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Film historian and long-time international publishing director of Variety magazine, he has written some 30 books on film. In 1963, he founded the International Film Guide, which he edited for over 40 years. For the 60th anniversary of the Berlinale, he presents his new book “The Berlinale. The Festival”. Programme Events at the Talent Campus:
Peter Cowie, Walter Salles
\\\"Independent cinema, at least the kind I find more interesting today, is rarely about characters only\\\", Walter Salles recently said. \\\"It.s about how these characters are changed by the social and political reality that surrounds them.\\\"
The relationship between reality and fiction is more than a question of authenticity.After the screening of Walter Salles. short documentary LIFE SOMEWHERE ELSE, which he shot while preparing CENTRAL STATION, he will discuss with Peter Cowie the deeper connections between these terms.
Peter Cowie, Zbigniew Preisner
presented by Deutsch-Französische Filmakademie/Masterclass, Dolby and Volkswagen
Anna Asp, Peter Cowie, Christopher Doyle, Emi Wada
Production design,cinematography and costume design are more than other departments responsible for the look of a film, which can only be the fertile result of their common creative effort.So,how does the collaboration between those departments function? This programme presents three international working masters of their trade.
Costume designer Emi Wada has worked for Akira Kurosawa,Peter Greenaway and Zhang Yimou.Cinematographer Christopher Doyle is best-known for his outstanding collaboration with Wong Kar-wai,while Anna Asp designed for Bille August and Andrei Tarkovsky, as well as winning an Oscar for Ingmar Bergman.s FANNY AND ALEXANDER.Three experienced experts in discussion on their profession, moderated by Peter Cowie.
Michel Ciment, Peter Cowie, Dai Jinhua
Presented by FIPRESCI and Goethe-Institut.
The critics know best . or do they? There are certainly a multitude of opinions,but sooner or later everyone working creatively must at some point deal with criticism.Where there is an audience,there are positions, views, taste and . where the ideal film critic is concerned . a special knowledge resulting from the experience of watching numerous films.So maybe they know best,but are they always right?
Peter Cowie, film historian and former international publisher of Variety, will moderate this programme and will welcome Chinese film theorist and critic Dai Jinhua,the president of the international film critics federation (FIPRESCI), Michel Ciment,and filmmaking guests from the Berlinale.Together they will discuss the meaning of their profession and their impact for the film business.
Mohamed Bakrim, Peter Cowie, Marwan Hamed, Hakim Noury, Imad Noury, Swel Noury
In co-operation with Euromed
Writers and filmmakers from the Maghreb and the Middle East will gather to discuss the challenges political, economic, and aesthetic facing the cinema in their countries. Panellists include Mohamed Bakrim (Centre Cinématographique Marocain in Casablanca),
Morrocan brothers Swel and Imad Noury whose thriller HEAVEN\'S DOORS is part of this year\'s Panorama section and their father, actor Hakim Noury. Also on the panel: Egyptian director and Campus alumnus Marwan Hamed. His film THE YACOUBIAN BUILDING is also at the 2006 Panorama. Moderated by Peter Cowie.
Peter Cowie, Roland Emmerich
Provoked by aliens,Godzilla or some ghastly natural disaster . the apocalypse is a constant factor in the films of Roland Emmerich, this year.s Berlinale Jury President. Special effects epics like INDEPENDENCE DAY or THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW are fueled by affectionately detailed shots and a tremendous amount of destruction.Roland Emmerich is regarded as a director who is always looking for new ways to create his illusions.
Interviewed by Peter Cowie and accompanied by film extracts Roland Emmerich will offer insights into his bag of tricks which have helped him design the end of the world.
Peter Cowie, Mike Figgis, Walter Salles
Film music plays an influential and often decisive role in the way we experience cinema. Mike Figgis, one of the few directors who composes his own film scores, has revealed the multi-dimensional interaction between image, music and mood with his atmospheric jazz soundtracks in films like LEAVING LAS VEGAS and INTERNAL AFFAIRS. He is joined in this session by Campus host, Walter Salles, whose films also demonstrate the intrinsic link between visuals and the soundtrack.
Peter Cowie
presented by European Film Academy, Goethe Institut and FIPRESCI
Gael García Bernal, Peter Cowie
In co-operation with the Berlin International Film Festival.
Although his acting career began at the age of eleven in a Mexican TV series, the world didn't become fully aware of Gael García Bernal until 2000, when Alejandro González Iñárritu's AMORES PERROS entered international cinemas. And after Alfonso Cuarón's Y TU MAMA TAMBIÉN - the second extremely successful Mexican film starring Gael García Bernal within the period of a year enthused global audiences, the film world found a new face to associate the South American film movement with.
