The Kids Are All Right
The stereotypical Berlinale competition film is usually dramatic, grey and distressing. The 7th day of the festival the film Shahada dropped some heavy-duty drama on our laps.
The film sees a Turkish girl abort her baby in a club toilet and a gay Muslim find love in Berlin’s main market. Enough drama to fill the whole festival, one might say. Young director Burhan Qurbani (only 29-years-old) may have set his ambitions a little too high for his first movie. But despite all the tragedy, the premiere party was fun.
The second film shown was outside competition and thankfully much less dramatic. The Kids Are All Right, tells the story of a lesbian couple (Annette Benning and Julianne Moore) who have lived together for 20 years, with two teenage daughters. But when their daughter starts questioning who her biological father is, trouble starts. Paul (Mark Ruffalo) proves to be so charming, that not only the kids fall for him but also one of the mothers…
Director Lisa Choladenko and Julianne Moore attended the press conference. Moore dazzled in a yellow dress, and was sure to mention why she thinks people watch films. She said, “I don’t think people go to the cinema because of the actors, they just want to recognize themselves on the screen”.
Press conferences can often pose problems, with timings and availability. Luckily the conference for Greenberg was a breeze. As usual Ben Stiller delivered, chatting openly to journalists. He said: “I cannot remember jokes and if do, I tell them all wrong.”
Not surprisingly, people laughed all the same. One journalist cheekily asked him whether he’d had any hair product offers on behalf of his new hair style. To which he replied wryly: “Is this why we travelled all the way to Berlin? For these kind of questions?”
Josef Gruebl
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