For Berlin’s movie fans, the famous film festival is the absolute highlight of the year. The WiB Cinema group was delighted to be able to continue the yearly WiB tradition by organizing some group visits to the Berliner Filmpalast. Nineteen selected films from around the world, most of them world premieres, competed for the prestigious award. The Cinema group went to watch two of the films.

Past Lives, the debut film of US based director Celine Song, with Greta Lee, Theo Yoo was a tender and touching story about love, being torn between two far away countries and what would have happened if….

Mal Viver by portuguese director João Canijos with Anabela Moreira and Rita Blanco is the filming of a latent generation conflict of characters which breaks out with fatal consequences after the arrival of a young family member. The film was awarded a Silver Bear during the awards ceremony.

There were many other films played in cinemas all over the city. We watched Superpower that was previously envisioned as a documentary about Wolodymyr Selenskyj and his transition from being a comedian to becoming the Ukrainian president. When the filming began, the film director, Sean Penn, found himself in the middle of an unexpected war.  An insightful look into the past as well as the ongoing event.

As a homage to Stephen Spielberg, some of his well-known films were presented at the Berlinale. We watched one of his most famous films with the historical background in Berlin: The Bridge of Spies. Stephen Spielberg himself attended the film festival and was awarded the Golden Honorary Bear for his life achievement.

To be able to see a world premiere or the first film of a filmmaker was truly a special experience for the members of the Cinema group. It was exciting to see the famous directors and actors in person in such a vibrant atmosphere at the Berlinale Filmpalast.