What makes the motion picture special? What possibilities do cinematic stylistic devices offer that other media do not? These questions are the focus of the Berlinale Forum. The Forum is curated by Arsenal - Institute for Film and Video Art and organizes independent programs as part of the Berlinale.
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The Wondrous World of Laundry
2009
1h.36min
12 FSK
A look behind the scenes: This documentary reveals the hidden efforts and globalized processes behind clean hotel linen.
In the Shadows
2010
1h.25min
12 FSK
In part 1 of Thomas Arslan's Trojan trilogy, the eponymous protagonist Trojan wants to do one last big thing and retire.
Mother, I Am Suffocating. This Is My Last Film About You.
2019
1h.16min
16+
A visually stunning journey through love, loss and legacy, as directed by the acclaimed Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese.
Dreams of the City
1984
2h.3min
16+
A poignant tale of lost innocence, young Dib navigates the tumultuous landscape of 1950s Damascus following his father's death.
Inertia
2015
1h.12min
16+
Dreamlike, Israeli indie film about a woman whose nightmare turns into a hopeful sense of autonomy.
Hotline
2015
1h.39min
16+
Intensely charged in political terms, HOTLINE is not merely revealing but downright shocking in what it conveys about Israel’s policies on outsiders.
Welcome to the Dollhouse
1996
1h.28min
16+
Todd Solondz's key film of the 90s and Sundance winner manages the balancing act between coming-of-age and social criticism with sublime radicalism.
Castanha
2014
1h.35min
16+
João Carlos Castanha. 52 years old. Actor. Gay. Son. Crossdresser. Capable of doing anything for those he loves. Or hates.
Abnormal Family
1984
1h.2min
18 FSK
This erotic comedy is both a critique of the Japanese family image and a sexually playful homage to Japanese director Ozu Yasujirô.
Inflatable Sex Doll of the Wastelands
1967
1h.26min
16+
This style-setting iconic film by Japan's pink film movement offers an experimental mix of genres about gender roles, violence, and obsession.
Gushing Prayer: A 15-Year-Old Prostitute
1971
1h.13min
16 FSK
A mesmerizing poetic narrative about a group of teenagers navigating the confusing world of sexuality, desire, conformity and capitalism.
The One Man Village
2008
1h.25min
16+
The merciless fighting between militias in the region around Mount Lebanon ended in reprisals against civilians.
The Gulls
2015
1h.27min
16+
Elza lives in a small town on the Caspian Sea. While her husband catches fish illegally, she dreams of breaking out of her small world.
A Maid for Each
2016
1h.7min
16+
This harrowing documentary exposes the inhumane working conditions of foreign domestic workers in Lebanon that resemble modern-day slavery.
Our Defeats
2019
1h.28min
16+
Jean-Gabriel Périot asks students on the outskirts of Paris to reenact iconic films from the '68 era and share their thoughts.
She's Lost Control
2014
1h.30min
16+
Ronah is a sex worker and behavioral psychology student. As a surrogate partner, she sleeps with patients who have trouble allowing intimacy.
Parabeton: Pier Luigi Nervi and Roman Concrete
2012
1h.39min
0 FSK
PARABETON shows in chronological sequence 17 buildings by the Italian engineer and architect Pier Luigi Nervi (1891-1979) in Italy and France.
Madeline's Madeline
2018
1h.33min
16+
Madeline is teenager who loves to act on stage. She fights with her mother and suffers from a illness which makes her believe she's a cat.
Windows on Monday
2006
1h.32min
12 FSK
A new house in a new town could mean the beginning of a phase of domestic bliss for a small family. But the young mother collapses under the burden.
E.K.G. Expositus (the public and the artistic media)
2004
1h.41min
16+
A hospital in Berlin-Neukölln at midnight. A patient is being admitted. TV journalists are on the scene. The beginning of a story that tells itself.
The Notes of Anna Azzori / A Mirror that Travels through Time
2020
1h.12min
16+
Can a documentary depict reality? Should it even try? Constanze Ruhm examines how reality and the construction of reality are different.
Madonnas
2007
2h.0min
12 FSK
"MADONNAS paints the astonishingly differentiated picture of a young woman who neglects her children." (taz)
Music and Apocalypse
2019
1h.20min
0 FSK
A bitter satire on the university business and its evaluation madness and third-party funding stupidity.
Daughters
2014
1h.38min
12 FSK
In search of her daughter, Agnes meets a bon vivant in the juggernaut that is Berlin.
For Nothing
2014
1h.35min
0 FSK
A political and sociological look at the transformation and gentrification of Berlin through teenage eyes.
Afternoon
2007
1h.35min
6 FSK
On 3 summer afternoons, a family meets up a beautiful house in an upscale Berlin neighborhood. They come together but ultimately drift further apart.
From Far Away
2006
1h.30min
0 FSK
A personal travelogue by Berlin-based director Thomas Arslan about a journey through Turkey.
A Fine Day
2001
1h.14min
0 FSK
Deniz, 21 works as a dubbing artist and has just ended her relationship with Jan. In one short day, she goes through a separation and a new beginning.
Dealer
1999
1h.12min
16+
Life is governed by strict laws. If you don't want to fall out of favor with your backers as a dealer, you can't be seen with plainclothes cops.
Asta Upset
2014
1h.24min
0 FSK
A curator of contemporary art, is in trouble with her sponsors because of remarks she made in a radio interview. Public funding is put on hold.
