Jan 23, 2020
Berlinale Special: Perspectives on Society

Further Berlinale Special films have been confirmed. They take another look at society and a wonderful parody from the film history is revived.

The wonderful parody of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The Nutty Professor by Jerry Lewis, is a film that one never gets tired of watching. Perhaps because, even more than the original movie, it deals with fear and desire, feelings, which are not usually expressed openly.

The protagonists of Police, Anne Fontaine’s new film, with Omar Sy playing a dramatic role, are torn between desires and fears. Along with Sy, Virginie Efira and Grégory Gadebois complete a trio of policemen and -women who represent a fascinating cross-section of French society.

Persian Lessons accepts the challenge to take the audience to one of the darkest pages of recent history. It tells a story that faces the Holocaust from an unprecedented perspective: a prisoner avoids death by swearing that he is not Jewish, but Persian. His only way to survive in the camp is by teaching Farsi, a language he doesn’t know.
“Supported by the performances of Nahuel Pérez Biscayart and Lars Eidinger, Persian Lessons is a film that surprises by the strength and originality of its story, which is taken from something that actually happened in real life,” comments Artistic Director Carlo Chatrian.

The Berlinale Special programme includes in total 20 films that will be communicated until the end of January.

Berlinale Special Gala at Berlinale Palast

Persian Lessons
Russian Federation / Germany / Belarus
by Vadim Perelman
with Nahuel Pérez Biscayart, Lars Eidinger, Jonas Nay, Leonie Benesch, Alexander Beyer, David Schütter, Luisa-Celine Gaffron
World premiere

Police (Night Shift)
France
by Anne Fontaine
with Omar Sy, Virginie Efira, Grégory Gadebois, Payman Maadi
World premiere

Berlinale Special at Haus der Berliner Festspiele

The Nutty Professor
USA 1963
by Jerry Lewis
with Jerry Lewis, Stella Stevens, Del Moore, Kathleen Freeman, Med Flory, Norman Alden
Screening on the occasion of the Deutsche Kinemathek receiving exclusive documents from the estate of Jerry Lewis, with behind-the-scenes footage being shown prior to the film. The film will be presented by Jerry Lewis’ son Chris Lewis.

Press Office
January 23, 2020