Berlinale 2024 Begins – What Will the Big Discoveries Be This Year?

Wir sind wieder da für mehr Kino. The 2024 Berlin Film Festival, known locally as Berlinale celebrating its 74th year, kicks off today in the capital city of Germany. With every year, the festival continues to fade further & further into irrelevance (read my report from last year), with an unimpressive line-up and staunch refusal to make any changes to the way the festival runs. Most major film festivals nowadays need to evolve, adapt, update and improve in so many ways right now. Berlinale is one of the most defiant, standing firm in its badly positioned slot in February (right after Sundance, and just before SXSW & Cannes) focusing on so many bleak and boring films. Not much ever makes it out of his festival anymore… Much like Tribeca Film Festival in New York City, Berlinale is becoming a fest where films go to be forgotten, where they have one big premiere and then are never get talked about again. Many of my colleagues get really grumpy when they hear me say this, but it’s how I feel about this festival and their film selection. But I am always watching new films anyway – hoping for a few discoveries. There’s always a few surprises to be found in any fest’s line-up. // Continue Reading ›