The 71st Berlinale's Summer Special Is About To Open For The General Public

The last cinema event, which managed to implement its programme before the pandemic hit the world was Berlinale 2020. However, this year it had to change its modus operandi. Therefore the 71st Berlin International Film Festival is taking place in two stages in 2021. From March 1 to 5, 2021, the 71st Berlinale was launched with an Industry Event for film professionals and accredited representatives of the press. But June is dedicated to the general public, which longs for quality films and big screens.

The Summer Special of the 71st Berlinale will be opened on June 9 at Museum Island Berlin. The whole programme will be held until June 20 and will be organized as an outdoor-only event.

The open-air format unfortunately does not allow for presentations of 35 mm prints. For this reason, the Retrospective of the 2021 Berlinale, which is based largely on classic film footage, has been postponed until the 2022 edition of the festival. As well as the Forum Expanded exhibition scheduled to open on May 18 at SAVVY Contemporary in Berlin has been cancelled for 2021.

The majority of the prizes for the 71st Berlinale - including the winners of the Golden and Silver Bears - were already announced during the Industry Event in March. But the awards will be presented to the winners in front of an audience during the Summer Special on June 13 at Museum Island.

The International Jury has already selected the winners for the main category of the festival, that is the Competition. The Golden Bear for the Best Film went to Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn by a Romanian director Radu Jude. According to the Jury, it is an elaborated film as well as a wild one, clever and childish, geometrical and vibrant, imprecise in the best way. It attacks the spectator, evokes disagreement, but leaves no one with a safety distance.

Appalling and beautifully shot, mesmerizing images, remarkable direction and a masterful control of every aspect of the craft of filmmaking, a narration that transcends its historical context. A portrait of war in which the observant gaze of the director reminds us again of the need to choose between passivity and taking individual responsibility. This is how the Jury described the work of the director Dénes Nagy for Natural Light, which brought the Silver Bear for Best Director.

The Silver Bear for Best Leading performance was awarded to Marren Eggert for her role of a scientist, which agrees to take part in an experiment and live for three weeks with a humanoid robot in the film called I'm Your Man.

See the complete list of the Competition awards here.

From June 9 the outdoor screenings will involve not only the films of the Competition but also the other sections of the Berlinale, such as Berlinale Special, Encounters, Berlinale Shorts and other. Take a look at the programme, which may ignite your desire to travel to Berlin this month!