In the following years, he worked with great film directors like Walter Salles (THE MOTORCYCLE DIARIES), Michael Gondry (THE SCIENCE OF SLEEP) and Pedro Almodóvar (LA MALA EDUCACIÓN). He will complete his directorial debut DÉFICIT in 2007, thereby entering new artistic territory, crossing yet another border. In conversation with the film historian and publicist Peter Cowie, Gael García Bernal, member of this year's Berlinale International Jury, will speak about his experiences in crossing borders of all kinds.
José Carlos Avellar, Peter Cowie, Walter Salles
In co-operation with the Berlin International Film Festival.
Brazilian director Walter Salles won a Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival in 1998 for CENTRAL DO BRASIL , a film also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Recent films by Walter Salles include the US-American production DARK WATER and THE MOTORCYCLE DIARIES about the young Ché Guevara. At today's opening session, Walter Salles will confront you with a personal and subjective view on some aspects of 'privacy, films and politics', the main subject of this year's Berlinale Talent Campus.
In a conversation with Peter Cowie and José Carlos Avellar, he will reflect on the 'Home Affairs' of his own career, his stories which succeeded not only in Brazil but in cinemas around the globe.
Peter Cowie, Raoul Peck, Ralitza Petrova, Jasmila Zbanić
How does a film win the hearts of people? How do individuals decide to love or hate a film? The answer lies in the power of identification: a deeply private bond growing with a character, two lovers, a family or a set of equal-minded individuals. Its their side to be taken, right or wrong. In recent years, audiences around the globe seem to have rediscovered the power of cinema as a platform for political debate. Yet, what makes a film political? The panel invites filmmakers to discuss the relationship between their stories and the power of cinema to change the world.
Peter Cowie, Agnieszka Holland, Tom Tykwer, Andres Veiel
Discussion. In co-operation with the European Film Academy and the Polish Film Institute Warsaw
Almost ten years ago, the brilliant Polish director Krzysztof Kieslowski passed away, leaving a legacy of extraordinary richness. For many, Kieslowski represents
the summit of European filmmaking, at first in his native Poland (THE TEN COMMANDMENTS), and later in France, where his THREE COLOURS trilogy
won awards and acclaim around the world. A distinguished panel of filmmakers who knew Kieslowski
will discuss his influence and the lessons that young Talents can draw from his career.
Michel Ciment, Peter Cowie, Margret Köhler, Derek Malcom
In co-operation with FIPRESCI and Goethe-Institut
Some filmmakers may feel as if they have been eaten alive when they read the reviews in the morning
after a premiere. But do critics really pleasurably
feast on directors? Isn\'t a review just a written-down opinion about a piece of art? The relationship between critics and filmmakers traditionally suffers from a two-way distrust: one party doesnt believe in the others attitude towards their art and crafts. On the other hand: one couldn\'t exist without the other the classical Catch-22 of a love-hate relationship.
But we want to help! Moderated by Peter Cowie, film historian and former international publisher
of Variety, critics Margret Köhler (Germany), Michel Ciment (France) and Derek Malcolm (UK) will meet a filmmaking guest from the Berlinale. Together they will work it out, once and for all.
Peter Cowie, Dušan Makavejev
Dušan Makavejev, the most inventive, boisterous, and widely travelled of all 1960s filmmakers, discusses his career and its lessons for young filmmakers today. His conversation with Peter Cowie will cover the challenges involved in low-budget filmmaking, as well as political commitment, zany humour and, of course, sex on screen. The Berlinale Forum presents special screenings of Dušan Makavejev’s WR: Misterije Organizma (1971). This surreal documentary-fiction collision was banned on release in Makavejev’s home country and is both whimsical and bold in its blending of politics and sexuality. The film runs on Feb 9, 16:30 at Delphi Filmpalast and on February 12, 15:15 at Arsenal.
Peter Cowie, Alex McDowell
Can furniture really depict a hero’s biography? Do locations narrate stories and create spaces that hold the mood of a film? These are just a few challenges faced by set-designers whose contribution to filmmaking is crucial. How does all this add up to full-fledged narrative structures in this trade? Alex McDowell, the behind-the-scenes genius of our times who worked on films such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Minority Report, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and The Crow, shares his insights on his working style using examples from many of his films.
