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AN INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SERVING THE GW COMMUNITY SINCE 1904

The GW Hatchet

Serving the GW Community since 1904

The GW Hatchet

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Officials name senior vice president, chief of staff
By Fiona Riley, Assistant News Editor • March 26, 2024

Backstage Blog Preview: Berlin Film Festival, day-by-day

Editor’s Note: GW junior Jennifer Tchinnosian traveled to Berlin, Germany for the Berlinale, Berlin’s annual film festival. Jennifer contacted The Hatchet before embarking on her travels, asking if she could provide a day-by-day account of the festival and her time in Berlin. What follows is a preview of Tchinnosian’s writings, which can be read in their entirety on The Scene’s Backstage blog.

Day 1. Friday

BERLIN, Germany – We slowly start arriving at the hotel and meet in one of the rooms. Our ultra-modern Lux11 Hotel has evidently decided that enclosed bathroom spaces are superfluous, so the shower is directly exposed to the rest of the room and separated only by glass and a small mirror. Needless to say, it makes for a very interesting bathing experience. We go downstairs and meet the guide who will give us a driving tour of the city. He takes us to the major landmarks but has problems answering questions that are not a part of his repertoire, which, though not entirely complete, does seem to leave room for the word ‘meanwhile’ in every second sentence. He tends to avoid questions about Hitler, explaining it as too complicated to discuss.

The difference between East and West Berlin is now marked by a double-brick line on the streets, but is not discernable otherwise. The city seems to have a sad gray air that is interrupted in parts by modern buildings and decorated everywhere with colorful graffiti. In the same way that one can guide oneself around Florence based on one’s position relative to the Duomo, the Berlin TV Tower stands above the city and outsiders can discern their geographical positioning in relation to it. It also has a very scenic restaurant inside which rotates constantly to allow diners a panoramic view of the city. We took advantage of both.

The Berlinale, Berlin’s annual film festival, is this weekend, and we will view several of their films. My friend Karim promised us tickets to the awards ceremony and after-parties, but repeals his invitation with a last minute excuse about it not being that big a deal anyways. Nice.

And this is just the beginning.

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