On the occasion of the 69th Berlinale, documentary filmmaker Thomas Schadt accompanied Dieter Kosslick in February 2019 during his last appearance as director of Germany’s most popular and largest film festival. He had the opportunity to look over the festival director’s shoulder exclusively and up close with his camera. The result is an informative and entertaining journey through the festival and its history. Schadt was able to accompany world stars such as Juliette Binoche, Charlotte Rampling and Christian Bale at close range on the red carpet, as well as up-and-coming German director and Oscar hopeful Nora Fingscheid at the competition premiere of her film “Systemsprenger”, with which she won the Silver Bear. At the same time, the film also poses the question of the future of cinema in the age of global streaming services. It becomes clear that festivals such as the Berlinale, in particular, can stage cinema as an extremely attractive event and thus make a valuable contribution to the preservation of cinema. Schadt’s film is therefore not only a tribute to the world’s largest public festival, but also an expression of the fact that the programmatic encounter between mainstream and art film within the festival has always been the most enduring attraction of the Berlinale. A formula that is deeply connected to Berlin’s post-war history and which, according to Dieter Kosslick’s wish at the end of his era as director of the festival, may remain with the film-crazy Berliners for many years to come.

Production:

“Das Kino ist tot, es lebe das Kino” is a UFA FICTION production commissioned by rbb (lead) and SWR in cooperation with ARTE. Thomas Schadt was responsible for the camera and direction. The producers are Christian Rohde and Sebastian Werninger (UFA).

The documentary “Das Kino ist tot, es lebe das Kino” will be broadcast on:

19.02.2020 on ARTE, 23.02.2020 on rbb and 27.02.2020 on SWR.