Dec 16, 2019
Panorama 2020: (Un)common Grounds

Panorama confirms the first 18 films, including eleven world premieres and five directorial debuts. Post-migration perspectives as well as distinct and visible generational changes in German and international cinema shake up the status quo.

Section head Michael Stütz is already outlining Panorama’s first themes with the films selected so far: Faraz Shariat (No Hard Feelings), Uisenma Borchu (Black Milk) and Visar Morina (Exil) embody filmmakers of an emerging, headstrong generation. They deliver pluralistic post-migration viewpoints. Director Siamak Etemadi (Pari), who hails from Iran and works in Greece, exemplifies current transnational filmmaking. Welcome to Chechnya by previous Oscar nominee David France shows the brutal and systematic persecution of the LGBTQI* community in the Russian republic. Documentary cinema is also prominently represented by Patric Chiha, Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel as well as TEDDY winner Sébastien Lifshitz.

The Assistant
USA
by Kitty Green
with Julia Garner, Matthew Macfadyen, Kristine Froseth, Makenzie Leigh

Jane has started her dream job as a junior assistant to a powerful entertainment mogul. Her day is much like any other assistant’s, but she is soon confronted with an abusive daily routine, only to discover the true depth of the system into which she has entered.

Aufzeichnungen aus der Unterwelt (Notes from the Underworld)
Austria
by Tizza Covi, Rainer Frimmel
with Kurt Girk, Alois Schmutzer
World premiere / Panorama Dokumente

A love letter to Vienna in the 1960s, and simultaneously a genre film of Austrian postwar history. Viennese folk song singer Kurt Girk and his friend Alois Schmutzer talk about their lives in the Viennese underworld – for which they endured long jail sentences.

Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets
USA
by Bill Ross IV, Turner Ross
International premiere

A final binge in a closing bar on the edge of Las Vegas. With clear-sighted observation, the film allows us to share the familiarity between the regulars, creating the impression that we are sitting amongst them.

Cidade Pássaro (Shine Your Eyes)
Brazil / France
by Matias Mariani
with O. C. Ukeje, Chukwudi Iwuji, Indira Nascimento, Paulo Andre, Ike Barry
World premiere

Because he has not heard anything from his older brother Ikenna, musician Amadi travels from Nigeria to the metropolis of São Paulo. But Ikenna remains missing. Cidade Pássaro (Shine Your Eyes) is an enigmatic exploration on multiple levels.

Digger
Greece / France
by Georgis Grigorakis
with Vangelis Mourikis, Argyris Pandazaras
World premiere / Debut film

When Jonny visits his father Nikitas in his cabin in the woods after 20 years, the hermit ignores him. But to prevent the muddy ground from being pulled out from under their feet for reasons of profit, father and son must dig deep into it...

Eeb Allay Ooo!
India
by Prateek Vats
with Shardul Bhardwaj, Shashi Bhushan, Mahender Nath, Naina Sareen, Nitin Goel, Nutan Sinha
Debut film

Monkey repellers such as Anjani have an exceedingly tricky job in downtown New Delhi. The film depicts the harsh life of a migrant and subtly mirrors the social realities of today with the sensitivity of a documentary and an Indian sense of humour.

Exil (Exile)
Germany / Belgium / Kosovo
by Visar Morina
with Mišel Matičević, Sandra Hüller, Rainer Bock, Thomas Mraz

The signs that Kosovo native and pharmacologist Xhafer is being hazed at work are increasing – or is it just his imagination? Exile portrays a person in the stress field of integration and loss of identity.

Futur Drei (No Hard Feelings)
Germany
by Faraz Shariat
with Benjamin Radjaipour, Banafshe Hourmazdi, Eidin Jalali
World premiere / Debut film

German-Iranian Parvis’s life revolves around pop culture, Grindr dates and raves. Through the refugee siblings Banafshe and Amon, Parvis rediscovers his past. A sensitive film about first love and the life as a migrant in Germany.

Håp (Hope)
Norway / Sweden
by Maria Sødahl
with Andrea Bræin Hovig, Stellan Skarsgård

When Anja is diagnosed with a brain tumour, the everyday life of her patchwork family implodes and the cooling relationship between her and her partner Tomas is confronted with the new reality.

Jetzt oder morgen (Running on Empty)
Austria
by Lisa Weber
World premiere / Panorama Dokumente

Lisa Weber’s portrait of Claudia, who had a son when she was 15 and now lives together with him, her mother and her brother in Vienna, is an affectionate and gentle film about the passing of time and about what happens when seemingly nothing is happening.

Kød & Blod (Wildland)
Denmark
by Jeanette Nordahl
with Sandra Guldberg Kampp, Sidse Babett Knudsen, Joachim Fjelstrup, Elliott Crosset Hove, Besir Zeciri
World premiere / Debut film

Ida moves in with her aunt and cousins following her mother’s death. All is full of love but it soon becomes clear that the clan engages in criminal activities. A female-driven exploration of family conflict fuelled by affections and cut throat ethics.

Las Mil y Una (One in a Thousand)
Argentina / Germany
by Clarisa Navas
with Sofia Cabrera, Ana Carolina Garcia, Mauricio Vila, Luis Molina
World premiere

Set in a community of project houses, Iris, a young woman with a tough past, meets Renata and feels immediately attracted to her. A tender coming of age story about friendship and first love in a hostile environment.

Pari
Greece / France / Netherlands / Bulgaria
by Siamak Etemadi
with Melika Foroutan, Shahbaz Noshir, Sofia Kokkali, Argyris Padazaras, Lena Kitsopoulou
World premiere / Debut film

Iranian mother Pari’s search for her missing son in Athens will force her on a journey to the dark corners of the city, as well as into the hidden depths of her own self.

Petite fille (Little Girl)
France
by Sébastien Lifshitz
World premiere / Panorama Dokumente

The touching portrait of eight-year-old Sasha, who questions her gender and in doing so, evokes the sometimes disturbing reactions of a society that is still invested in a biological boy-girl way of thinking.

Schwarze Milch (Black Milk)
Germany / Mongolia
by Uisenma Borchu
with Gunsmaa Tsogzol, Uisenma Borchu, Terbish Demberel, Franz Rogowski
World premiere

In Uisenma Borchu’s second semi-autobiographical film, a young woman is searching for her roots and discovers an idiosyncratic, radical sensuality that not only transgresses Mongolian conventions but also those of the supposedly more liberal West.

Si c'était de l'amour (If It Were Love)
France
by Patric Chiha
World premiere / Panorama Dokumente

The creation and performance of Gisèle Vienne’s dance piece “Crowd” is exceptionally translated into cinematic language in this documentary of sensual tendencies. An exhilarating neon light fresco of a young party crowd to the beat of loud electronic music.

Suk Suk
Hong Kong, China
by Ray Yeung
with Tai Bo, Ben Yuen, Au Ga Man Patra, Lo Chun Yip, Lam Yiu Sing

In Hong Kong, Pak and Hoi meet by chance. Grandfathers today, they lived married lives, providing for their families. A passionate and delicate film about love later in life.

Welcome to Chechnya
USA
by David France
International premiere / Panorama Dokumente

The first documentary about the activists who join forces to save other people’s and their own lives in the face of the systematic persecution of the LGBTQI* community carried out by the Chechen authorities. A tour-de-force charged with resilience and courage.

Press office
December 17, 2019