Art-house cinema broke into the next dimension at the Berlin film festival (10th-20th February) Sunday with hotly awaited 3D premieres from European veterans seeking to reclaim the format from Hollywood blockbusters. Wenders’s “Pina,” which showcases the work of the late German choreographer Pina Bausch, had been years in the planning. The picture takes the choreography from the rehearsal stage to the city’s roughly beautiful industrial spaces. Intercut are interviews with the performers, who were still mourning Bausch’s loss, adding a deep emotional undercurrent to the film.
Herzog’s documentary “Cave of Forgotten Dreams” shines a light on what are believed to be the world’s oldest cave paintings, in southern France (the Chauvet Pont d’Arc cave in the Ardeche valley). A specially built hand-held camera captured the paintings in relief, revealing how the ancient artists used the grotto’s own contours to add nuance to their work.
The Berlin film festival runs until February 20.