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| The 70th Berlin International Film Festival venue |
The 70th Berlin International Film Festival will be held from February 20 to March 1. This will be the first Berlin Film Festival headed by the new chairman, Marit Risenbeck. As the "master" of the link between the past and the next, Risenbeck said in an exclusive interview with a reporter from Xinhua News Agency that the digital development trend will bring about tremendous changes to the cinema chain and will also affect the future development of the Berlin Film Festival.
"The digital trend has completely changed the theater. Now you can not only use mobile phones to make movies, but also use mobile phones to watch movies. I think there will be more changes in the next five or six years." Lisenbeck said.
She explained that in Germany, many filmmakers no longer work for theaters, but for streaming platforms. It is difficult to distribute movies in theaters and it is difficult to get enough attention. "This trend will also affect the Berlin Film Festival, so it is difficult to plan the future of the festival in ten years. A two to three year plan is more appropriate."
This year's film festival has traditional main competitions, forums, panoramas and new generation The addition of the "Meeting" unit in addition to the other units is also regarded as a reform after the Berlin Film Festival changed its chairman. According to Riesenbeck, the “Meeting” unit is designed for low-cost movies. The movies concerned are highly experimental, innovative, and artistic, and some are even shot with mobile phones or cameras.
Lisenbeck welcomes Chinese filmmakers to participate in this new section. "As long as you have a smart phone, you can tell your own story."
In addition, this film festival also set up a special "talk" section, inviting 7 pairs of directors to discuss the future development of contemporary film and film festival, including China Director Jia Zhangke and Huo Meng.
Speaking of Chinese films, Lisenbeck said that the development momentum of the Chinese film industry is very strong, and there are film co-production projects with many countries, which have a great impact on Hollywood. Many Hollywood movies have Chinese actors joining. Some Chinese directors are also well-known internationally, and many of them have brought their works to the Berlin Film Festival.
Since the first Chinese film "Red Sorghum" won the Best Picture Golden Bear Award in 1988, many Chinese films have "caught the bear" at the Berlin Film Festival. At the 69th Berlin International Film Festival, the two starring actors Wang Jingchun and Yongmei in the Chinese film "Everlasting Time" won the Silver Bear Award for Best Actor and Actress for their outstanding acting skills.
Risenbeck hopes that more viewers will use the Berlin International Film Festival as a platform to learn about China and Chinese people through Chinese films.
