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News from Berlin and Germany, 12th January 2023

Weekly news round-up from Berlin and Germany


12/01/2023

NEWS FROM BERLIN

New numbers for arrests for firework attacks in Berlin – majority Germans

According to new riot statistics from the Berlin police on New Year’s Eve, most of the 38 perpetrators, arrested for attacks on police officers and firefighters with fireworks, were German citizens – approximately two thirds. The previously announced figures of 145 arrested of 18 different nationalities triggered a debate after New Year’s Eve about a lack of integration in hotspots like Neukölln. But this initial figure is of limited relevance since it refers to all the people arrested by all units deployed for various offences on New Year’s Eve. Source: tagesspiegel

One third of teachers to leave Berlin schools by 2027

In the next four years, about 10,000 teachers will leave the teaching profession for reasons of age. That is roughly one in three teachers. The Senate therefore wants the universities to deliver more teaching graduates – around 2,300 annually, said State Secretary for Science Armaghan Naghipour. According to the current university contracts with the state, 2,000 student teachers are supposed to graduate each year. However, only about 900 finished last year. As new contracts with the universities are currently being negotiated, there remain almost a thousand teaching positions vacant as of 1 November 2022, the deadline of the previous contract. Source: rbb

The trial against Sara Mardini begins

In 2015, Yusra and Sara Mardini fled to Berlin. While the first ended up swimming for Germany in the Olympics, the latter decided to help refugees. The pair are the subject of a recent movie on “Netflix” telling their story. Sara Mardini, 27 years old, faces up to 25 years in prison. The charges against her, the German lifeguard Seán Binder (28) and the Greek NGO worker Nassos Karakitsos (42) are: forgery, illegal use of radio frequencies, espionage.  Crimes they are said to have committed while supposedly founding a criminal gang involved with human trafficking. Sara has been waiting for a fair trial for more than four years. An investigation by the European Parliament found the charges “criminalise solidarity”. Source: berliner-zeitung

Berlin and Brandenburg lift mask requirement on public transport as of 2 February

Berlin and Brandenburg have decided to end the obligation to wear masks on public transport. According to the Federal Law on the Protection against Infectious Diseases, masks will remain compulsory for long-distance public transport and for visitors to hospitals, nursing homes and doctors’ surgeries. Brandenburg’s Minister Dietmar Woidke (SPD) said it was particularly important for him to agree with Berlin on a common date lift of the requirement given their closely networked region. In Brandenburg, however, some provisions of the Corona Ordinance were extended such as wearing masks in communal accommodation for homeless people and refugees. Source: rbb

Nine homeless people killed on Berlin’s streets since 2018

In response to questions from MP Taylan Kurt (Greens) concerning the figures of homeless people who were killed on the Berlin’s streets, the Senate Social Administration have said two cases were murder and one case of robbery and murder.

Other cases were classified as manslaughter and bodily injury. The worst year was 2018 in which 3 cases occurred, followed by 2019 and 2021 with two each. In 2020 and 2022, one case each was registered. The total number of homeless people who died on the street is “incalculable” according to the Senate. Source: bz-berlin

 

NEWS FROM GERMANY

Hamburg police blocks climate activists

The Hamburg State Police stopped a bus with 50 climate activists for about three hours. The group, including members of “Fridays for Future”, was on its way to the village Lützerath which is sat on top of a huge coal reserve. The bus was stopped in accordance with the “law on the prevention of danger” which comes into effect if the police suspect you of wanting to disrupt “public safety”. Passengers were then required to identify themselves, with the police taking photographs of those without identification, according to a police spokesperson. Their luggage was also searched with superglue and climbing gear seized. Source: spiegel

Lützerath and the miscalculation of the Greens

Back in April 2021, while activists were protesting outside the Constitutional Court, Germany’s highest legal authority made the historic declaration that the country has a constitutional right to climate protection à la the Paris Agreement. However, according to studies produced by the German Institute for Economic Research, once the coal under the village Lützerath reaches the power plant, it will be practically impossible to still meet those Paris climate targets. And, instead of using the crisis as an argument to herald the end of coal, oil and gas, the Greens are clearing the way for further energy waste: Robert Habeck has claimed that due to the war in Ukraine, Coal is acutely needed at the moment and with this, Germany will be Coal free by 2030. The Green Party leaders have miscalculated. But it is not too late, yet. Source: taz

