How to Become a Berliner and Make a Film of it

Networking, meeting people from different cultural backgrounds, maybe even developing a whole new project with someone you just met from the other side of the world. That’s what the Berlinale Talent Campus is all about, and the BTA - Berlin Today Award is the upshot of it.

Last Monday, over 200 participants of the Campus crowded the HAU 1 theater to learn more about the BTA and watch the world premiere of last year’s finalists in the panel “Berlin Today Award: Becoming a Berliner”.

The night was full of music and laughs as we were introduced to the mysteries of how to become a Berliner by such personalities as novelist Wladimir Kaminer, director Sebastian Schipper, musician Nikko Weidemann and performer Adrian Kennedy. One of the night’s highlights took place when GOODBYE LENIN’s director, Wolfgang Becker, climbed onto the stage to play a German version of David Bowie’s “Heroes”.

In the meantime, Talents learned how they could apply for this year’s BTA. Until April 13th, every current or former participant of the Berlinale Talent Campus can send their ideas for a short film that is in someway related to Berlin. A jury will pick up to ten projects and the selected teams will be invited once again to Berlin, this time for a one-week Summer Campus of discussions, project development and a final pitch. After the pitch, the jury will choose the three projects that will be funded by Medienboard and produced by Berlin-Brandenburg film companies.

Finally, the public could see for the first time the three finalists of the BTA 2007. The first one was SHANTYGARDENTOWN by Çagla Zenciri (Turkey) and Guillaume Giovanetti (France), a staged documentary about the allotment gardens in Berlin. Through them, the directors trace a portrait of those Berliners who try to maintain an idyllic life in the middle of one of Europe’s biggest cities.

The second short film was THE WOOLEN HAT, a computer animation by Rhoda Kawiinga, from Zambia. In this mostly naïf and videogame-influenced narrative, Malita is a little girl who owns a magic woolen hat that allows her to talk with animals and travel long-distances in just a matter of seconds. She uses her magical powers to save Berlin bears from a dreadful threat.

The last one, which was just recently announced as the winner of the 4th edition of the BTA, was WASSERSCHLACHT – THE GREAT BORDER BATTLE, by Katarzyna Klimkiewicz (Poland) and Andrew Friedman (USA). The film is a documentary about this almost ten-year old traditional fake-war between the districts of Friedrichshain and Kreuzberg, which were formerly separated by the Eastern-Western division of Berlin. Every year, inhabitants from all ages and from both sides fight over the ownership of the Oberbaum bridge, which connects the two districts.

With good timing in its editing and a great sense of humor, the film entranced the audience and, from the public reactions, one could say it really captured the spirit of rivalry between the two sides.

After a short Q&A session with the directors from the three films, everyone left for the bar on HAU’s lobby, discussing the films and their ideas for this year’s BTA. Who knows how many projects were born that night, between one drink and another?

Leonardo Mecchi

© Berlinale Talent Campus 2007