Movies

"WAX & GOLD" (Official Trailer) | Berlinale Special 2026

Berlinale
Berlinale•Mar 19, 2026

Why It Matters

By foregrounding a method to isolate truth within fiction, "WAX & GOLD" challenges conventional narrative consumption and may inspire new critical frameworks for media analysis.

Key Takeaways

  • •Film explores separating fact from fiction using wax–gold metaphor.
  • •Director proposes new technique to identify truth within narrative layers.
  • •Trailer suggests impermanence: facts may dissolve like wax.
  • •Berlinale Special selection highlights avant‑garde cinematic experimentation in 2026.
  • •Audience urged to question reality versus constructed storytelling.

Summary

The official trailer for "WAX & GOLD," selected for the Berlinale Special 2026, introduces an experimental cinematic technique that seeks to separate fact from fiction. The director frames the method as "Wax and Gold," a metaphor for extracting enduring truth (gold) from malleable narrative (wax).

The brief dialogue underscores a need for a systematic approach to recognize factual elements embedded within fictional storytelling. By likening facts to gold hidden in wax, the film suggests that without such a technique, truths may dissolve, echoing the line "they are going to disappear." This premise positions the work as both a visual and philosophical inquiry into narrative reliability.

Key moments include the director’s assertion, "I think we would need a technique to recognize the facts in the fiction, like the gold in wax," and the closing remark, "Thank you," which frames the trailer as a conceptual invitation rather than a conventional promotional piece. The stark, minimalist delivery aligns with the avant‑garde aesthetic celebrated at the Berlinale.

If the film delivers on its premise, it could reshape how audiences and creators approach storytelling, prompting a more critical engagement with media and encouraging the development of analytical tools that distinguish enduring truths from fleeting narrative constructs.

Original Description

The official trailer for “WAX & GOLD“ by Ruth Beckermann.
About the film:
Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie opened a grand hotel, the Hilton Addis Ababa, at the end of Africa’s defining decade of the 1960s. It became a controversial symbol of both his hope for the future of Africa and self-aggrandisement. Settling into the hotel, Ruth Beckermann delves into Ethiopia’s past and present, navigating the familiar and the foreign, fact and fiction. As her quest for historical truth unfolds, an audit that is layered with contradictions, insight and enlightenment unfolds. Beckermann blends archival footage of the Emperor with present-day conversations and interviews at the hotel, and also integrates her own reflections as a European woman into the film. At the same time, she gives us a glimpse of contemporary life outside of the opulent hotel, where workers queue in long lines at bus stops and the skyline is marked by the skeletons of high-rise buildings awaiting completion.
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“WAX & GOLD“ is part of the 2026 Special programme.
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Thumbnail: © Ruth Beckermann Filmproduktion

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