Response to Reichsbürger group: Faeser plans to ban guns

After the New Year’s Eve riots and the uncovered coup plans of the ‘Reichsbürger group’, Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) wants to tighten the weapons law in Germany. According to the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”, the draft law from the Ministry of the Interior provides for a ban on particularly dangerous semi-automatic weapons for private individuals. Going forward, weapons popular among the Reichsbürger group, such as blank guns and crossbows are only to be available with a firearms licence. Faeser had already spoken out in favour of tightening gun laws even before the riots on New Year’s Eve. Source: islamiq

Is a Military Coup Possible in Brazil?

Conditions for a coup still exist in Brazil. Lula must act quickly to purge the military of potential coup plotters.


The invasion of the Brazilian Congress, Supreme Court and presidential palace on January 8 in Brasilia has become a historic landmark. It denounces the risk of the country’s democracy, which has been fragile since the advent of the Republic in 1889. Since then, there have been dozens of anti-democratic practices such as coups, self-coups and congressional closures.

The current event seemed botched, but it was ordered to act as a trigger for a new insurrection attempt by the armed forces. What did they expect? For the military authorities to resort to a misunderstood provision in article 142 of the Constitution that states that the armed forces “are destined for the defense of the homeland, to guarantee the constitutional powers”.

However, the storming of government buildings had a very negative public reception. Publicly they were labelled as riots, vandalism, terrorism, an attempted coup, not raising the public outcry for a military intervention as the right-wing extremists had hoped for.

For months Bolsonarism has been preparing for this by using disinformation and attacks on the Brazilian democratic institutions and the electoral system. During the Bolsonaro Government there was a 113% expansion of Shooting Clubs. In addition, the registration of firearms rose from 117,000 to more than 673,000, increasing 475%.

The first attempt of the far-right supporters was the obstruction of highways in various parts of Brazil. In October 2022 they had more than 500 blockade points on Brazilian highways. This was followed by the organization of protest camps in more than 23 states. From these concentrations other episodes occurred: the burning of cars and buses and the pursued invasion of the Federal Police headquarters on the day of the President-elect’s inauguration, and the attempted explosion of a tanker truck at the airport in Brasilia on Christmas Eve.

It is also worth noting that these attacks had the support and participation of sectors of the construction, transport, and agribusiness industries. In addition to these groups, research has revealed strong interference by evangelical church leaders to persuade their followers to vote and stand for Bolsonaro.

The Bolsonarist leadership expected a popular surge at each of these events. Bolsonaro lost the 2022 election, but he received more than 58 million votes. If 10% of his followers took to the streets, there could be the artifice of a “popular outcry”. For this, they count on a powerful disinformation network that connects a large part of their supporters, who receive daily updates in order to create a favorable reading of what they are advocating. How should we name this? A bubble? The Cave Myth? A Parallel World?

The military forces seem uneasy about carrying out the so-called “classic coup” – placing tanks in the streets and overthrowing the government. They want chaos and “popular outcry” for an intervention. Especially because they no longer have the backing of the judiciary and part of the media as in 2016. There is also strong international pressure in favor of the legitimacy of the elections.

On January 8, the failure of the Federal District Government, the Military Police Command, the Legislative Police, and the Presidential Battalion became evident. The omission of the military institutions indicate that they are not in favor of the elected government.

Lula will have to tackle this. But it won’t be easy. He needs so-called governability. This is only possible with a broad coalition. This implies accepting even sectors that have come closer to Bolsonarism. However, he must dismantle the coup trend that is embedded in the military agencies, especially in the Armed Forces. He has started by repealing most of the laws on guns, shooting clubs, and the sale of ammunition from the previous government.

In his favor, President Lula has the endorsement of the Brazilian Court. And after the storming of the Congress, he is expected to receive more support from the Legislative Branch. However, it is still too early to be sure that Lula will be able to undermine and prevent further attempts at a coup by the extreme right in Brazil.

