Angry director protests jeers

Director Romuald Karmakar got embroiled in a heated exchange with journalists at the Berlin Film Festival on Wednesday after his gloomy German love story was jeered and even laughed at during its world premiere.

Bristling at the criticism of “Nightsongs,” Karmakar erupted into a lengthy attack on a surplus of “happy ending” films in a world filled with so many problems and assailed journalists for paying too much attention to Hollywood films.

“Nightsongs” is one of 23 films competing for Golden and Silver Bear awards at the 11-day Berlin festival. Set in Berlin and based on a play by Norway’s Jon Fosse, “Nightsongs” is about an unsuccessful, depressed novelist and his frustrated wife, who is about to run away with her lover when the writer kills himself.

“It’s a love story, just without a happy ending,” Karmakar said. “You find that everywhere, but it’s underrepresented in movies. Reality is full of problems.”

From Reuters