One of the aims of the Cinémathèque québécoise’s programming is to reflect the ongoing evolution of a body of work still in the making. We are presenting this retrospective of German filmmaker Angela Schanelec as the selection of her latest film in the official competition of the 2026 Berlinale has just been announced. Winner of the Silver Bear in 2019, her filmography stretches back over three decades. Her refined directing style and sense of editing demonstrate her ability to let drama simmer, delicately and without exaggeration. Her greatest virtuosity undoubtedly lies in her ability to conceal the complexity of her art.
Winner of the Silver Bear for Best Screenplay, 2023 Berlin International Film Festival
Abandoned at birth in the Greek mountains on a stormy night, Jon is taken in and adopted, without having known his father or mother. As a young man, he meets Iro, a warden in the prison where he is incarcerated after a deadly tragic accident. She seems to seek out his presence, takes care of him, records music for him. Jon’s eyesight begins to fail... From then on, for every loss he suffers, he will gain something in return. Thus, in spite of going blind, he will live his life more fully than ever.
Angela Schanelec
Angela Schanelec is a German filmmaker, screenwriter, and actress. In 2019, she won the Silver Bear for Best Director at the Berlin International Film Festival for I Was at Home, But. She also won the Silver Bear for Best Screenplay for Music in 2023. She is part of the so-called first wave of the Berlin School alongside Christian Petzold and Thomas Arslan. Critics have generally embraced her cinematic style, which almost exclusively employs lengthy, static shots with little action and ambiguous emotional content, tenuously connected by a narrative. She is frequently compared to several European avant-garde filmmakers, such as Chantal Akerman, Michelangelo Antonioni and Robert Bresson, whom she has cited as an important influence.
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