Entertainment - Film as a cultural event

Hallo Leute! 

    For 10 days every year, Berlin hosts one of the biggest international film festivals in the world, called Berlinale (you can click this link for more information). It attracts tens of thousands of people each year, including 20,000 professionals and 3,800 journalists. It was founded in 1951 (71 years ago) and started at the beginning of the Cold War so that there could be a "showcase of the free world" after the end of WW2.  The political roots of Berlinale are reflected heavily in many of the films today. (If you'd like to read more about this political beginning and history of this festival, click here, here, and here!!). Because the goal is the festival is to showcase a multitude of perspectives, there are about 400 films submitted to the festival in a variety of categories (to compare: Sundance Film Festival showed about 100 films and had an attendance of about 46,000 people in 2016). The categories include Competition, Shorts, Panorama, Perspektive Deutsches Kino, Generation, and more.  There are showings of every film multiple times every day and at a multitude of theatres all over the city and the tickets are VERY affordable and cheap (around 15 euros to only 7.5 euros for students or kids) which makes this an accessible cultural event for most of the public!  This year 320,000 tickets were sold. Fun fact: My friend sat 2 rows in front of Matt Damon at one of the showings this year!!!) 

    I was so lucky that I was in Berlin to experience and attend the Berlinale this year. Because I was away both weekends of the festival and had school during the week, I was only able to make it to three films. Buying tickets was very easy, all I had to do was go online and see which films looked interesting to me and could buy a student discount ticket. The ticket was downloaded onto my phone. I wanted to experience German film so the first film I saw was a Deutsches Kino LGBTQ+ film called "Knochen und Namen" (Bones and Names). This was held in an AMAZING theatre called Zoo Palast with 4 theatres. The outside of the theatre had a red carpet and security guards but unfortunately, no celebrities were there at the time. I didn't know what to expect from this screening. Would the theatre be packed to the brim? Would I be the only one there? I came to realize that I should NOT have arrived one minute before it started because I was stuck in the very front row of a sold-out crowd. Germans are ALWAYS on time and I should've known better. Nonetheless, the film was incredible. It was the debut film of the filmmaker and the audience was definitely pleased. I wish I was fluent in German so that I could understand the movie without reading the English subtitles, but the actors portrayed a lot of emotion through their voices, face, and body. I went alone to this screening, which I was a bit nervous about, but I have learned to be confident and ask "English, Bitte" or "Sprechen Sie English?" if I don't understand what someone is saying to me. A lot of the time you can get away without understanding everything someone is saying to you in another language at events like these. 

    I had to run quickly over to my next showing that started 30 minutes after Knochen and Namen, and it was 29 minutes away. Luckily I have learned how to use public transportation here so I hopped onto the U-Bahn (underground train!) and took it to the other theatre! I met up with a friend for a Panorama Documentary film called Iron Butterflies which was about the war between Russia and Ukraine. It documented the attack on Malaysian Passenger Jet MH17 (from the Netherlands to Malaysia carrying 278 passengers) by Russian Forces as it flew over a Russian-occupied area of Ukraine.  It was a bit of an abstract film mixed with documentaries, interviews, raw footage, real audio of Russian forces, and more. I had no idea about this incident during the war because it happened in 2014, but I am so glad I went and learned about it. After the film, the director and producer came out and talked about how they made the film and answered questions from the audience. On the way out, we were handed souvenirs. 

    The last movie I was was called The Fablemans by Steven Spielberg. It is a true story based on Spielberg's childhood. The venue was Verti Musical Hall, which is a huge venue for big concerts. I am not sure how many people were in the audience but I want to say around 300?  Since this was the next day, I knew to arrive 30 minutes early for a good seat. I went with three other friends and we sat in elevated seats so we could get a good view. The showing was at 10:30pm and the movie was 2.5 hours long so it was hard to stay awake but I am glad I did. The movie was moving, funny, sad, confusing, and inspiring. I felt a lot of different emotions watching it and that is an ode to Speilbergs filmmaking talent. 

The three films I saw were unique to each other as they each focused on a different aspect of life. I think this is why Berlinale attracts thousands of people every year from around the world. It does not intend to hide or block reality, but rather showcase it, even if it hurts or could offend people. I think this is different from America because so many things are filtered out whereas Germany has more of a raw edge to it in terms of entertainment. There is more of an international awareness here. I have also noticed there is significantly more awareness of the war on Ukraine (and other crises around the world) than in the US. Although the physical closeness of Germany to Ukraine plays a role, I don't think that should affect anybody's knowledge of atrocities of any event around the world. Besides the Iron Butterflies documentary, there were films about pretty much every age group, religion, nationality, race, gender, sexuality, etc. The political roots of Berlinale are VERY strong still and people come to see what is happening around the world.  Another thing about Berlinale is that it is not only for film nerds whereas some other film festivals in the US may be solely for super film fans because most films are indie. Here there is surely something for EVERYONE (Berlinale plays old Disney movies like Cinderella) and that is why it is so special. I am so glad I got to experience this AMAZING film festival and I hope I can come back another year! 

