Photo courtesy of NOISE. Catch The Forum in Berlin cinemas now!
The Afrikamera film festival starts today at Arsenal and for its 12th edition Berlin’s annual celebration of current African cinema kicks off with Peter Kofi Sedufia’s debut feature, Keteke, an energetic comedy from Ghana. Check out our preview for our top picks.
Also tonight is Berlin Film Society’s screening of David Lynch’s Lost Highway (18:30 at Factory Berlin Görlitzer Park), as part of their autumn programme Road Tripping, dedicated to the surreal highway in cinema. Lost Highway is arguably one of Lynch’s finest, a subconscious-bothering mystery thriller that explores jealousy, oozes Kafkaesque menace and lends itself to Freudian interpretation, if you’re so inclined. If that’s not enough, Berlin Film Soc is treating us to Panos Cosmatos’ Mandy next week (Nov 14, 18:30), which sees LSD-tripping cult members summoning a crew of sadistic Slipknot-lookalikes with a demonic conch, in order to better terrorise Nicolas Cage and Andrea Riseborough. It’s as batshit as it sounds – don’t miss out.
On general release this week are two documentaries: Marianne & Leonard: Words Of Love, Nick Broomfield’s surface-deep attempt to convincingly explore the life of the late Canadian crooner and his muse, and The Forum, the new doc from German filmmaker Marcus Vetter. This behind-the-scenes look at the World Economic Forum is both timely and insightful exploration of the global capitalist system and the elite that pulls the strings – make sure you seek it out. Elsewhere, there’s a double helping of Woody Harrelson for all you fans out there: he’s bludgeoning the undead in the fun but unnecessary Zombieland sequel Zombieland: Double Tap and heading the attack on the Japanese in the wake of Pearl Harbor in the very average Midway. Lastly, there’s another retelling of a true story with The Report, a strong but at times dry account of how a senate staffer uncovered the CIA’s post 9/11 interrogation methods.
Don’t forget to join us and Soundwatch at Lichtblick Kino at 20:00 this Sunday (Nov 10) for a screening of Aprèsgarde: A Portrait of Bob Rutman, in the presence of the visual artist and legendary musician-composer Bob Rutman and director Bernd Böhlendorf.
Lastly, we’ve got a makeshift double-bill you don’t want to miss: On Saturday (Nov 9), head to Creepy Crypt for a screening of the 1988 high school cult classic Heathers (Rollberg Kino, 22:30) and follow it up with the Mongay screening of the upcoming Booksmart (Nov 11, Kino International, 22:00), a coming-of-age comedy that proves the genre’s still got plenty of mileage in it. It’s a genuinely funny and fresh update that stands proudly alongside classics like Fast Times At Ridgemont High, Clueless, and the aforementioned Heathers. Keep your peepers peeled for our review of Booksmart next week, as well as our interview with its star Kaitlyn Dever.