Fernando Eimbcke, Pablo Fendrik, Juan Pablo Gugliotta, Christian Valdelièvre, moderated by Peter Cowie
This case study focuses on two former Talents and their films. Fernando Eimbcke from Mexico, participant of the Campus in 2003, presented his first feature film Duck Season in 2004, which was shown in Cannes and numerous other festivals. His second feature Lake Tahoe is part of this year‘s Berlinale Competition. For the first time a former Talent (together with Lance Hammer‘s Ballast) is part of the Berlinale Competition. Pablo Fendrik from Argentina, Campus and Talent Project Market participant in 2006, made his first feature film The Mugger in 2007, winning awards at the Buenos Aires International Film Festival and at the Film Festival in Cuba. It was also shown in Cannes.
His second feature Blood Appears, shot in October 2007, is now in postproduction. Using excerpts of their films, Pablo and Fernando, together with executive producer of The Mugger, Juan Pablo Gugliotta, and Lake Tahoe producer Christian Valdelievre, will talk about their experiences producing their first and second features in Argentina and Mexico. The two films will serve as examples of Young Latin American Cinema on the move. They will discuss the specific requirements of filming in the region, working constructively with a team under trying circumstances and with small budgets and limited production facilities.
David D'Arcy, Martina Gedeck, Shaibu Husseini, István Szabó, moderated by Peter Cowie
A fresh look at the special – and at times complicated – relationship between film professionals and their critics: the reviewers. Directors, producers and actors/actresses often fear this very sensitive area since reviews have a major influence on the life of a film – or the career of a star. Actress Martina Gedeck and director István Szabó will talk with film critics David D’Arcy and Shaibu Husseini, a current year Talent, about their own experience with the press and how good or bad reviews have affected their approach to their craft. Together they will reflect on the possible limits of film reviewing, and how it is possible to bond with those who review and make or break a film career, looking ahead to a future no longer dominated exclusively by the print media.
Peter Cowie, Gustavo Santaolalla
Presentation of the Volkswagen Score Competition.
Max Richter, moderated by Peter Cowie
In cooperation with Volkswagen.
Sometimes the simplest tune can unlock so much more than anything else in a picture. Music is vital to the film plot, adding a third facet to the images and words. As film and music composer Max Richter puts it: "Music and film have to form a dialogue that fuses into something more than the individual parts – its really a sort of random alchemy – you never know what will work.
”The trick and at the same time the challenge of composing music for film is that it should become a completely integral part of the film – but the music should be able to stand alone as well. The best film composers have the ability to do just this. Winner of the 2008 European Film Award and nominee for an Annie Award for the film score of Waltz with Bashir, Max Richter is one of them. This classically trained composer and pianist, with four solo albums to his name, engages with modern electronic music and the history and tradition of the classical mode. His recent scores have been for the films Hope (2007) by Stanislaw Mucha and Henry May Long (2008) by Randy Sharp.
In this master class, he elaborates on the art of combining different musical styles and creating memorable scores that go to the root of the emotions of the film.
Janusz Kaminski, moderated by Peter Cowie
Camera master class. In cooperation with Robert Bosch Stiftung.
One of the most highly regarded cinematographers today, he is adept at using experimental techniques to create highly specialised concepts in his photography. The haunting and brilliant black-and-white images of Schindler’s List are the artwork of Polish-born cinematographer, Janusz Kaminski, and garnered him his first Oscar.
Subsequently, he has shot a number of Steven Spielberg films. Five years after Schindler’s List, he picked up his second Oscar for bringing the invasion of Normandy to life in Saving Private Ryan. And not long ago, the two legends worked on Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Some of Kaminski’s most evocative and expressionistic work was for The Diving Bell and the Butterfly which won him, amongst others, an award at the 60th annual Cannes Film Festival.
The film revolves around the jet-setting editor of French Elle, who at 43 suffered a massive stroke. The only means of communication left to him is blinking his eyes. Kaminski‘s camera becomes the main character’s blinking eye, presenting audiences with what the man‘s life and impressions were in his paralysed state. "The camera became, as you know, almost an actor. When the actors are performing, they are performing to the camera and I happen to be reflecting what the actor […] is feeling and what he is seeing”, he said about his visual artistry in the film.
Allowing Talents a chance to peer into his camera lens, Kaminski, who was a jury member at the 2006 Berlin International Film Festival, will elaborate on his unconventional visual approach and his use of experimental techniques that are rarely seen in narrative film, citing examples from his vast portfolio of notable films.
Tilda Swinton, moderated by Peter Cowie
Her film debut in Caravaggio in 1986 was the first of seven critically acclaimed collaborations with director Derek Jarman over a period of ten years. The fiercely talented Scottish actress, Tilda Swinton began her career as a leading lady of European art cinema, working also with directors like John Maybury and Sally Potter and earning recognition for her dazzling and complex lead performance in the Academy Award-nominated Orlando (1992).