Verti Music Hall

The director and producer of Iron Butterflies 

Red Carpet set up at Zoo Palast

Entertainment - Nightlife

     A big part of entertainment for Berliners is nightlife. The nightlife in Berlin is known worldwide to be one of the best. Although I have only been here for two weeks, I have had a glimpse into how Berliners stay entertained during the night. The main source of night entertainment for Berliners is bars and clubs. The clubbing scene is crazy and nothing like I have ever experienced before. Although there are multiple bars that you can go to, they are usually more “chill” and you are able to talk to friends. The bars are used to hang out and relax earlier in the night before you head out to the clubs. Many bars in Berlin are far from boring. One bar called “Dschungel” has vines covering it from top to bottom, tree decorations, and a dark vibe, it seems like you are in a jungle. Another bar called “Multilayer Laden” has rope swings and other platforms swinging from the ceiling that you and your friends can relax on. In America, and specifically Geneva, most bars look pretty similar. The walls tend to be filled with sports jerseys and signed memorabilia, and the booths and chairs look normal. The bars in America are also super crowded and there tends to be a bigger open area or dance floor where people crowd and it can be annoying. This is because there are not as many nightclubs so bars can double for both a bar and a nightclub. In Berlin, you always stay in small groups at a bar, and mingling with a huge group does not happen like it would at the Eddie O’briens Mug Night in Downtown Geneva. There are sports bars and more normal bars here, but they tend to have some type of unique vibe about them to attract people.

    Aside from the bars, the main entertainment is the nightclubs. The most famous thing is the music played, and it's called Techno music (techno playlist - here is a playlist you can listen to if you want to hear what it sounds like). It's similar to EDM, but there are no words, it's very "synth-y" and you feel like you are in a trance. The rooms are VERY dark aside from the lights, which are usually strobe lights, so it is hard to see anybody except the DJ. You feel as if you are on another planet when you are in a techno nightclub. There is not a lot of talking because listening to techno is a personal experience and people want to feel the music and “vibe” rather than talk to friends. In all honestly, most people would not choose to not be sober when at a nightclub, and this is a true and honest part of

    Berlin culture. Big groups are a HUGE no-no when going out anywhere in Berlin. Even when my big group of friends goes out, we ALWAYS split into groups of 2-3 when walking up the bouncer. I think this communicates you are looking to vibe on your own to music rather than be a disturbance with a huge group. Another EXTREMELY important thing is line/club etiquette. You should not show up to a nightclub under the influence, or act that way while waiting in line. It is important to stay off your phone and be pretty quiet. If you are obnoxious, loud, stumbling, or taking selfies or videos, you will definitely not get in. It's also pretty common to ONLY wear black or minimal colors. I have struggled with this because I am a very colorful and fun-dressing person, so limiting myself to black has been sad. You also always have to pay a fee of around 15-30 euros or more depending on which DJ you are seeing live, plus a 2 euro cover if you check your coat (which everyone is doing in the winter and the line to get it back when you leave can take over an hour). In many American bars I have been to, you can get in free on weekends usually unless it is a holiday like NYE. At some clubs, they tape your phone cameras so you can’t record anything. I think this is for privacy reasons but it definitely makes you live in the moment and enjoy what's happening around you rather than recording! At a club called “About Blank” I went to last weekend, they taped my front and black camera with orange circle tape and seemed pretty serious about no phones. Recently one of my friends got her phone hit out of her hand purposely by someone who thought she was recording. Another pair of my friends got kicked out of another club because they were recording (not smart). This shows how seriously Berliners take nightclubs.

    Another big difference between nightlife in Berlin and America is the time events start. In America, bars will start filling around 10pm and college parties will start to fill up around 11pm-12am. In Berlin, those times are EXTREMELY EARLY. Getting in line for a club at around 2-3am is very normal and staying until 5-7am is also normal. Some clubs, such as Berghain (one of the most FAMOUS clubs in the world because the queue can take up to 4 hours and you probably won't get in - watch this video ), are open from Saturday until Sunday and people stay for hours on end. It is a pretty known thing that even Elon Musk got denied from getting into Berghain. Here there is very intense clubbing and techno culture, and I would even call it a grind. It is definitely not for everyone and I think only the local Berliners or other Europeans are truly fit for the techno nightclub scene. As an American, it is hard staying up as late as 2am to go out.

    Unfortunately, I am not in love with techno, so I don’t love clubbing, but the awesome thing about Berlin is that there is a place for EVERYONE to have a fun night. There are endless different and accepting communities in this city where one can fit in and enjoy themselves. The other night I went to a Jazz club that was laid back, calm, and fun! Berlin houses an absolutely crazy nightlife and I am really excited to explore more places to find what I like!

This club is called Ritter Butzke. There is both an outdoor and indoor area.

A picture of people waiting in line for About Blank nightclub