Iran Filmlist on CINEGEEK.DE 

“As we stand here, the state of Iran is gunning down protestors and a savage massacre continues, blatantly, on the streets of Iran. I consider it my duty to call on artists and members of the global film community to speak out and not remain silent. Use any voice and any platform you have. Call your governments. Call on your governments to confront this human catastrophe rather than turn a blind eye.” (Jafar Panahi)

FREE ON CINEGEEK.DE 

Out of the clear white light, a few people emerge. Who are they? We are in an ordinary building with a blurred background. People are greeted by employees. It almost looks like a government building. They are told they are dead. The here and now is a stopover before it becomes final. They will spend a week here. During this time they are allowed to choose a memory from their lives. Not just any, but the most beautiful! This memory will be their life in eternity. They assemble a film out of it and take it with them. Everything else will be forgotten. This is the idea behind Hirokazu Kore-eda's After Life, a film so friendly and warm-hearted that it can join the ranks of the great humanists of cinema. What is the one great moment that constitutes a life? We are invited to explore it. One of the newcomers pretends to have only bad memories. A co-worker admonishes him to think deeper. Of course: A bad memory for eternity; that would be hell in the true sense! After Life doesn't need any special effects, bad choral music or similar swirls for this scenario. Instead, there's a lot of work: memories have to be collected and assembled into films. In this active zeal we recognize true happiness! 

FREE ON CINEGEEK.DE 

Natürlich bi ich nicht alt genug, um mich an das Studio 54 zu erinnern. Vielleicht war es so ähnlich wie das Berghain - mit dem Unterschied, dass im Studio 54 meistens wer Berühmtes beteiligt war. Angeblich kam man auch WIRKLICH nie an den Türstehern vorbei. Es war der Ort, an dem man gesehen werden musste. Eine Glamour Grube der Dekadenz. Bestimmt hatten die Insassen mehr Spass in ihrem Leben als ich mir je vorstellen könnte. Heute scheinen mir viele Berliner davon besessen zu sein, eine Art neues 54 zu schaffen. Eine Besessenheit, die von Mark Christophers fiktivem Spielfilm "54" aber kaum gestillt werden dürfte. Der Film hat leider ein unbefriedigendes Problem: Er ist viel zu zahm. Doch der von Steve Rubell und Ian Schrager geschaffene Club verdient etwas Dekadentes! 54 dagegen gibt nur vor, die New Yorker Disco Kultur einzufangen - nimmt ihr gegenüber aber eine merkwürdig distanzierte Haltung ein. Immerhin war das das Moment, bevor es Aids gab, als üppiger Hedonismus zu einer kollektiven Massen-Hysterie wurde. Sex, Drugs & Disco. 54 entwirft eine inoffizielle Geschichte aus dem Studio 54, bevor die Steuer-Behörde den Laden auseinander nahm. Frage: Ist 54 nun a) eine Retrospektive, b) eine Saturday Night Fever Runderneuerung, c) eine Parodie? Oder etwa ein verwirrender Mischmasch aus allem? 

FREE ON CINEGEEK.DE  

When we first see Mario (Massimo Troisi), we have to assume that he is still mentally a child.. He talks to his father, who seems to be debil too. Or just weird. In the next scene we realize that Mario is of normal intelligence, but grew up in an area where there isn't much to tell. But that's going to change... Mario lives on an island in the south of Italy where new things arrive very late, if at all. But one day Mario is hired as a temporary postman. He has only one customer, a stranger. It's the famous poet Pablo Neruda (Philippe Noiret) who fled Chile and went into exile on the island. Mario is fascinated by Neurda, who receives countless letters, especially from women. He discusses with his boss, the postmaster, about Neruda: The expelled communist rebukes Mario: Neruda is a political writer! Neither the one nor the other understands Neruda, but Mario decides on the job to visit Neruda daily - and maybe there are girls too! Slowly a relationship develops between the two. Peruda lives quietly and withdrawn with a woman, maybe his wife. Anyway, Mario notices that both love each other deeply. Mario takes every opportunity to talk to Neruda (which is very cute) and has him sign a book. Mario reads the book and says, "How can this book attract so many women? But in the end he goes through a development. He's no longer the naive postman, in the end we think we've discovered the soul of a poet in him (only that he didn't grow up in this environment). But Neruda also learns from the people on the island, whom he describes as the simplest in the world. Mario smiles knowingly - so he can't be that simple anymore.