So far politics are in the otherwise chilly air of the Berlin Film Festival. The opening of the new European Film Market locale brought on board the new German Chancellor Angela Merkel, as the ever-present Indiewirereported. South Korean filmmakers protested their governments decision to double the number of Hollywood imports. And the screening of Marwan Hamed´s The Yacoubian Building, a $3 million epic look at contemporary Egyptian society (based on a best-selling novel by Ala Aswani), was honored by the presence of the Egyptian ambassador. And normally this would be a good thing. But watching the film I kept wondering about how comfortable the honorable Ambassador was as the representative of a nation that the film rakes over the coals. In one scene, the police rape a male prisoner as an interrogation method, and in another part, the ruling party blackmails a rich member of parliment for part of the profits of his auto dealership. Certainly not your typical Tourist Board endorsed film.

# posted by Peter Bowen @ 2/12/2006 10:26:00 AM

Comments (1)

 
Hello?
# posted by  Anonymous @ 2/17/2006 4:37 PM  

Post a Comment