling opium. Cheung realized that this was the story of many Chinese families during that time. In China she interviewed other family members, friends and colleagues and she found historical film to intercut with Chan’s family story. The result is an amazingly personal historical documentary of 20th century China as told through the recollections of an ordinary family. And through it all, Chan sits in awe of his father as he learns that he has siblings and his real name is Fang. At the press conference Chan’s respect and love for his father was palpable.

Perception. Fidel Castro drove U.S.-friendly dictator General Fulgencio Batista from power in 1959. In 1961 Castro declared Cuba a communist state with the motto “Socialism or Death” and Americans were humiliated in the Bay of Pigs where 1,189 “invaders” were taken prisoner. Nuclear war fears arose during the Cuban missile crisis in 1962. The U.S. imposed a trade embargo against Cuba for hostile actions in 1963. Elian Gonzalez was sent home to Cuba amid American protests in 2000. For those Americans who perceive Castro as an evil communist dictator and where President George W. Bush’s “axis of evil” begins, Oliver Stone’s (US/Spain) documentary Comandante, may come as a bit of a jolt. In February 2002, Stone spent three days with Castro, a camera and spontaneity. Although Stone uses just ninety minutes of these interviews for his documentary, he covers a lot of issues from how Castro exercises by walking around his office, wearing Nike shoes, to whether it is bad to be a dictator, to which Castro replies, “I have seen the United States become very friendly towards some dictators.” Castro talks about his rise to power, Che Guevara, the present state of his nation and his thoughts for the future as well as his love life and fatherhood. Stone follows Castro around Havana where everyone they meet is nicely dressed, well-spoken and eager for autographs of the Comandante. Castro is proud of his movement as he boasts, “…it is one of the achievements of the revolution that even our prostitutes are university educated.” Always in his trademark green fatigues, serene and in command, Castro travels with his bodyguards in his black Mercedes. Castro seems startled only for a second when Stone finds a gun in the back of the car and brandishes it towards the camera.

At the press conference, Stone confided that Castro was a fan of his films but it becomes clear that Stone is quite a fan of Castro’s, whom he describes as “one of the Earth’s wisest people.” Is Castro just a nice guy as shown in the film? Stone lashes out with, “America would probably take the attitude that the film was propaganda.” He said that he did not manipulate the film at all and that even though he felt he did challenge Castro, confrontation would not have gotten him anywhere. Explaining that his documentary is not made as a journalist, he said, “I’m trying to get at the human beneath…He’s the oldest living revolutionary. We should get him on film before it’s too late.” Regardless of his motives, Stone admits that he hopes the film will have some positive influence on American opinion about Castro and that America will reconsider the trade embargo that only penalizes the people of Cuba. Castro regretfully declined Berlinale Director Kosslick’s invitation to attend the premiere of Comandante in Berlin, citing the general political situation.

Experience. In Havana on New Year’s Eve 2000, Gladis, a single mother born in Cuba, becomes engaged to Erik, a reserved German who manages to eloquently declare his love. Their romance, marriage and subsequent life together with Gladis’ 7-year-old son Omarito are intimately followed in Heirate mich by two German directors, Uli Gaulke and Jeannette Eggert. Over two years, Gladis and Erik learn about each other with the added complications of having grown up in two totally different cultures. We watch Gladis partying with her friends in Cuba. She is relaxed, exuberant and obviously enjoying herself. Later, after her move to Hamburg, we watch Gladis and her son share Kaffee und Kuchen (coffee and cake) with Erik and his parents. Everyone is very polite, the conversation simple and reserved. Gladis signs up for German lessons where she haltingly converses with her teacher. Her son begins public school. Erik tries to help when a problem arises between Omarito and some local kids. Taping everyday life would be stressful for most newlyweds under any circumstances, and it is truly astonishing how open and honest Gladis, Erik and Omarito are about living together. For anyone who has lived in a foreign country or just simply wants to vicariously experience real relationships. Omarito is darling from the beginning until the end when he asks his mother if they will be staying in Hamburg. When she responds in the affirmative, Omarito tells her that she will have to learn German. At the following press conference, Omarito continued to delight with his exaggerated facial expressions that provided wordless commentary on what was being said about their film. Two years in a foreign culture have not dampened his outgoing, perhaps Cuban, nature.