Democracy at stake: hardcore bolsonarism and renewed challenges for Lula’s government

How could the attempted coup happen in Brazil and what happens now?


11/01/2023

by Gisela Pereyra Doval and Emilio Ordoñez

Sunday’s events in Brazil represent by far the biggest challenge to the democratic order since its recovery in 1985. Waves of pro-Bolsonaro militants invaded the Planalto Palace, seat of government, the Congress, and the headquarters of the Federal Supreme Court in a sequence that tried to mimic the takeover of the Capitol in the United States in 2021. This happens at a time when the brand new government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is in process of settling in, taking measures of political weight, and making the message that there is a new chapter in Brazilian political life. This attempted uprising is a reminder that the echoes of hardcore bolsonarism will not go away easily, even with former president Jair Bolsonaro in self-exile in Florida.

In fact, this climate of political polarization and social tension was definitely already in place from the very moment of Lula’s victory in the second round last October. Continuous destabilization maneuverings such as roadblocks and camps crowded with “patriots” at the gates of military barracks were part of the political scenario in the middle of the long transition period. A scenario that counted on the silence of the military, a detached attitude of Bolsonaro – which extended to the remaining two months of his administration – and a decisive action of the security forces and the judiciary. This attitude continued after Lula’s inauguration, hoping that Bolsonaro’s departure and the political measures of the new government would wear down the initiative of the hardcore bolsonaristas.

Therefore, what happened yesterday did not surprise anyone but shocked all those who hoped it would never happen. Moreover, it can be interpreted as the trigger of a process of social polarization similar to the one occurring at the political level, considering not only the outcome at the ballot boxes, but also the struggle between the coalition political formations that make up the new Congress.

The seizure of the Esplanade of the Three Powers is a reminder of the tremendous challenges that Lula will have to face in order to recover the democratic climate. The domestic context, in which an intense minority with the capacity to act is not willing to recognize the most basic tenet of the democratic contract —that is, the very victory of the veteran PT leader—, does not help. Added to this are the social challenges that represent the central core of the historical action of that party, and the retaking of traditions in foreign policy. In addition, other obstacles run parallel —and this, to a certain extent— with the action of the mobilized nuclei of bolsonarism. Perhaps the most important of them is the new role of the Army, which, contrary to expectations, seems to be willing to play a more notorious and perhaps confrontational political profile. Especially if one considers the latest appointments to the Army’s senior staff. Moreover, the main remnant of bolsonarism at the institutional level will be, precisely, its penetration in the middle and lower ranks of the armed and security forces. The latter are at the centre of the controversy, accused of connivance with the demonstrators, all of which has already had its correlation in political responsibilities at the highest level in the Federal District.

In the context of a government that is taking its first steps, with an important social consensus, the administration’s response in the political and judicial spheres seems to reflect the government’s willingness to engage in a political struggle. It is also backed by a broad international support, in an attempt to isolate the extreme right and to strengthen the broad front that sustains its government.

However, some questions remain unanswered. These have to do with the characteristics of hard bolsonarism, which were clearly shown during the seizure of the headquarters of the three branches of government. One of them is the inorganic character of these crowds. We have spoken of Bolsonaro’s own position of being both disinterested and acquiescent, maintaining a line of both validating and condemning these demonstrations of force at the same time. This positioning has allowed him not to lose centrality or reference within these groups, without being linked to the direct planning of these events, at least for the moment. This lack of organization gives these movements a disruptive character that contributes to the scenario of extreme political and social polarization. The extreme scenario could limit the efforts for a greater deployment in social policies or in the development of its foreign policy, on the success of which could depend, paradoxically, the loss of political capital of these intense minorities.

All this leads us, finally, to the characterizations derived from the events that took place. In particular, concerning the issue of social polarization. Although these events have been considered as the trigger for a growing process of political polarization — and they probably will not be the last ones to occur—, the concept of polarization has generated some debate in political science. With respect to what happened on Sunday, particularly, the problem is that this analytical category would be framed within the dynamics of the democratic struggle, of which this uprising is certainly at the antipodes. It can be said that the ongoing process, which involves a growing political radicalization, undoubtedly proceeds from the aforementioned context of polarization, but exceeds it. This represents not only a challenge for analysts —among many others— but also for those who must provide political answers in a democratic framework, which is, ultimately, what is at stake today in Brazil.