Hollywood too picked up on her commanding on-screen presence and since 1997, she has successfully moved between the deep-left art house and quality Hollywood blockbusters. The thriller The Deep End (2001) earned her a number of critic‘s awards and her first Golden Globe nomination, her 2008 Oscar decorated performance in the legal thriller Michael Clayton and her iconic White Witch in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005) and Prince Caspian (2008), as well as the recent Burn After Reading are only a few examples of her stunning performances which have cemented her place as one of cinema‘s most outstanding women. In 2008, Swinton wrote and co-produced a remarkable film portrait of Jarman – Derek – directed by Isaac Julien and presented at the 2008 Berlinale Panorama. In the same year, she founded, cocurated and produced a film festival in her hometown Nairn, Scotland: The Ballerina Ballroom Cinema of Dreams.
Jury president of the 59th Berlin International Film Festival, Tilda Swinton reflects on the defining moments in her illustrious career, her extraordinary work in art and experimental projects and her effortless switching between large Hollywood productions and European art house films.
Ekkehard Knörer, Mick LaSalle, Dana Linssen, moderated by Peter Cowie
The mushrooming of internet bloggers appears to be hijacking the discussion on films. The Internet not only provides a dynamic platform for reviewers but also free access to film reviews, both from established media as well as an ever-increasing horde of bloggers.
With film criticism no longer under exclusive purview, where virtually anyone can write a review and post it online, what happens to the professional film critic? How does this apparent democratisation affect the style of writing and quality of reviews in terms of ideas they present? The proliferation of blogging is not alone responsible for the declining status of film criticism: The internet is today more proficient in attracting advertising; marketing and promotion strategically aim more and more at the internet for their campaigns. Film reviews are often manipulated by distributors; print editors afford less space to reviews, change ratings in compliance with advertising allegiances and often opt for the review of blockbusters. In contrast to print reviewers, bloggers have the advantage of free speech, owing no allegiance or responsibility to anyone. Society in general seems more to prefer "sponsored slogan to judicious assessment” as Nick James proclaims in his introduction to "Who needs Critics?" (Sight & Sound, October 2008).
Esteemed film critics will address the questions we are all asking: Is the internet today, as its proponents claim, a gold-
mine for discovering new cinematic gems? Has the penetration of a more informal internet-like writing through the advent of blogs, social networking website such as Facebook, etc. seeped into print reviews? Do these changes enrich or impoverish film criticism? And finally, what is the fate of film critics as their destiny is bound to the dictates of their editors and the wishes of the public at large?
Peter Cowie, moderated by Bertrand Tavernier
One of France‘s first rank directors, screenwriters, and producers, Bertrand Tavernier’s association with the world of cinema has been long and varied. He evolved from an ardent film enthusiast and critic, press agent to ultimately become a prominent and versatile director in his own right. Regardless of the subjects they explore, Tavernier lends his films great introspection and humanity, something that has established him as one of the French cinema's more progressive and compassionate figures.
His astounding range of films include his first The Clockmaker (1974, Special Jury Prize at the Berlinale), Life and Nothing But (1989) which won him the BAFTA for best film in a language other than English and a total of four César Awards, It All Starts Today (1999), which earned him awards at the Berlinale including the Jury’s Special Mention Prize, and his most recent In the Electric Mist which competes for the Golden Bear in the 2009 Berlinale. “My job is to dream and invent, and out of this produce something that will change the world“, he said in an interview at the 1999 Sydney Film Festival.
He will talk about his initial involvement in the film industry and his socially politicised viewpoint reflected in the diverse themes of his films – familial relationships, World War I and contemporary social ills.
Anne Carey, Sir David Hare, Daniela Thomas, moderated by Peter Cowie
Writing a novel screenplay is an adventurous journey, a process that begins with your imagination and ends with a story structure and script. What takes place in between embodies the art and craft of scriptwriting.
This is the phase when you explore, clarify and focus your story, and figure out what’s really at stake in the film. The key turning points in a script draw people into the film, setting the entire story in motion or giving the plot a new critical direction. Acclaimed English playwright, screenwriter, theatre and film director, Sir David Hare wrote and directed the films Wetherby (1985) which bagged him the Golden Bear at the 1985 Berlinale, Paris by Night (1988) and Strapless (1989), amongst others.
He is the scriptwriter of two Stephen Daldry films including The Reader (selected for the Berlinale 2009) for which he is nominated for an Academy Award. Daniela Thomas, acclaimed scriptwriter and director, she has worked with Walter Salles on a number of films including Foreign Land (1995) and most recently Linha de Passe (2008). The two writer/directors discuss with eminent independent film producer and co-founder of the production company This Is That, Anne Carey, the underlying dynamics of turning points in scriptwriting.