Ideas and Values

This year, the Berlinale offered many films, including documentaries, which concentrated on particular cultural aspects encompassing ideas and values of a people. Here is just a sampling of such films.

Folkways. In Vagabond, Hungarian director György Szomjas explores folk music and dance through a fictional story about Karesz (Péter Simon), an orphan who belongs to a street gang. Karesz earns money cleaning car windshields at stoplights and stealing with his friends. But when Karesz meets a lovely girl, Zsofi (Kata Horvati), he spends less time on the streets and more time in the dance house so he can get to know her. But the story is merely background noise for a film that showcases folk music and dance. Karesz is almost always in the dance house where he learns to dance and play the drums. He also learns about various percussion instruments used not only in Hungary, but in the Balkans and in gypsy music. The dance house originated in Transylvania and was where young people would meet for celebrations or just to have fun. Today, there is an urban version of the dance house and that is what this film seeks to share. By comparison, director Dominique Abel films Gitanos, or Spanish gypsies, in Polígono Sur (Seville, South Side). The gypsies survive their life in the housing projects by participating in their own version of flamenco, which for them is storytelling with songs along with rhythmic clapping and occasional dancing.

Way of Life. A humorous look at life in former East Berlin and how rapidly things changed when the Berlin Wall came down is presented by director Wolfgang Becker (Germany) in Good Bye Lenin! This movie is also a drama about family love. The clever plot begins in the autumn of 1989 when the dissolution of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) has begun. Mrs. Kerner (Katrin Saß), a socialist do-gooder, suffers a heart attack when she sees her son Alex (Daniel Brühl) involved in a demonstration and she falls into a coma. When she awakens in the summer of 1990, still very ill and not fit for any kind of shock, Alex decides he must protect her by keeping the dramatic changes in Berlin from her. With the help of his sister, friends and neighbors, they recreate life in the DDR in her bedroom. Complications abound, like when his mother insists on watching the daily news. Alex calls on his friend and filmmaker-wannabe Denis (Florian Lukas) to recreate “Aktuelle Kamera”. For foodstuffs Alex scouts garbage dumps for old pickle jars and coffee containers. He hits the jackpot when they find an abandoned apartment with a cabinet full of leftovers. For his mother’s birthday, he presents her with a basket of her favorite DDR foods, the neighbors come by in DDR dress and he pays some kids to sing old socialists songs. His love for his mother has no bounds and when she decides to take a walk outside, Alex rewrites history to explain the western folks on the streets. This is a wonderful family tale that starkly contrasts the old and a new way of life in Berlin.

Knowledge. A mix of fact and fiction, Empathy director Amie Siegel (US) begins her examination of psychoanalysis with a real lie. Conversations with psychoanalysts reveal what they really think about their practice and patients. Are they told the truth? Do they have sex with patients? Are they voyeuristic? The analysts seem a bit uncomfortable with being analyzed. Interspersed throughout their examinations is a fictional narrative about an actress who herself is being psychoanalyzed, which is in turn contrasted with her screen tests and private life. Talking heads pose many questions and no real answers, resulting in an amusing kind of film that perhaps can be made only in America.

Humanism. Udi Aloni, born in Tel Aviv, is now an artist in New York City. His mother, Shulamit Aloni, was co-founder of the Israeli civil rights and peace movement in 1973. She was also Education Minister in Yitzhak Rabin’s government until his assassination. In January 2002, she and Udi visited an old friend, Palestinian human rights lawyer Dr. Hanan Ashrawi. Dr. Ashrawi helped them arrange an interview with Yassir Arafat. This part of the film Local Angel is a fascinating documentary about the causes and present contradictions of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. But interspersed throughout the intellectual aspects of the film are music video-style sequences of Israeli singers and a Palestinian rap group, who all sing in Hebrew and Arabic. Added to this mix are intermittent references to “Angelus Novus” or “Angel of History” and observations by Israeli and Palestinian scholars about the Temple Mount upon which currently sits the Moslem Dome of the Rock. The film is appropriately subtitled as “Theological Political Fragments” because there is no thread to pull all of these ideas together. But the attempt by Udi to address the actions of both the Israelis and Palestinians is noteworthy, even if he does over dramatize by asking Arafat what he himself, and thus the Jews, can do to earn the forgiveness of the Palestinians. (Mary Wienke)