Charli xcx became the star of the Berlinale this Saturday with a mockumentary, ‘The Moment’, in which there is a lot about her, her career and how she became a superstar overnight thanks to the success of her album ‘brat’, which turned the summer of 2024 into the ‘brat summer’.
“I’ve gone through an extreme transition in my professional life. For years I was a nobody, a kind of pop artist on the fringes, with an exclusively gay fan base, but with my album ‘brat’ I reached a new and much bigger and new audience,” said the British singer at a press conference at the Berlinale to present the film, which is included in the Panorama section, the second most important section of the festival.
With that change came “a kind of feeling of losing control of something I had been controlling for a long time,” the artist explained honestly, about a situation she experienced in her life that ‘The Moment’ reflects in a fresh and fun way.
She began to reflect on how to communicate art and how she felt as a creator. “I’m quite an emotional and volatile artist, as are many artists and this is quite a difficult journey” so making this film was a way to not only talk about art, but about her personal experience, she explained.
The Moment’, a blend of reality and fiction
‘The Moment’ focuses on the moment when the fictional Charli xcx is about to start touring her album ‘brat’ and has to shoot a new video, for which she hires a director as talented as he is crazy, played by a brilliant Alexander Skarsgard.
Rosana Arquette is the head of her representation agency and Kilye Jenner appears in a surreal scene as herself.
Meanwhile, the singer enters a drift of demands and responsibilities to which she is not accustomed, in a story narrated with rhythm, color and a lot of music -but little of it- by Aidan Zamiri, responsible for several of the British singer’s music videos.
A story that mixes fact and fiction, as Charli xcx acknowledged. “It’s as if I’ve been preparing to play this role since I was born,” said the artist amused at a press conference in which the Berlinale moderator only allowed the journalists to ask two questions.
Charli xcx’s ‘brat summer’ phenomenon
What ‘The Moment’ tells is based on what she experienced in 2024, but in a different way. “It’s definitely close to my circumstances and there are versions of characters I knew.”
And he even referred to a specific moment when he reacted similarly to what is seen in the film. “I had a nervous breakdown in the back of a van while smoking millions of cigarettes, yes! But I’m not her.”
What is certain is that this film shows how Charli xcx wants to get away from ‘brat’ and kill it and at the same time, the film is “the period” for ‘brat summer’.
A ‘brat summer’ that became ubiquitous around the world and the garish green of its cover quickly spread to the screens of New York’s Times Square, where it performed by surprise and for free.
For the singer it was very interesting to show something very common in the music world, which is to spend a huge period with a single project while the fans keep asking for a new album “or a new version of you”.
So “it was quite cathartic because it allowed me to somehow channel the frustration I felt in the real world,” he said.
A film that arrives at the Berlinale after passing through Sundance, two festivals that for the British filmmaker have something in common, which is to give space to very interesting voices.
“This festival, in particular, is known for not shying away from political films, films with a genuine social focus, films by visionary directors and with a clear message. I think, as a producer and as an actress and Aidan as a director, those are the kind of films we love. These are the films we want to defend,” she added, reported Agencia EFE.
Find out more at ‘QueOnnda.com’.
