“NO RULES, NO SUBMISSIONS”

TFV talks with Festival Director Carlo Chatrian

VERDICT: Sweden-based documentarians Axel Danielson and Maximilien Van Aertryck's first joint feature has lofty ambitions but fails to make any kind of coherent argument.

Boyd van Hoeij, January 24, 2023

After a series of successful shorts and a run as producers at Swedish company Platform Produktion – the company behind Palme d’Or winners The Square and Triangle of Sadness from Ruben Östlund, credited as an executive producer here – Axel Danielson and Maximilien Van Aertryck make the jump to a documentary feature with the enigmatically titled And the King Said, What a Fantastic Machine. The machine of the title turns out to be the camera, of which the two create a kind of biography through the ages, from the camera obscura to the omnipresent smartphone cameras. Though it contains a handful of impressive scenes, with much of the footage culled from the internet, what’s lacking is an overall discourse, turning this film into an anecdotal trip through moving-image land Full Review

The Film Verdict: How does it feel to have a fullscale edition again after two pandemic-influenced years, especially for a festival that is more audienceoriented than, say, Cannes or Venice?

Carlo Chatrian: It’s very important to be back to normal, because the last two winters were very tricky for people organizing public events, especially in Germany where Covid waves were quite severe. And, as you said, it’s important for us because the festival isn’t just aimed at professionals. We did have an audience last year, and sold 150,000 tickets, but the European Film Market was digital, so now we get to have all the different elements and strengths of the Berlinale together again, at last.

TFV: Is there anything from the past two years that you have retained, as far as putting the festival together is concerned?

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CARLO CHATRIAN INTERVIEW (Continued)

CC: Yes, undoubtedly. I think the festival evolves when it deals with challenges. In terms of the organization, something my colleagues and I learned is that you can do the work without traveling eight months a year, and you can be more selective with your trips.

And working remotely is a viable option, provided it’s not the only one, that can also save time, so you don’t always have to walk from one office to another, especially when working in the city. On a programming level, because theaters were not continuously open in the past two years, we chose to screen films that will be released in German cinemas right after the festival. I’m not sure they would all have been included in the line-up, say, five years ago.

TFV: Berlin has always been more relaxed about world premieres outside of the main competition. Is it important for you to bring The Fabelmans and Tár to audiences even though they’re not world exclusives?

CC: I mean, that’s the key aspect of the Berlinale Special section: it has no rules, no submissions. The Artistic Director decides which films to invite. The Fabelmans is celebrating its German premiere as part of our tribute to Steven Spielberg. Usually, the Honorary Golden Bear is accompanied by a legacy film but, as with Isabelle Huppert last year, we had the chance to show their latest work. It’s also a film about the love for the big screen, and I think it speaks to audiences because that’s what happens in the movie with all the films Sammy makes. As for Tár, it’s a film with strong ties to the city, so it seemed appropriate to screen it ahead of its general release in Germany. Todd Field is also going to unveil a new short film, The Fundraiser, which expands on the world depicted in Tár

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