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Critic’s Notebook: At Berlin, New Talents and Youthful ‘Dreams’ Signal a Fresh Chapter for 75-Year-Old Fest
Variety chief critic Peter Debruge made the pilgrimage to Berlin for the first time since the pandemic to find a festival energized by new leadership.
It may never surpass its two older cousins (Cannes was established five years earlier, while Venice dates back to 1932), but for the first time in forever, under the direction of incoming festival chief Tricia Tuttle and her team, I felt a frisson of excitement bubbling up through the slippery ice and sub-zero temperatures. Where other filmmakers steer clear of voiceover narration, Norwegian writer-director Dag Johan Haugerud leans into it, letting his teenage protagonist Johanne (Ella Øverbye) tell the story of her “awakening” — a crush on a female teacher (Selome Emnetu) that takes on a life of its own — even as other characters question the truthfulness of what we’re hearing. It’s another divisive work from an uncompromising artist — this one about the power dynamics between an opportunistic American philanthropist (Jessica Chastain) and a passionate dancer (Isaac Hernández) from her Mexico City-based nonprofit, whose decision to cross the border upsets the balance of their relationship.
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