Berlinale adventures 2011

I am still tired and ill after Berlin Film Festival 2011, although it ended last week. Berlin is a restless city, but with Berlinale it becomes particularly crazy, fun and exhausting. Paris, where I’m back now to continue my studies, feels like a calm province after Berlin… Well maybe it actually is a calm province, heh.

Anyway, I’d like to share few of my experiences presenting my first professional short film, “Porno Melodrama”, at the Panorama section. Panorama, headed by Wieland Speck, is known for showing films of quite radical artistic forms but also, and maybe primarily, queer-themed films. So is “Porno Melodrama”, first Lithuanian gay film, challenging the homophobic “Protection of Minors” law, passed last year in Lithuania.

First of my impressions that I’d like to share is that Berlin Film Festival and it’s crew are incredibly open and friendly. All the people from the Panorama and Shorts offices that I met where accessible and helpful all the time I needed. The fact that these people encouraged me to continue and seemed honestly curious to see what I do next, remains the most inspiring moment of the festival.

Now about the screenings. The first screening was the one of the press, and so it was the most harsh. Directors don’t present their films at the press screenings, but I just went anyway to see the reaction. In this screening, my film was showed together with other queer shorts, and so mine was quite different – not only the longest, but somehow also the most far from realistic style, and, I guess, the most talkative too. I was really nervous seeing my film on that huge screen for the first time in my life. Few people chuckled at the end of the film, and so I was quite stressed: will it be laughable for all the viewers?..

The premiere, however, went in an entirely different way. Before the screening, I quoted “Protection of Minors” law, that considers information “which expresses contempt for family values, encourages the concept of entry into a marriage and creation of a family other than stipulated in the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania and the Civil Code of the Republic of Lithuania” as having “a Detrimental Effect on the Development of Minors”, and also another law, which could be passed this year in Lithuania – it would ban “public promotion of homosexuality” by a fine of 2000 -10000 Lt (3,5 times less in euros). After quoting them, I told that Berlin Film Festival, as we all know, is political, and so I asked people to vote. Everyone raised their hands against these laws, and so I teared them up.

After the screening, I thanked my actress Vilma Kutavičiūtė, cinematographer Ville Piippo, associate producer Stephane Riethauser, production assistant Marija Šilkūnaitė, my brother, fund-raising parties “Porno Melody” organizer Martynas Zabarauskas and my mom. They were all here to support me, as well as my friends Justė Kostikovaitė, Gedvilė Bunikytė, Ieva Černiauskaitė and others, all contributed to the film as well.

And the screening went well, as well as two other screenings. No chuckling at all, everyone silent. And the most touching – some people that I don’t know at all came to me after screenings to tell that they liked it. I guess that’s as objective as it gets. Or even if it’s not, I’m calm now – it’s a good start.

Tell me your opinion when you’ll see the film!

Best regards,
Romas Zabarauskas

Photos by Joe Marçal

Advertisement

Tags: Berlin, berlin film festival, berlinale, lithuania, porno melodrama, porno melody, romas zabarauskas