Berlin

Starting this year, the Retrospective is being expanded by presentations called Berlinale Classics. Here recent restorations of film classics and rediscovered films that are outstanding in image and sound will be shown. As a rule, the films of Berlinale Classics will be presented by a prominent Festival guest. These presentations are based on cooperation with renowned partners.

“In the past years, viewers have been able to experience premiere screenings of new restorations in the Retrospective. Recently, the number of high-quality restorations and reconstructions using the new possibilities offered by digital processing has risen. Thus we have decided to establish Berlinale Classics as a forum for premiering them,” says Rainer Rother, Section Director of the Retrospective and Artistic Director of the Deutsche Kinemathek – Museum für Film und Fernsehen.

This year, five masterpieces will be shown: Alfred Hitchcock shot his legendary murder mystery and marriage drama Dial M for Murder (USA 1954) using the stereoscopic Natural Vision 3-D method. Within the scope of Berlinale Classics, the digital 3-D projection of this film, produced by Warner Bros., will have its European premiere.

On the Waterfront (USA 1954) by Elia Kazan won eight Oscars and made Marlon Brando a star. This classic will be celebrating the world premiere of the 4K digital restoration, produced by Sony Pictures Entertainment, Grover Crisp.

Berlinale Classics will also provide the setting for the international premiere of the digital restoration of Tōkyō Monogatari (Tokyo Story, Japan 1953) by Yasujirō Ozu. The Japanese production company Shochiku is not only responsible for this restoration but also for a film that is screening in Berlinale Special: Tokyo Kazoku (Tokyo Family), the latest film by Yoji Yamada and an homage to Ozu’s Tōkyō Monogatari.

A highlight will be Der Student von Prag (The Student of Prague, Germany 1913). This work by director Hanns Heinz Ewers laid the foundation for the international reputation of German silent film. For the digital reconstruction, done by the Filmmuseum München, all film material and written documents known to exist could be consulted for the first time.

The original music by Josef Weiss, a pupil of Liszt and piano virtuoso, has survived as sheet music. Bernd Thewes has been commissioned by ZDF/arte to make a new arrangement for this year’s world premiere. It will be performed by Orchester Jakobsplatz München under Daniel Grossmann.

For years, Cabaret (USA 1972), as directed by Bob Fosse, shaped the wicked and decadent image of 1930s Berlin in movies. The film’s associate producer was Harold Nebenzal, born in Berlin in 1922 and a successful third-generation producer. His father, Seymour Nebenzal, with whom he emigrated to the USA in 1933, and his grandfather, Heinrich Nebenzahl, produced some of the most important films of the Weimar Republic. As a guest of the Festival, Harold Nebenzal will present Cabaret, as well as two films from the Retrospective.

Cabaret
By Bob Fosse, USA 1972
Sat, Feb 9, 11.00 am Kino International, presented by Harold Nebenzal

Dial M for Murder
By Alfred Hitchcock, USA 1954
Tue, Feb 12, 6.00 pm and Sat, Feb 16, 10:00 pm Haus der Berliner Festspiele, European premiere of the digital 3D projection

On the Waterfront
By Elia Kazan, USA 1954
Wed, Feb 13, 7.00 pm Cinestar Event Cinema,
world premiere of the 4K digital restoration (2013)

Der Student von Prag (The Student of Prague)
By Hanns Heinz Ewers, Germany 1913
A coproduction of the Filmmuseum München, Orchester Jakobsplatz München and ZDF in conjunction with Arte. In cooperation with the Deutsche Kinemathek, the Berlin International Film Festival and the Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz, Berlin
Fri, Feb 15, 8.00 pm Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz,
world premiere of the digital reconstruction

Tōkyō Monogatari (Tokyo Story)
By Yasujirō Ozu, Japan 1953
Thu, Feb 14, 3.00 pm CinemaxX 6 at Potsdamer Platz,
international premiere of the digital restoration