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Forty years after Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s powerful fifteen-hour television series “Berlin Alexanderplatz”, Alfred Döblin’s modernist masterpiece is relevant again. But German director Burhan Qurbani, who is this year’s big winner at the Stockholm Film Festival, has brought the story of the Weimar era to today’s Berlin.
The main character Franz, or Francis, as he is called in Welket Bungué’s strong and praised performance of the role, is in Qurbani’s portrayal one of many West African immigrants trying their luck in Europe. A man who bravely fights for light and goodness, but is constantly drawn into darkness and crime. Although the film is “only” three hours long, “Berlin Alexanderplatz” manages to capture vital parts of the novel with plenty of contemporary atmosphere and intensity.
Few Mexican “identifying characteristics” became the second biggest winner of the festival. Director Fernanda Valadez won both Best Director and Best First Feature awards for her film, which also revolves around migration and takes place around the busy border between Mexico and the United States.
The award for best screenplay also went to a woman, Tunisian Kaouther Ben Hania, who also directed “The Man Who Sold His Skin.” Another film about flight and exile, this time with war-torn Syria as the starting point.
American Katherine Waterstone, best known for the films “Fantastic Monsters and Where to Find Them”, was in turn praised as the best female actress in the Norwegian-directed feminist western film “The World to Come.”
The festival ends on Sunday, November 22. There is still a chance to see some winners on the big screen, like “Berlin Alexanderplatz”. Some of the award-winning films can also be viewed digitally on the Festival on demand tab at www.stockholmfilmfestival.se such as “Identifying Features”, “The Man Who Sold His Skin” and the winning documentary “Gunda”.
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