African Mirror
2019
1h.26min
12
The European self-image, the colonial gaze and the concept of 'noble savages': for decades, René Gardi (1909-2000) shaped our colonial image of Africa
Occidental
2018
1h.14min
16+
A visually and sonically striking ensemble piece set in a hotel on the city outskirts as Paris is mired in political chaos...
The Waldheim Waltz
2018
1h.34min
6 FSK
This documentary tells the incredibly shocking story of how a Nazi officer became a top politician and UN Secretary General.
Delphine and Carole
2019
1h.10min
12
In the early 1970s, actress Delphine Seyrig and video artist Carole Roussopoulos became icons of feminist video activism in France.
Yugoslavia – How Ideology Moved Our Collective Body
2013
1h.2min
16+
The film looks at how ideology performed itself in public space through mass performances in socialist Yugoslavia.
The Boda Boda Thieves
2015
1h.25min
16
Motorcycle taxi driver Abel is the sole provider for his family. When his boda boda is stolen, he has to descend into the underworld of Kampala.
The Yard
2016
1h.18min
0
A scandal forces literary critic Anders to change careers.
Dear John
2015
42min
16+
A single decision can change the rest of your life - a film about what could have been.
Lenz
2006
1h.36min
6
An unconventional portrait of a man whose life motto reminds us of the poets of romanticism: The genius writes its own rules.
I Was a Swiss Banker
2007
1h.15min
16+
A banker smuggling black money catapults himself out of his old life with a dip in the cold lake water.
Duerer’s Heirs
1996
58min
12
A portrait of a ‘German socialist art’ in the GDR up to the building of the wall in 1961.
Age of the Gods
1992
1h.32min
16
At the beginning of the last century, Arno Breker was one of the great hopes of young German sculpture, esteemed by the painter Max Liebermann.
Iranian
2014
1h.45min
16+
Four Iranian mullahs, pillars of the regime, and an Iranian filmmaker living in exile, critical of the regime, discuss God and the world.
And There We Are, In The Middle
2014
1h.25min
16+
A trenchant image of the complications self-discovery and personality formation can be for adolescents.
Home for the Weekend
2011
1h.24min
12 FSK
At the request of his mother Gitte, Marko (Lars Eidinger), travels from Berlin to his parents (Corinna Harfouch, Ernst Stötzner) in the countryside.
Winter Nomads
2012
1h.26min
0 FSK
Two shepherds and 800 sheep take on an extraordinary adventure full of challenges, in intimate contact with nature and the elements.
Los Ángeles
2014
1h.37min
12 FSK
17-year-old Mateo dreams of Los Angeles. He wants to work there and support his family in their small Zapotec village in southern Mexico.
The only way ...
Menashe
2017
1h.23min
6 FSK
Within Brooklyn's ultra-orthodox Jewish community, a widower battles for custody of his son. Shot entirely in Yiddish, the film explores the nature of ...
The Dreamed Ones
2016
1h.29min
16+
The film is about love and hate, about right and wrong words. At its centre are Ingeborg Bachmann and Paul Celan, who met in post-war Vienna.
East of War
1996
1h.52min
16+
The testimonies of former Wehrmacht soldiers collected by Ruth Beckermann are still horrifying today.
Electricity
2015
1h.19min
6 FSK
Berlin-based independent filmmaker Eva Heldmann interviews five people who cannot pay their electricity bills.
Pierrot Lunaire
2014
50min
16 FSK
Musical drama about a woman who dresses like a man and falls in love with a young girl. Soundtrack with Arnold Schoenberg's music.
It Happened Just Before
2006
1h.12min
12 FSK
This documentary tells the harrowing story of the global phenomenon of human trafficking.
My Life Part 2 - Mein Leben Teil 2
2003
1h.30min
16+
Angelika Levi explores her German Christian-Jewish family heritage through the archives of photographs, audio tapes and films collected by her mother.
It Should Have Been Nice After That
2000
1h.13min
16+
Karin Jurschick examins the reasons for her late mother's suicide.
In The Future They Ate From The Finest Porcelain
2015
29min
16+
In a temporal twist, this movie tells the story of an intervention into the future perception of a territory’s political history.
Cancelled Faces
2015
1h.20min
16+
A man, striving for autonomy, in fear of being absorbed by his lover. This black and white movie deals with cultural and historical appropriation.
Sto Spiti - At Home
2014
1h.43min
0 FSK
In elegant CinemaScope images, this film tells the story of the housekeeper Nadja in times of economic crisis as a tender melodrama.
Echoes of Home
2007
1h.21min
16+
Against the breathtaking backdrop of the Swiss mountains, 3 extraordinary vocal artists develop traditional yodelling into their own musical language.
Submarine
2010
1h.36min
12 FSK
In this quiet comedy in the style of Wes Anderson, a 15-year-old Welshman navigates the shoals of first love like a sailor through reefs.
The Irrational Remains
2005
1h.34min
16+
16 years after their failed escape from the GDR, three people meet again. Are they still friends?
Homemad(e)
2001
1h.25min
16+
Acclaimed Austrian documentary director Ruth Beckermann portrays a dying culture of Viennese urban history.
Towards Jerusalem
1990
1h.25min
16+
Beckermann's subjects offer a dramatic range of candid opinions about Arab-Jewish relations, immigration, the intifada, religion, and the economy.
Face It! (Cast Your Self™)
2007
4min
16 FSK
A short film by Berlin-based film icon Michael Brynntrup full of photographs collected from personal profiles in gay chat rooms on the internet.
Strange Birds
2017
1h.10min
16+
Two "strange birds“ form a tender relationship, even though they have quite different personalities.