The 58th Berlin International Film Festival is a Monster
Just what have I gotten myself into this time?Back in December, when the accreditation deadline loomed, it seemed like a fine idea: sure, I'll cover the 2008 Berlin Film Festival. Why not? I was born in Germany, adore Berlin, and love the movies. After six years at the New York Film Festival, it sounded like an exciting change of pace. At least I speak the language, right?
That was two months ago.
Now I'm sitting over my third cup of European-strength latte macchiato in an Italian café somewhere near Rathaus Schöneberg, where President Kennedy once spoke to the German people about jelly donuts. It's unseasonably warm here but rainy and grey, and my laptop isn't picking up any wireless connections. I've barely slept since I took the R to the E to the AirTrain to JFK, and not even the in-flight double feature of Bee Movie and Balls of Steel managed to knock me out. But that's to be expected; that's transatlantic travel for you.
What I didn't quite expect was what's in front of me now: a bewildering stack of handsomely bound programs, dense charts in tiny print, and hastily-xeroxed fliers indicating screening changes that somehow, if you jigsaw them together just right, make up the overwhelming schedule of the 58th Berlin Film Festival.
Forced to leave our luggage between the gambling machines and dart boards of the sketchy bar that doubles as our landlady's office, my travel companion Filmbrain and I went straight to the press center at the Potsdamer Platz to pick up this wealth of information, most of which hasn't been available on the festival's web site. When we were finally within reach of a bed, Berlinale-vet Filmbrain succumbed to the lure of a power nap while I stumbled on in zombie-like fashion, attempting to make sense of it all.