Gisela Pereyra Doval is a researcher at Argentina’s National Scientific Research Council (CONICET) and a Lecturer at the National University of Rosario (UNR) in International Relations Problematics.

Emilio Ordoñez is a researcher, international analyst for Fundamentar.com and a radio columnist for several radio stations in Argentina and abroad.

The potential coup in Brazil is not over

A fascist mob challenges Brazilian democracy under this slogan “God, Country, and Family”. Professors Mariana Kalil and Thiago Rodrigues warn that the police cannot be trusted to stop them.


10/01/2023

In Brazil, we have our own brand of fascism. It is called integralism, and since the 1920s its slogan has been “God, Country, and Family”. In the past years, they have added freedom to the mix, but a very particular type of freedom. They claim to rescue the soul of the Brazilian national identity from exogenous ideologies such as communism. Their definition of communism – or of a Marxist cultural revolution – is paranoid and conspiratory: the dictatorship of the politically correct would epitomize the ongoing war against a true nationality. Pillars of the post-1945 order, liberal democracy and the social democracy, are deemed evils that distort the authentic nature of the Brazilian nation. For integralists, the military are the gatekeepers of an allegedly authentic “democracy”, one that defends the opposite of the politically correct, and that could, hence, be described as racist, misogynist, and repressive toward those considered outcasts. The very idea that Brazil is a racial democracy is integralist to its core, as it intentionally overlooks structural inequalities, as well as the everyday violence and prejudice Black Brazilians face.

On January 8th 2023, an integralist mob stormed into Congress, the Supreme Court, and the Presidential Palace in Brasília, the capital city of Brazil. Aiming at occupying them and overthrowing the sitting President just one week after the inauguration, they believe the Lula administration will transform Brazil into a communist country. Reinforcing their idea that the Armed Forces and the security forces would support their revolution, the military police in Brasília actually escorted the mobs from their meeting point in front of the Army’s headquarter all the way to the Esplanada (Brazil’s National Mall) in a roughly one-hour walk. The police were entirely aware of the mob’s intentions: they had been explicit on social media, and intelligence, as well as the media, had been monitoring them. They sought to occupy the buildings of the three constituted powers to create a situation where Lula would be forced to resign.

At first, police forces offered only symbolic resistance to the integralists’ invasion of Congress and no resistance at all to their invasion of the Supreme Court and the Presidential Palace. Indeed, cameras caught police officers taking selfies and buying coconut water as the mob invaded and destroyed the symbols of the Brazilian republic. This behavior is highly contrasting with the police’s treatment of left wing peaceful demonstrators, especially when they are Black. In these cases, police brutality is absolutely trivial in Brazil. As the majority of the integralist mobsters wear Brazil’s soccer jersey, social media was buzzing with the idea that Paris Saint German’s Neymar is the only one to get beaten while wearing said uniform.

The police reacted only when Supreme Court Justices, Congress Reps, and the Executive branch threatened to enforce a constitutional federal intervention in the capital city which would oust the governor and other members of his cabinet, transferring the political administration of Brasília to the federal government for a predetermined period of time, a measure that must be vetted by Congress. The governor, Ibaneis Rocha, then rushed to fire the public safety secretary who, curiously enough, was in Florida, United States, where the former President Jair Bolsonaro sought refuge days before the end of his tenure. By the way, Anderson Torres had been Bolsonaro’s Minister of Justice, and Ibaneis had been consistently warned against naming Torres his public safety secretary. Even though Lula proposed an intervention circumscribed to Brasília’s public safety, which will be swiftly vetted in Congress, as we write this column the Supreme Court ordered a 90-days quarantine for Rocha from Brasília’s government so he does not meddle in the investigations.

