By MICHAEL GINGOLD
The 7th edition of the fest showcasing movies by women and non-binary filmmakers runs February 3-6.
This Final Girls Berlin Film Festival takes place at Berlin’s City Kino Wedding, and includes screenings of features and shorts, plus talks by international horror specialists. The feature films are:
WE ARE ALL GOING TO THE WORLD’S FAIR – Berlin Premiere (Dir. Jane Schoenbrun, USA, 2021)
“I want to go to the World’s Fair. I want to go to the World’s Fair. I want to go to the World’s Fair.” Say it three times into your computer camera. Prick your finger, draw some blood, and smear it on the screen. Now press play on the video. They say that once you’ve seen it, the changes begin… In a small town, a shy and isolated teenage girl (Anna Cobb in a stunning feature debut) becomes immersed in an online role-playing game, wherein she begins to document the changes that may or may not be happening to her.
HELLBENDER (pictured) – German Premiere (Dirs. Toby Poser, Zelda Adams & John Adams, USA 2021)
A mother and daughter live in the middle of nowhere, relying only on each other. Teenager Izzy spends most of her time in nature and her home studio rocking out with her mom. Her mother doesn‘t want Izzy to go near anyone else–for fear of disaster. Is this maternal overprotectiveness, or is there something supernatural at play? This witchy coming-of-age film directed by the Adams family (mother Toby Poser, daughter Zelda Adams, and husband/father John Adams) is a thrilling and emotional ride exploring family dynamics, the changeability of identity and notions of power.
HERE BEFORE – Berlin Premiere (Dir. Stacey Gregg, UK, 2021)
When a new family moves in next door, their young daughter, Megan, quickly captivates Laura (played to paranoid perfection by Andrea Riseborough), stirring up painful memories of her own daughter who died several years previously. Before long, Laura’s memories turn to obsession as Megan’s unsettling behavior begins to convince her of something supernatural. As Laura’s determination to get to the bottom of it becomes all-consuming, her family begins to fracture and the line between the extraordinary and the real becomes ever more obscured in this haunting story about a mother’s love.
YOU ARE NOT MY MOTHER – German Premiere (Dir. Kate Dolan, Ireland, 2021)
It’s the week before Halloween and Char’s mother, Angela, has inexplicably disappeared. All that remains is her abandoned car. When she returns home without explanation the following evening, it becomes clear to Char and her grandmother, Rita, that something is amiss. She might look and sound the same but Angela’s behavior has become increasingly frightening, as if she has been replaced by a malevolent force. When Halloween arrives, a night steeped in ancient myth and legend, Char realizes that she is the only one who can save her, even if it means potentially losing her forever.
KNOCKING (Dir. Frida Kempff, Sweden, 2021)
Molly, a woman who has just experienced a traumatic incident, is unnerved by a haunting knocking sound from upstairs in her new apartment building. As the noises become more desperate and increasingly sound like cries for help, she confronts her neighbors, but seems to be the only one that can hear them. In an unsettling quest for truth, Molly soon realizes that no one believes her and begins to question if she even believes herself–a realization that is perhaps even more chilling.
GOOD MADAM – German Premiere (Dir. Jenna Cato Bass, South Africa, 2021)
Tsidi, a single mother, is forced to move in with her estranged mother Mavis, a live-in domestic worker caring obsessively for her catatonic white “Madam.” As Tsidi tries to heal her family however, a sinister spectre begins to stir.
KISSED (Dir. Lynne Stopkewich, Canada, 1996)
Sandra is attracted to primary post-mortem. Death is something she wants to get close to. In her quest, Sandra lands a job at the local funeral parlor. So begins her initiation into the funeral industry and the hidden world of undertaking. While studying embalming, she meets Matt (Peter Outerbridge), a lonely, intense medical student. Faced with Matt’s mounting obsession and conventional notions of love, sex, and death, Sara finds that sometimes there is a way of crossing over.
