COLOGNE, Germany – Two German directing veterans – Doris Dorrie and Klaus Lemke – have come out with separate public attacks against the Berlin international film festival and the selection policy of festival director Dieter Kosslick.
Dorrie, helmer of German box office hits Men (1985) and Cherry Blossoms (2008), accused Kosslick and the Berlinale of being too avant garde and art house in its selection.
“Sadly there is an almost complete separation between the (Berlin) festival film and a films for an audience,” Dorrie told German newsmagazine Focus. “This worries me greatly.”
Dorrie said this separation was “ill-advised and very risky” and citied it as one reason why she’s glad her latest feature, the crime Drama Gluck (Luck) is not in competition in Berlin. Gluck will have its world premiere in a special, out of competition, screening in Berlin on Wednesday, Feb. 15.
“Because of this increasing division between commercial films and films that are also anti-commercial I don’t know if I would have been so happy in competition,” she said. Gluck bows wide in Germany on Feb. 23 via local mini-major Constantin Film.
In contrast, Lemke, one of Germany’ most outspoken independent film makers, has accused the Berlinale of being too commercial and too conservative in its selection. In a statement, Lemke described the selection for the 62nd Berlinale as “kindergarden on speed” and “over-subsidized film folk-lore,” in contrast, supposedly, to the efforts of indie filmmakers such as himself.
Lemke’s latest, Berlin Fur Helden (Berlin For Heroes), was rejected by Berlin’s selection committee. In response, Lemke has said he and Berlin Fur Helden star Saralisa Volm will stage a protest on Berlin’s red carpet during the festival’s opening night gala on Feb. 9.