It was a busy Sunday evening in police stations across Brasília. After Rocha fired Torres, the police actually controlled the crowds and it has been reported that 204 have been arrested. Others went back to camp in the front of the Army’s headquarters, and when the police showed up to make arrests to dissolve the camp, Army officials stood up against the police. At a glance, this seems like the Army had the mobsters’ backs, and it might be in some, or even most, of the Army officers’ interests to actually defend those citizens who include family members, former officials, and friends. However, since the immediate neighborhood of the headquarters is technically military territory, there is a margin for them to declare the camps under their jurisdiction, which does not excuse their harboring of political criminals who were caught, but provides them with enough of a gray area.

Once again, as we write this column in the morning of January 9th, the Army itself is dismantling the camp in front of Brasília’s headquarters, as well as the one in front of Rio de Janeiro’s. Yet, those in other key cities such as São Paulo still remain intact. In Brasília, another 1.200 people have been filed at the federal police station after being collected in the camp. Some living in those camps under military jurisdiction across Brazil have been there since early November, days after the second round of the elections, when Lula was declared the winner. They have been demanding a military coup to rescue Brazil’s soul from an alleged communism and to enforce a regime based on “God, Country, and Family” thus conquering their supposed true freedom. There have been disagreements between Lula’s Ministers of Justice and Defense over how to proceed regarding those camps. Flavio Dino, the Justice Minister, understands they are a breeding ground for terrorism, as shown in the December 24th terrorist attempt to detonate a bomb in a fuel truck heading to the international airport. José Múcio, the Defense Minister, claimed “there are very fine people on both sides”, and that even he himself has friends in the camps. Of course, following the invasion of the three constitutional powers’ headquarters in Brasília, Múcio was obliged to change his position, ordering the Armed Forces to remove the camps from their territories. It is, however, a mystery whether they will indeed do so given there are military families in the camp, as well as former military, besides the camps beefing up the Armed Forces’ political leverage.

Mariana Kalil is a Professor at the Brazilian War College and Senior Fellow at the South American Institute for Policy and Strategy (ISAPE), Brazil.

Thiago Rodrigues is a Professor at the Institute for Strategic Studies, Fluminense Federal University, and Vice-President of the Fluminense Federal University’s Faculty Union, Brazil.

Phil Butland’s Year in Film 2022

What you should see – what you should definitely avoid


05/01/2023

This is my fifth annual review of films that I’ve seen (follow the links for articles on 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021). This year, I reviewed 287 films – more than ever before. This meant that there were a few more pleasant surprises than previous years, but also many more duds. This year’s list of films to avoid is longer than ever.

Generally speaking, I’m never a great fan of Hollywood films, but this year contained a number of “alternative” films (such as Licorice Pizza, Elvis and Triangle of Sadness), which were loved by some friends, but didn’t do much for me. It’s surprising how many of this year’s favourites were only very briefly in the cinema. I recommend trying to seek them out if you missed them.

The normal rules apply. These are all films that I saw, either in the cinema or on a pre-release press stream, and which first appeared in Berlin cinemas in 2022. If you’d like to argue the toss with me about these or any other films, please feel free to subscribe to my film blog.

Film of the Year: Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)

Documentary about the “Black Woodstock” – 6 weeks of free concerts in Harlem in 1969. Worth it for the soundtrack alone, the film has a very shrewd understanding of the growth of the Black Power movement in the late 1960s, and its effect on a change of orientation in Black music. The sensational music builds up to a crescendo with a breathtaking performance by Nina Simone playing Young, Gifted and Black. Mixing music and politics has rarely been so much fun.

Film 2 – Liebe, D-Mark und Tod

There has been Turkish music in Germany ever since the arrival of Gastarbeiter in the 1960s. For the first couple of decades, this music was played largely inside Turkish-German communities. As Turkish migrants started to realise that their visit was less temporary than planned, the music became more mainstream. Many German-Turkish musicians identified with US rappers’ anti-racism. All this and more in a fascinating look at how music, social experience and politics interact.

Film 3 – Bardo: False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths

I’ve noticed how many of my films of 2022 are those which could have easily not worked. Bardo, Alejandro Iñárritu‘s follow up to Birdman and The Revenant, is nearly 3 hours long, willfully quirky and barely comprehensible for long periods of time. I normally hate films like this, but somehow it just works. In among all the weird shit, Bardo is a perceptive consideration of the identity of “first-class immigrants” – people with a good job in a different country who still suffer racism.

