On January 16 at 3:45 p.m. CET, tune in to a live conversation with four acclaimed filmmakers—Jafar Panahi, Oliver Laxe, Mascha Schilinski and Joachim Trier—hosted by DW, The Hollywood Reporter and the European Film Academy. The discussion precedes the European Film Awards ceremony in Berlin on January 17. Watch the livestream here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fd_8VuEWoa4
Titled “European Cinema on the Edge,” the roundtable examines a creative moment when many European directors are moving away from franchise-driven, algorithm-led model in favor of risk, political engagement, intimate storytelling and formal experimentation. Each guest brings a distinct edge: Panahi (It Was Just an Accident) continues to work under Iran’s restrictions; Laxe (Sirat) blurs genres in a desert odyssey; Schilinski (Sound of Falling) confronts generational German history; Trier (Sentimental Value) offers a Bergman-inflected reflection on art, family and compromise.
All four are European Film Award nominees and among current Oscar contenders. The conversation digs past awards chatter to ask broader questions shaping cinema today: Is filmmaking still inherently political? Who are these films being made for? And how are streaming giants, rising right-wing politics and the spread of artificial intelligence changing what European cinema can be?
This event is a collaboration between DW, The Hollywood Reporter and the European Film Academy and offers a timely look at what cinema can become when it refuses to play it safe.
Edited by: Elizabeth Grenier