Carey’s film portfolio comprises films such as The Savages and Thumbsucker (executive producer), which premiered at the 2005 Berlinale. Together the experts look at different ways in which turning points could be brought into a storyline and how to continue after the climax of a story.
Alexandre Desplat, moderated by Peter Cowie
If you enquire after the rising stars in film composition on the Hollywood scene, you will inevitably encounter the name of Alexandre Desplat. With a well-grounded background in film composition, extensive experience and an evident personal style, this French composer, after having composed the music for over 50 European films, began his triumphant success around the world in 2003 with the wonderful neo-classical and haunting score of GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING and the Silver Bear-winning score for THE BEAT THAT MY HEART SKIPPED(2005). With a gift for rich, cinematic melody, his varying and sensitive orchestral style, his ear for rhythmic precision and his keen sense for dramatic nuances has been enriching the world of film music across the globe. He has made award-winning scores for such films as THE PAINTED VEIL, THE QUEEN, BIRTH and THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON. Using excerpts of the diverse films he has worked on, this prolific composer will discuss the ways of introducing the mood of a film through the opening music, the timing of a score and heightening of suspense moments within a scene. He will elaborate on the music in historical films or those made on foreign ground, and his approach to composing a score at a time when scores are increasingly being written before the film is edited. He will also talk about his close collaboration with various film directors and the differences in the production of European and US American films.
Hans-Christoph Blumenberg, Michel Ciment, Dieter Kosslick, Hanna Schygulla, Gesine Strempel, moderated by Peter Cowie
In cooperation with Berlinale Special and Berlinale Retrospective.
The Berlin International Film Festival was launched on June 6, 1951 and celebrates its 60th edition this year. Over the past decades, the Berlinale has become one of the most important film festivals in the world. Festival director Dieter Kosslick introduces this panel of prominent filmmakers and critics Hans-Christoph Blumenberg, Michel Ciment, and Gesine Strempel, and legendary actress Hanna Schygulla. The panel not merely relives the rich history of the Berlinale, but also discusses the role the festival has played and continues to play for filmmakers – that of connecting cultures and international cinema, the North to the South, and bringing closer the East to the West. The festival remains a home base for the emerging and the established, today and in the future. Film historian and critic Peter Cowie, whose reflections on the history of the festival and the Berlinale today are presented in the book “The Berlinale. The Festival”, will explore together with the experts questions about how a festival like the Berlinale can enrich the métier of filmmaking and enhance the joy of watching films, and how cinema will continue to bring people together in the future.
Christian Berger, moderated by Peter Cowie
Renowned director of photography Christian Berger, also director, producer and writer of numerous documentaries, TV films and features, has worked with leading directors such as Michael Haneke, Luc Bondy, Stephen Gaghan and Amos Gitai. Recipient of numerous awards, most recently he was awarded the “Behind the Camera Award“ Los Angeles “Cinematographer of the Year“ for THE WHITE RIBBON. Berger developed the new “Cine Reflect Lighting System Berger/Bartenbach” in collaboration with the Bartenbach Lichtlabor, which, in addition to creating new aesthetic possibilities for the camera, gives actors and directors unprecedented flexibility and freedom.
In his master class, he will give insight into his style of working – how he decides to join a particular project, prepares for the shooting stage with the director and how together they find a way to develop a common film language. Not least, he will talk about how he manages to surprise directors and producers with images beyond their expectation, lending the final film its very own mood and intensity. In the “Lighting Workshop“ on February 16 at 18:00, DoP Talents will benefit from a presentation of his lighting system, which he employed to shoot films such as DEAD MAN'S MEMORIES, CACHÉ and THE WHITE RIBBON.
Stefan Busch, Peter Strickland, moderated by Peter Cowie
Often filmmakers who appreciate sound still have a limited idea of the potential for sound in storytelling. Designing the film with sound in mind implies allowing sound’s contributions to influence creative decisions in the other crafts. Only when each craft influences the other does the film begin to take on a life of it’s own, the sound shaping the picture as much as the picture shapes the sound. Based on his outstanding sound design for PERFUME - STORY OF A MURDERER and his work on a wide range of films, Stefan Busch will describe how he created his mix and what his close collaboration with the director during the development and shooting process meant to him. British director Peter Strickland will do the same with his directorial debut KATALIN VARGA, the pleasant surprise at last year’s Berlinale Competition, screened subsequently at a number of international festivals. For Katalin Varga, Strickland recently won the European Discovery 2009 Award at the 22nd European Film Awards. He will talk about his passion for sound design and the hidden secrets of narrative storytelling through the ears of the spectator.