Film 4 – The Divide

Drama set in a French hospital on the edge of a Yellow Vests protest which has been attacked by the police. We see tensions between white- and blue-collar workers as they make assumptions about each other’s political ideas and the depth of their solidarity. Sub-plots mingle to produce a film which is both deep and has an astute understanding of the state of modern France. A film which could have easily been gauche and patronizing benefits from some very deft directing.

Film 5 – Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes

Because of Science, a group of Japanese slackers are able to communicate with their past selves – from 2 minutes ago. Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes is a Japanese comedy about the Droste Effect, a scientific theory about infinite reflections through time. Unlike most science-based comedies, it is equally intelligent and silly, understanding the theories but never taking itself too seriously. It’s all the more fun for being filmed in real time. This year’s hidden gem.

Film 6 – Happening

2022 was a bumper year for Annie Ernaux, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature and recently released a film of her Super 8 Films. This film, showing the realities for working class women trying to get an abortion in 1963 France, is also based on one of Ernaux’s books. It is an unsentimental look at a period where the sexual revolution was kicking off but not yet accompanied by legal protection for women. Essential viewing as a backlash hits the USA, Poland and elsewhere.

Film 7 – The Reason I Jump

Incredibly sympathetic film which attempts to do the impossible – articulate what it is like to experience severe autism. We see several autistic kids and their families and witness their different responses to time, colour and water, as well as the frustration they feel when they are not able to make themselves understood. The more you try to intellectually understand, the harder it is to articulate this in words, so maybe it’s better just to go and see the film for yourself.

Film 8 – See How They Run

2022 contained some profound films, and several which were keen to show off their large budget. There were few films which were as much fun as this one. A murder mystery caper in which the murder happens in the opening scenes, and no-one really cares about who did it or why. It is all just the setup for a bunch of top rate actors running around and being silly. Films like this are often self-indulgent vanity pieces, which are fun to make but excruciating to watch. This one just works.

Film 9 – Rabiye Kurnaz vs. George W Bush

Another film which could have gone dreadfully wrong with insensitive direction. A gauche working class Turkish-German woman travels to Washington after her son is sent to Guantanamo Bay. With the help of a conventional liberal lawyer, she sues the US government. In the course of all this, she learns of the complicity of Germany’s Red-Green government in her son’s incarceration. Based on a tragic true story, it is also a very funny comedy which never patronizes its main characters.

Film 10 – Time of Pandemics

Excellent documentary by Rehad Desai, director of Miners Shot Down and Everything Must Fall. Time of Pandemics explains how Covid swept through sub-Saharan Africa and particular South Africa. It is an indictment of the post-Apartheid government which did not learn from the earlier AIDS epidemic, preferring to line their own pockets. The film does not just blame South African governments, but also shows the culpability of conservative US governments and the WTO.

Film 11 – The Tragedy of Macbeth

Does anyone remember this one? A superior production of Shakespeare’s play directed by Joel Coen, atypically working without brother Ethan. Filmed in eerie monochrome, It looks spectacular and shows how Shakespeare can really work in the cinema. There’s a stellar cast led by Denzel Washington and Frances MacDormand, and the script’s not bad either. After a few misfires by the Coen brothers, this felt like a return to form for at least one of them.

Film 12 – Blue Bayou

Blue Bayou is a drama which was only very briefly in cinemas, which is a great shame. On one level, it’s a family drama, but it also a heart rending depiction of the difficulties that some Asian Americans still have in retaining their citizenship. It is the story of the “mixed” couple Antonio and Kathy, who are constantly faced with everyday racism and institutional bureaucracy, while they are just trying to get by in the modern USA. All this and a Roy Orbison song too.

Film 13 – Sweet Disaster

A simple film about the chaotic life and love life of a kindergarten teacher with the help of her teenage neighbour and David Hasselhof (playing himself). On one level it is a bit of trivial fluff, although it does hit you deeper than you think. I saw Sweet Disaster twice this year – the second time by accident – but it was even better the next time round. Joyfully silly, and very similar in temperament and ambition to Cleo, one of my favourite films of the last few years.

