This bokeh gif of the Potsdamer Platz glittering at night pretty much rounds it up, I think.

63rd Berlinale {5}

This is what Berlin looks like at the moment ... and my nose feels exactly like this picture looks. Achoo! So I am always happy when I can snuggle up in a comfy cinema chair for the next film.

Here are some miscellaneous snappies for you from cinema interiors over the last couple of days.

63rd Berlinale {4}

On Friday, the Berlinale began for us with Wong Kar Wei's "The Grandmaster", which was epic! especially in aesthetic, visual points.

Up to now, we already saw a lot of really great films. There were only a few who disappointed us...

At the moment, my absolute favourites are actually two children movies: "Nono, Het Zigzag Kind" and "Satellite Boy". The first one is about a young boy who wants to become an inspector and sets out to solve the mystery about the death of his mother. It is set in the 70's with bright colours, beautiful locations and full of cleverness, humour and charme. All this can be said about the second film, too. Except that he is completely different - it's about two Aboriginal kids in today's northern Australia who get lost in the outback and have to remember the things their elders told them about nature's magic powers in order to survive. Do you know the feeling when a film is able to suck you through the screen into another world. So that afterwards you need time to come back to your reality? Like after a very long, deep and healthy sleep? It's difficult to describe... In any case, I love this feeling.




Sunday morning, 9:00 a.m. and the Friedrichstadtpalast fills up. I like the rushing in this picture a lot (in fact, most of the people weren't really able to rush because they were still half asleep and the caffeine hadn't seeped through yet ...)



Seating plan of the Friedrichstadtpalast
The Friedrichstadtpalast is a location I really like because of it's very own atmosphere, but you really, really have to like the film to be able to stay in these seats for a while. They are made out of wood (but they are upholstered) and its really, really cramped. I'm 1,60 m long and I have to sit up very straight to not bang my knees at the seat in front of me or to cross my legs. I cannot imagine how taller people manage to fold themselves into these seats...




One of my favourite cinema's in Berlin is the Delphi, a beautiful place for cinema lovers, I think. A very old house which was a dance hall in the beginning of the 20th century and became a cinema at the end of the 40's. If you are interested, here are some old pictures: click.




Fortunately, the Berlinale website offers the possibility to create your own festival planner. I would be completely lost without it.

Ok, we are back in the cinema! Have a wonderful day!

63rd Berlinale {3}

Yesterday was the opening. The whole day was almost spring like with a little bit of sunshine. I think the pictures show what happened at 6 p.m. when the red carpet opened...

Jane Fonda on the left and on the right the whole bunch of photographers.
It is my absolute favourite from yesterday's pictures.

Now, I have to hurry. It's time to finally go to the cinema!

63rd Berlinale {2}

Yesterday's note to self: Don't let laziness win and try to buy the tickets via the Berlinale website. At 10 a.m. sharp, their server went down and with it the tickets I wanted. At least it managed to cough up 2 tickets for another film I wanted. Phew.

So, plan for the days to come: get up early and sit in the queue again. In fact, I look upon it favourably: it's a seldom possibility to do nothing except sitting, listening music, reading, thinking, writing, talking... . But, if they asked me, they should rather open the ticket counters at 6 p.m. instead of 10 a.m. - then I would be able to savour it even more :)

Wohooo, the temperature is rising! (Although it is actually falling, brrr...)

Tomorrow is opening day!

63rd Berlinale {1}

For a few years now, the Berlinale has been an integral part of my personal events-during-the-year-anticipation-list. Especially because I absolutely love films and cinemas, but also because of this festival's atmosphere. It's an audience's festival and the whole Potsdamer Platz (where the centre of the festival is) will be humming from all the film enthusiasts rushing to and fro for the next two weeks. It's also about sharing a passion with the like-minded: after taking part for a few years, there are people you meet time and again but only at the Berlinale.

It will mean making time tables, sitting whole days in cinemas, getting not enough sleep, hurrying to the next cinema, living out of a bag, getting too much coffee and wine and not enough decent food and sunlight. But it will also mean travels all over the world, anticipation, pictures, ideas, stories, excitement, wonder, languages, places you had never even heard of ...  It's a tense and exhausting spectacle but I would not like to miss it. 

And today was the day the ticket counters opened again!

So, my idea is, to take you with me a little by posting some pictures and telling you about it every day. If you don't mind. But don't worry - it will all be over in two weeks :)

PS: For more pictures of the Berlinale you can also follow the @instantcookie on Instagram - who is also a film buff!