The Berlinale is considered the major public film festival. One reason for this is the special series “Berlinale goes Kiez”. She also brings the festival to small cinemas in the area.
The red carpet is already an attraction, here in Kleinmachnow just outside Berlin. Actually, the “Neue Kammerspiele” is a completely normal cinema. The fact that celebrities come to the film screening here is something special and especially happens when “Berlinale goes Kiez” is a guest here. Everyone is correspondingly excited because the crew of the first Berlinale film is a little late.
As part of “Berlinale goes Kiez” three films will be shown in Kleinmachnow. The first comes from the “Generation” section and is a children’s and youth film. “Being a Winner” tells the story of Mona, a Kurdish refugee girl who has to find her place in a German school. It succeeds with the help of a dedicated teacher and through football, because Mona is a talented player.
More than a children’s film
The late film team is therefore a group of excited students who had to find their way from Berlin to the outskirts of the city with Andreas Döhler, the teacher’s actor, and director Soleen Yusef. Then everything happens very quickly, the film team is led onto the stage and enthusiastic applause erupts. Because that’s what’s special about “Berlinale goes Kiez”: The film team meets its audience, is cheered or looked at perplexed, and in any case there is a conversation about the film.
Film professionals and audiences alike find this close contact good. Soleen Yusef, the director of “Being a Winner” is happy, after all she is telling her own story as a Kurdish refugee girl in a school in Berlin-Wedding in the 1990s. “It’s a nice feeling to see the film being received,” she says. She often misses that, which is why she always enjoys attending the Berlinale.
Young footballers from RSV Eintracht from the neighboring town of Stahnsdorf are also in the audience today. They really liked “Being a Winner”; the games were well presented, they praise it. Soccer player Anni says the message she took away from the film was that no one should give up too quickly. It’s always worth staying on the ball – here even in both senses of the word.
Full house with the Berlinale
For Carolin Huder, the managing director of the “Neue Kammerspiele”, it is always a great pleasure to be able to welcome the Berlinale in Kleinmachnow. After all, this gives the small town cinema not only international flair but also a full house. The 350 seats are otherwise not sold out that often.
Huder combines the joy of today’s success with the hope that this special experience will awaken her audience’s desire to go to the cinema again. And maybe even films that are shown in the original language with subtitles. This is standard at the Berlinale, but so far it has not been well received in Kleinmachnow.
International Flair in Kleinmachnow
But now there is a big queue at the entrance waiting to get in to the second film of the day. “The Fable” is an Indian epic about a family of fruit farmers in the Himalayas. A film in Hindi with English subtitles. The director and cast are guests here again. Here too, the welcome from the audience was enthusiastic. Director Raam Reddy returns the favor by jumping into the air on stage.
He thinks it’s great that there is an opportunity to talk to the audience about his film. This is what distinguishes the Berlinale from other film festivals, he emphasizes. His main character even finds the trip to Kleinmachnow exotic. With a wink, Manoj Bajpayee asks when else you would have the opportunity to come to the countryside in Germany.
“Berlinale goes Kiez” – a successful model
The film fans from Kleinmachnow certainly appreciate this commitment. “Berlinale goes Kiez” always brings a little glamor to the community. They are happy every time the “Neue Kammerspiele” can take part in the Berlinale again. This isn’t possible every year because other cinemas also want to be there, which is why the venues change every year.
The Berlinale’s own department takes care of the film selection and organizes guest support. Carolin Huder from Kleinmachnow thinks they are doing it very well. The films this year were also well chosen and suited the audience. The audience’s enthusiasm is correspondingly great again.
Especially since there is another highlight coming up in the evening: director Nora Fingscheidt is presenting her new film “The Outrun”. The Kleinmachnow audience still fondly remembers their last Berlinale entry, “System Sprenger,” which won a Silver Bear in 2019. It’s sold out again, Nora Fingscheidt is expected.