Film 14 – Silêncio – Voices of Lisbon (aka Fado – Die Stimmen von Lissabon)

Ostensibly a documentary about Fado music, this film is much more. In particular, it looks at how gentrification is driving musicians and singers out of the centre of Lisbon. It has an ambiguous attitude towards the fleeting visitors who pass through on cruise ships. Tourists boost the local economy, while driving up the costs of food and housing. Changing economic circumstances are also changing the nature of songs being written, as we witness from the compelling soundtrack.

Film 15 – The Devil’s Light

The Devil’s Light, like Smile, also released this year, is part of a new wave of intelligent horror films. Early horror films were often more scary than political, while a second wave tried to explain everything in terms of social causes and individual trauma. Natalie, the leading character in The Devil’s Light is a trauma victim who is also in a fight with both Vatican patriarchy and the actual devil. Who’d have thought that a film about a female exorcist could be so much fun?

Film 16 – Strawberry Mansion

What a Douglas Coupland would look like if you could get someone to transfer its essence onto a film screen. Strawberry Mansion is self-aware and clued into popular culture, probably too much for its own good. Set in a strange universe where dreams are taxed, it follows a taxman and the old woman whose dreams he audits. He enters her dreams to have a relationship with her younger self. If you watch the film in the wrong mood you may end up hating it. Otherwise it’s a load of fun.

Film 17 – Debout les Femmes

Debout les Femmes started as a documentary about female hospital workers, but when COVID hit in 2020 the combination of health cuts and increased patient needs was devastating. The film sometimes concentrates too much on two male MPs (one left wing, one libertarian) trying to push a bill through parliament, but the strength and determination of fighting working class women repeatedly breaks through. It shows the necessity of struggle and how it can change our ideas.

Film 18 – Start Wearing Purple

Start Wearing Purple tells the story of the Berlin campaign to stop high rents by putting housing back into public ownership. The film shows how the campaign Deutsche Wohnen & Co Enteignen initiated a referendum to expropriate the big landlords. It ends just before the announcement of the referendum’s victory. This in turn was followed by the refusal of Berlin’s SPD mayor to implement the demands. Essential viewing if you don’t know the story. It’s time for a sequel.

Film 19 – Bis wir Tod sind oder frei

A comedy drama showing an unlikely alliance between an opportunistic crook, a radical female lawyer and a rebellious rich kid in 1980s Switzerland. Bis wir Tod sind oder frei is one of those films which says it’s based on a true story, but you’re never sure how much artistic license is being used. It makes some serious points about prison, but with enough humour and character development to prick any pomposity. Much more fun than you might be expecting.

Film 20 – Me We

An Austrian drama about some problematic white responses to the “refugee crisis”. From the Guardian Angels who patrol bars, protecting “our girls”, via the unhealthy power relationship between a middle-class woman and the refugee she adopts, to the impatient activist helping out in Lesbos. The characters we see are all well-meaning but make the situation worse. Each is handled sensitively by a film which is able to differentiate between their good intentions and their effects.

And here are 8 films (in reverse order of badness) which you should just avoid):

8. Da kommt noch was A pedestrian satire on middle class pretensions, which has absolutely nothing to say, but is at least not downright offensive.

7. Risiken und Nebenwirkungen Yes, the privileged middle classes are as odious and racist as we think they are. We don’t need them making films about themselves to confirm this.

6. A-Man and the C-City Low-budget attempt to laugh at German Nazis. Would have worked better if it were actually funny.

5. Ticket to Paradise After shelling out money for George Clooney, Julia Roberts and an exotic location, they obviously had no money left to pay someone to write dialogue and plot.

4. Memoria Oh Tilda Swinton. You still rock, but what made you appear in this pretentious garbage?

3. Freibad Another German comedy which tries to be liberal (it even has a Muslim women in it) but ends up sneering at people who are poorer and darker skinned than itself.

2. Spencer – risible retelling of the Princess Diana story. The film wants us to love Di, but does this by portraying her as vain and living in an entirely different dimension.

My most hated film of 2022:

White Noise Maybe it’s because I saw it so recently, but I still repeatedly ask myself – just what is the point of this film? Other bad films can blame a lack of budget. White Noise just flaunts its inept pretension.