US president Donald Trump overshadows Berlin Filmfest

The Berlin International Film Festival in Germany opens with a political subtheme against the US president and his travel ban order.

Aggressive policies and behavior of US President Donald Trump overshadowed the Berlin Fest with director of the event, Dieter Kosslick, calling the US president “the most over-rated president in history.”

Kosslick made the comment on Wednesday in an interview with German TV network Deutsche Welle.

On the same note, ‘Django’, a biopic on jazz musician Django Reinhardt, opened the festival on Thursday. Narrating events in 1943, the movie has been hailed by German Culture Minister Monika Grütters for focusing “on the behavior of artists in authoritarian systems.”

This comes as many films to be shown in Berlin are somewhat related to Trump and his policies, including Raoul Peck’s ‘I Am Not Your Negro’ and Oren Moverman’s ‘The Dinner’, which is said to be “Trumpian”.

Attendees at the European Film Market which is organized within the frames of the Berlinale also focused on Trump’s political measures, including his recent travel ban to the US in the case of refugees and several Muslim-majority countries.

 “We have a Syrian director on one of our films and he is coming to Berlin, but I’m worried if that is the right decision, given the climate,” said the president of a US-based international sales company at the event, adding, “We have to worry about the [US] visa status of every person we work with .... It’s insane.”

The Berlin International Film Festival, AKA the Berlinale, is one of the world's leading film festivals. The 67th edition of the event runs till Februrary 19.

AG/AG