A Lot to Listen to: Todd Haynes, Rana Eid, Michel Franco, Zacharias Kunuk and More at Berlinale Talents

With this year’s theme of “Listen Courageously – Cinematic Narratives in Times of Dissonance” Berlinale Talents extends an invitation to its audiences not only to visit the exciting programme in HAU Hebbel am Ufer, but to actively engage, to explore new ideas, to broaden horizons and welcome new narratives; to listen, courageously, together. Taking the art of listening as the overarching focus, Berlinale Talents strives to encourage not only diversity in the stories we hear, but understanding and tolerance among cinema-loving audiences, guests and Talents. The programme offers 14 public talks for Berlin audiences and an extensive programme for the 200 invited Talents. Covering a wide range of cinematic disciplines, the programme invites selected filmmakers and the public to come together with internationally renowned guests for six days of exceptional events built around this year’s theme of “Listening Courageously”.

There is a lot worth listening to over the course of six days. Audiences won’t want to miss a single word of what the festival’s International Jury President Todd Haynes has to say. The award-winning director joins Berlinale Talents for a career-spanning conversation as he opens up about his journey through cinema and the significance of listening courageously as an indispensable tool for great storytelling. From a leading voice of the Berlinale International Jury to a leading voice in Indigenous Cinema, Berlinale Talents will welcome Inuk filmmaker Zacharias Kunuk to the stage. The public audience can hear all about his groundbreaking career over the last four decades; his background and craft, the rise of Indigenous Cinema and his relationship with it, and the importance of language and representation across his filmography.

Language is not just words, however, and it is the often-subtle aspects, the understated intonations, that reveal more than can be said. Costume designer Bina Daigeler, also a member of this year’s International Jury, and production designer Inbal Weinberg have brought the worlds of many award-winning films to life, most recently in Pedro Almodóvar’s The Room Next Door. They come together for "Creating Your Characters’ World from Scratch" to discuss visual storytelling and the importance of collaboration in their creative teams. A world, of course, is not complete without its aural landscape, and in ”Haunting Sounds and Deafening Silences”, award-winning sound designer and filmmaker Rana Eid discusses her career, her quest to capture the soundscapes of war, the role of silence, and how her projects have helped her to hone her craft and creativity in times of conflict.

The contradictorily confronting volume of silence reverberates again in “Reflections from the Republic of Silence” with Diana El Jeiroudi and Orwa Nyrabia. Few filmmakers have proved more essential in advancing documentary cinema than this pair of multi-hyphenate artists. From Damascus, where they nurtured the vibrant community of documentary filmmakers across the Arab region as producers, film and festival makers, to more than a decade working from exile in Berlin and in a European context, the duo will reflect on their journey as film makers and creative partners, their introspective and constantly evolving sense of space and belonging, and the intersection of the personal and political levels of cinema.

Fresh from the premiere of his latest feature, the Golden Bear contender Dreams, Michel Franco joins Berlinale Talents for an in-depth chat: “Breaking the Rules with Michel Franco” is about the collaborative nature of his craft, his work with actors both unknown and famous, and his responsibilities as a director and producer. In order to know when to follow the rules, and when to break them, a filmmaker must pay attention to their own intuition, which is a theme further explored in “Listen to Your Creative Core: Why Filmmaking Needs Courage”. In this talk, exceptional storytellers and ground-breaking artists, filmmaker Cheryl Dunye, producer Christine Vachon and actor-filmmaker Sara Fazilat discuss their different approaches to cinematic storytelling and the importance of staying true to one’s vision and community.

The successful format of the TEDDY Talents Talks, a joint venture between Berlinale Talents, TEDDY AWARD and Queer Academy will return for a third time under the title “TEDDY Talents Talks: Listen to Your Heart”. This time around, an engaging panel of film professionals reflect on the boundaries they have overcome by listening courageously, and the importance of listening to their respective artistic careers. In another multi-membered panel, the International Short Film Jury will play a question-and-answer game with the audience. Drawing from their experiences on films of all lengths, they explore the many ways in which the maxim “Listen Courageously” has proven vital to their work.

All this is just a small taste of the talks and topics on offer at Berlinale Talents this year. The programme in its entirety can be explored at www.berlinale-talents.de. All events are held in English. Tickets are sold exclusively online on the Berlinale website.

Berlinale Talents is part of Berlinale Pro*, which unites the European Film Market, the Berlinale Co-Production Market, Berlinale Talents and the World Cinema Fund. Berlinale Pro* is the festival’s full-circle industry infrastructure that serves the global film industry as incubator, enhancer and supporter in all stages of film development, production, sales and distribution.

Berlinale Talents is supported by the Minister of State for Culture and the Media, Creative Europe – MEDIA Programme of the European Union, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, German Federal Film Board, Mastercard and ARRI.

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IMAGE CAPTION:

The selected filmmakers of Berlinale Talents (f.l.t.r.): Top: Todd Haynes © Samir Hussein / Wire Image, Rana Eid, Michel Franco © TEOREMA, Zacharias Kunuk; Middle: Inbal Weinberg, Bina Daigeler © Pablo Zamora; Bottom: Diana El Jeiroudi & Orwa Nyrabia © Guevara Namer / No Nation Films GmbH, Christine Vachon, Cheryl Dunye © BAMPFA Events, Sara Fazilat © German Films Marcus Höhn for FACE