This December, Berlin’s cinemas offer a diverse selection of film events, from silent classics with live music to showcases of contemporary Portuguese cinema and a documentary film festival. Here’s a look at some highlights.
The Gold Rush with live orchestra
Charlie Chaplin’s 1925 The Gold Rush is one of the most iconic silent-era comedies. A cinematic touchstone, it tells the story of Chaplin’s Little Tramp character on a great journey during the Klondike Gold Rush. Featuring a blustery blizzard, a prospector, a fugitive and an enigmatic love interest, the tale is a study of human desire and relationships.
Chaplin has an impeccable ability to use comedy as a tool to explore our universal humanity. In the words of Babylon Kino, “this film is for eternity!” This month they’re screening the classic alongside a live performance from the Kino’s orchestra. As a legendary silent cinema here in Berlin, Babylon is steeped in history, which makes seeing a work like this as it was intended a special event.
- Babylon Kino, Rosa-Luxemburg-Str. 30, Mitte, Dec 1, 8 and 31, details.
Wolf presents: Contemporary Portuguese Cinema
Wolf Kino is offering three weeks of contemporary films, all from the independent Portuguese production house Terratreme, a group empowering young Portuguese filmmakers to create their own model of production based on the needs of each film. Often a film’s production can be rigid, formulaic and separate from the creative elements of the film it’s producing; Terratreme believes that the creative process is fundamental to the film’s artistic and aesthetic value, and their filmmakers are directly involved in the production.
Founded in 2008, their mission is to “create films that are full of ideas, break genre boundaries and celebrate the artistic freedom of cinema”. On offer during the December showcase is Clandestina by Maria Mire (2023), João Rosa’s Death of a City (2022), Jorge de Carvalho’s Ospina Cali Colombia (2023) and Catarina Mourão’s Astrakan 79 (2023) – all German premieres. These films all deal with Portuguese society through everyday stories of family, workers, industry and intergenerational complexities. Don’t miss.
- Wolf Kino, Weserstr. 59, Neukölln, Nov 28-Dec 18, details.
Doc.Berlin
This documentary film festival has been on the scene since 2019, offering idiosyncratic programming through curated screenings. Each night of the four-day festival includes an array of documentaires from emerging filmmakers; although they aren’t given thematic headers, each night the films on offer share a thread of commonality – experiences of conflict and war, nature, cultural heritage, immigration, friendship, music, mental health, identity and outsider experience. There’s a great breadth of films on offer, all with unique ways of framing the documentary format.
Highlights include Day of the Dead, a short experimental film by Peter Bracke and Kris ‘Curtiz’ De Meester that explores Mexico’s Dia de los Muertos through an artful lens and Hayastan by Silvia Sarsano, which follows the filmmaker’s time at a residency in Armenia. Sarsano arrived less than two weeks after the most recent conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh broke out, and the film explores the refugee crisis and the community’s fight to help. In To be an Extra, Henrike Meyer turns the camera on herself as she becomes an extra in film and television work, using the experience as a tool of self-reflection. Tickets to the screenings come with a free drink, and if you can’t make the physical events, the festival has a great online screening platform of interesting works available throughout December.
- Babylon Kino, Rosa-Luxemburg-Str. 30, Mitte, Dec 9-12, details.
Tomuya Endo: Talk & live event
Known for his exploration of cultural exchange in cinema, singer and film researcher Tomuya Endo creates an immersive experience where the power of music and film intertwine. Having worked with celebrated composers like Angelo Badalamenti and Francis Lai, Endo will be performing live while projecting scenes from Japanese cinematic masterpieces, tying them together and emphasising the emotional resonance of music on a visual audience.
He weaves together an evolutionary narrative of film music, revealing the stories behind iconic scores that have transcended borders. The event will offer an exploration of film history, a tribute to the profound artistry of film composers, and a celebration of the cross-cultural connections that define the global language of cinema. And in true Berlin arts scene fashion, Endo’s work is both intellectually stimulating and emotionally transformative. For anyone with a deep appreciation for the intersection of film, music and culture, this is a crossover journey into the soul of cinematic sound.
- Theater im Kino, Rigaer Str. 77, Friedrichshain, Dec 11 (doors 20:00), details.
