Announcing the very first line-up for its 2012 edition, the Berlin International Film Festival revealed Wednesday a few of the titles selected for its Generation 14plus programme. Among the films is Simon Staho's colourful musical "Love is in the Air".
"Made our day"
With a generous use of pop music and the brightest of rainbow hues, the film takes us on a daring tour through a night of youthful adventure. Daniel is hopelessly in love with Lina who is in love with herself and will do anything to attract the attention of a feted pop star. Terese is ready to give up her virginity to Stefan, but Stefan would rather come out of the closet to get closer to Daniel.
"'Love is in the Air' made our day," says Maryann Redpath, director of the Generation programmes, upon selecting the film. "We loved the film's breathtaking style, the actors' great performances and not least the relevance of the topic combined with a general absence of any false morality."
Second time in Berlin
Simon Staho already made his mark in Berlin in 2008 with "Heaven's Heart", a Swedish production starring Mikael Persbrandt. Staho's emotionally and visually uncompromising style has also brought on films like "Day & Night" (2004), winner of the Silver Hugo at the Chicago International Film Festival, "Bang Bang Orangutang" (2005), and "Daisy Diamond" (2007) which marked a first breakthrough for Noomi Rapace, by now a household name with international audiences thanks to her performance in "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo".
"Love is in the Air" opened in Danish theatres in June and is produced by Jonas Frederiksen for Zentropa with support from the Danish Film Institute. International sales are handled by TrustNordisk.