Director Tom Tykwer, a 59-year-old filmmaker, noted that his film "The Light" reflects the lives of people facing the challenges of the modern era. In an interview with German media, he emphasized that today's period is characterized by a "storm of understanding democracy" from the side of political forces wishing to "exclude and marginalize."
The official opening of the festival will take place with the presentation of the honorary Golden Bear to Tilde Suinton, who starred in the works of Luis Anderson and Pedro Almodovar and participated in films with Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, and Keanu Reeves.
German director Tom Tykwer will open the Berlinale film festival with a film about a Syrian refugee, who becomes a guardian in a German family during the time of the German electoral campaign, known for its discursive about migration.
The director of the new film in Berlin, Trisha Tait, at a press conference remarked that "such a festival represents the rejection of different ideas, disseminated by extreme right-wing parties."
The Berlinale is a progressive cinematic event, where contemporary political issues resound, but without such attention as at the Cannes Film Festival or the Venice Festival.
The chair of the jury, American director Todd Haynes, noted: "In the current moment, we are facing a crisis in the United States, as well as in the whole world," pointing to "the treachery and exile," caused by the first tremors of President Trump's presidency.
The director of the films "Dark Waters," "I Hate You," and "Carol" stated: "The ability to unify various forms of opposition still seems to be considered by Democrats as a counterpart."
Tykwer, who gained fame with the 1998 film "Run Lola Run," returns to contemporary Germany after his series "Babylon-Berlin," which served as a backdrop to Weimar's republic and the rise of Nazism. Today, Friday, the screenings of the first films competing for the Golden Bear begin, and the jury led by Todd Haynes, which includes Chinese actress Fan Bingbing, Franco-Moroccan director Nabil Ayouch, and others, is supposed to select the winner from 19 films competing for the Golden Bear. Last year, this award went to the documentary film "DakhomI" by French-Senegalese director Mati Diop.
