One of many seasonal highlights in the city, the start of summer sees the arrival of open air cinema fever in Berlin. Whether you're a film aficionado or not, these extra special evenings are - weather permitting - one of the most idyllic ways to see in sundown. Between ZK/U's Speisekino Moabit, Sommerkino at the Kulturforum, and not forgetting the famed Freiluft Kino spots across the city, the summer screening schedule is extensive to say the least.
Last Friday night, I took a trip to Cassiopeia's Freiluftkino Insel ("open air cinema island"), where the Lichtspielklub was presenting the latest edition of their short film festival: "British Shorts".
Ideal weather conditions and sweet surroundings, teamed with a well-stocked bar and comprehensive film programme, all made for a packed-out venue. The shorts represented a cross section of film submissions from last year's "British Shorts", many of which were deservedly acclaimed and awarded.
In case you're curious, here's the full line-up:
Welcome To Leathermill by Russell England (w/ Adam Leese)
Beat by Aneil Karia
Happy Birthday Cindy Wei by Tsveta Lozanova
Bird Food by Richard Keane
Pouters by Paul Fegan
Gelato Go Home by Alasdair Brotherston + Jock Mooney
Orbit Ever After by Jamie Stone (w/ Mackenzie Crook, Bronagh Gallagher, Thomas Brodie-Sangster)
The Hungry Corpse by Gergely Wootsch (w/ Stephen Mangan + Bill Nighy)
No Ordinary Passenger by Cabell Hopkins
Spoiler Alert by Mike Skinner (The Streets)
Niche In The Market by Rod Main
Flytopia by Karni Arieli + Saul Freed (w/ Ashleu Artus, Rebecca Palmer)
Invocation by Robert Morgen (w/ Robin King)
The Organ Grinder's Monkey by Dinos + Jake Chapman (w/ Rhys Ifans, Kevin Spacey, Daniel Craig)
During the 135 minute run of 14 shorts, no genre was left untouched. Black comedy, drama, comedy, animation, documentary, horror - the lot. Some were simply brilliant (Happy Birthday Cindy Wei and Orbit Ever After were personal faves), some were downright weird (Flytopia and The Organ Grinder's Monkey continue to disturb), but all offered a pretty spectacular taste of British filmmaking talent. And the beautiful ambience topped it all off; totally worth the 7€ Eintritt.
Oh, and if you're a Brit-based short filmmaker keen to get your work recognised and presented in Berlin, "British Shorts 2015" is now open for submissions! Full info here.
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