There are also themed blocks of short films:
I. SOCIAL ILLS
- THE GOLDFISH — Dir. Ashley Paige Brim, USA, 2021
- SHE WHISTLES — Dir. Thirza Cuthand, Canada, 2021
- SMILE — Dir. Joanna Tsanis, Canada, 2021
- DEDICATION — Dir. Selina Sondermann, Germany, 2021
- THE EXPECTED — Dir. Carolina Sandvik, Sweden, 2021
- BETA MALE — Dir. Marianne Chase, UK, 2021
II. WRATH
- DANA — Dir. Lucia Forner Segarra, Spain, 2021
- MENARCA — Dir. Lillah Halla, Brazil, 2020
- FIRE SEASON — Dir. Jacqueline Kramer, USA, 2021
- WATCHER — Dir. Meg Swertlow, USA, 2021
- MASSACRE — Dir. Maïté Sonnet, France, 2019
III. MEDICAL HORROR
- OUR FIRST PRIORITY — Dir. Ariel Baska, USA, 2021
- OCCUPATIONAL HAZARD — Dir. Ursula Ellis, USA, 2021
- FREYA — Dir. Camille Hollett-French, Canada, 2020
- THEY CALLED ME DAVID — Dir. Lindsay Hallam, UK, 2021
- HYSTERIA — Dir. Jenna Payne, USA, 2021
- THE LIVING — Dir. Cleo Handler, USA, 2021
- UPDATED — Dir. Nivi Pedersen, Greenland, 2021
IV. ENVY
- RED IS THE COLOR OF BEAUTY — Dir. Beck Kitsis, USA, 2021
- INCH THICK KNEE DEEP — Dir. Anatasha Blakely, USA, 2021
- HANNYA — Dir. Eva Muñoz, France, 2021
- SISTER — Dir. Mikaela Bruce, Spain, 2020
- GIRLS NIGHT IN — Dir. Alison Roberto, USA, 2021
- MURDERERS PREFER BLONDES — Dirs. Mika Bar On Nesher & Mary Neely, USA, 2021
V. QUEER HORROR
- GAY TEEN WEREWOLF — Dir. Andy Rose Fidoten, USA, 2020
- ITCH — Dir. Susannah Farrugia, UK/Malta, 2021
- PROTECTION SPELL — Dir. Maren Moreno, USA, 2021
- SUNDOWN TOWN — Dir. Mylo Butler, Produced by Tamia Bailey & Yajarrah Paul, USA, 2021
- THE COST OF LIVING — Dir. Alice Trueman, UK, 2021
- BITTEN, A TRAGEDY — Dir. Monika Estrella Negra, USA, 2021
- NEW FLESH FOR THE OLD CEREMONY — Dir. Elizabeth Rakhilkina, USA, 2020
- MONSTERDYKË — Dir. Kaye Adelaide & Mariel Scammel, Canada, 2021
VI. MIDNIGHT
- VERIFIED — Dir. Ali Chappell, Canada, 2021
- ARM — Dir. Jill Worsely, UK 2021
- IT CAME FROM THE KITCHEN! — Dir. Jessica Salgado, USA, 2021
- YOUNG FOREVER — Dir. Stevie Szerlip, USA, 2021
- VICTIM NO. 6 — Dir. Nancy Menagh, USA, 2021
- POSTED NO HUNTING — Dir. Alisa Stern, USA, 2021
- CRAFTY WITCH — Dir. Laura-Beth Cowley, UK, 2021
- DEATH VALLEY — Dir. Grace Sloan, USA, 2021
- VISITORS — Dir. Kenichi Ugana, Produced by WATANABE, Japan, 2021
VII. GLUTTONY
- GHOUL LOG — Dir. Christine Pfister, USA, 2019
- THREE WAYS TO DINE WELL — Dir. Alison Peirse, UK, 2021
- DEMON JUICE — Dir. Shannon Brown, USA, 2021
- BINGE AND PURGATORY — Dir. Rebecca Kozak, USA, 2021
- MISOPHONIA — Dir. Julianna Robinson, USA, 2021
- SUCH SMALL HANDS — Dir. Maria Martínez Bayona, UK, 2020
VIII. MENACING PRESENCES
- SLEEP WITHOUT A DREAM — Dirs. Prudence Njeri & Benji Irwin, Canada, 2021
- INHERITANCE — Dir. Annalise Lockhart, USA, 2021
- BRACKISH — Dir. Christa Boarini, USA, 2021
- HOUSEKEEPING — Dir. Kyle Dunbar, Written and Produced by Rebecca Callender, Canada, 2021
- PIECE BY PIECE — Dir.Chloé Sirois, Canada, 2021
- SUDDEN LIGHT — Dir. Sophie Littman, UK, 2021
- CLOUD — Dir. Joséphine Darcy Hopkins, France, 2020
Most of the short blocks will be available for worldwide on-demand access during the festival. For more information on the films, programs and workshops, head over to the fest’s official website.
