Berlinale

The feature debut of French duo Caroline Poggi and Jonathan Vinel polarized festival audiences and left critics divided.

In this blend of French social drama, light-hearted comedy and fantasy, an unpopular physics teacher acquires supernatural powers.

What is it like to be born into a far-right family and then grow up?

In front of an impressive western backdrop, Sébastien Lifshitz tells the story of a summer full of emotions in a documentary style.

An unexpected love story between a trans former sex worker and a FARC rebel begins in a Colombian prison and leads to an unforeseen alliance.

A harrowing drama about patriarchal justice in Iran – awarded the German Film Prize in Gold.

In this touching Iranian drama, Fereshteh has to find a place to hide her newborn, illegitimate daughter.

Grimme Award-winning war drama about a German-Kurdish Bundeswehr soldier who gets caught between the fronts in Iraq.

In this perceptive coming-of-age drama, 16-year-old Suse feels like a fifth wheel since her mom started dating.

The garage as a refuge where mainly men aim to realize alternative living spaces in a few square meters.

A group of disillusioned young Parisians look for satisfaction in political activism, religion, romance, music, and drugs.

The war crimes tribunal in The Hague is fighting with itself and war criminals from the former Yugoslavia.

In the shadow of Auschwitz, a touching story of reconciliation takes place between a young German and a concentration camp survivor.

A look behind the scenes: This documentary reveals the hidden efforts and globalized processes behind clean hotel linen.

In part 1 of Thomas Arslan's Trojan trilogy, the eponymous protagonist Trojan wants to do one last big thing and retire.

Olga, who is grieving for her mother and also anorexic, is sent to a psychiatrist who is dealing with her own losses in an unusual way.

A visually stunning journey through love, loss and legacy, as directed by the acclaimed Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese.

In her harsh milieu study, Gina Wenzel tells the story of youth violence from the perpetrator's perspective.

With destabilising gentleness, Mo Harawe recounts the last hours of the terrorist Farah before his execution.

A gripping film by Ukraine's Maryna Er Gorbach about the tragic events of the Russian invasion of eastern Ukraine in 2014.

Rafiki Fariala's debut explores student life in Bangui, revealing hopes amid challenges in the Central African Republic.

In a tense love triangle, a woman's presence stirs dark desires and complex emotions in a father and son, challenging moral norms.

A poignant tale of lost innocence, young Dib navigates the tumultuous landscape of 1950s Damascus following his father's death.

The tragic story of an artist who was torn between passion and obsession and died under mysterious circumstances.

Romy Haag, Rosa von Praunheim, Ades Zabel and Udo Walz talk about their fascination with the dream destination West Berlin.

In her moving feature film, Jessica Krummacher tells the story of dying without fear of contact, just as it happens in reality.

Reality and fantasy are interwoven in this fascinating drama about three children in a mystical world of isolation.

A provincial boarding school for Kurdish boys becomes the flashpoint of a society riddled with power imbalances.

A slap in the face as the ultimate answer to all your problems.

The German realities of the 80s, spontaneously captured with sarcastic wit and occasionally parodied to the point of absurdity.

Hamburg's housing shortage forces car inspector Gina and British pyromaniac Harry to move into the same apartment.

After a wedding party, three friends from Hamburg are stranded Berlin. A fast-paced odyssey through the urban wasteland of this once divided city.

In her surreal and fantastic debut, Flávia Neves masterfully combines the search for her own origins with Brazil's colonial past.

Dreamlike, Israeli indie film about a woman whose nightmare turns into a hopeful sense of autonomy.

The German Angst of the unknown - a reluctant dialogue.

Under the crushing emotional burden of his terminally ill father and violent brother, 14-year-old Daniel seeks refuge with two outcasts.

In this Berlinale Golden Bear contender film, three hypersexual women are spending 26 days in a quiet house by the lake.

Authentic, haphazard and unromantic, three residents of a high-rise housing estate search for love, friendship and sexuality.

Either the grass is greener, or the houses are bigger, or the sun is warmer ... anywhere else is better.

Brazil, 2027: Joana is deeply religious. At work, she encourages divorcing couples to reconsider their breakup.

Intensely charged in political terms, HOTLINE is not merely revealing but downright shocking in what it conveys about Israel’s policies on outsiders.

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.

How is life as a gay in the Swabian province? An intimate insight into a hitherto unknown terrain between church and Stammtisch.

In the documentary, which was successfully screened in the Panorama section of the Berlinale, gays and lesbians from the former GDR have their say.

Schools out for ever! 4 teenagers from Guadalajara are about to enter adult life, as they live through a summer that will change their lives forever.

João Carlos Castanha. 52 years old. Actor. Gay. Son. Crossdresser. Capable of doing anything for those he loves. Or hates.

An intense trip into the gay bondage and leather scene: We meet contestants, bondage film actors, uniform fetishists and long-term slaves.

A socially awkward teen falls asleep at her disastrous and unwanted 15th birthday party and enters a fantasy world.

At pool parties in the richest part of South Africa, the post-apartheid dreams of an entire generation perish in a drug-fueled dystopia.

In this very compelling comedy, a father reaches the boundaries of his good will and is in danger of falling prey to insanity.

During the final prayer of the German Catholic Bishops' Conference in 1991, one of the most spectacular protest actions takes place.

Delightfully light-hearted and wonderfully honest coming-of-age story that flows seamlessly between fiction to documentary.

A senistive drama that authentically and lovingly captures the lifestyle of a group of young urbanites on the brink of a quarter-life crisis.

The Bundeswehr is looking for him, his girlfriend Kerstin breaks up with him, and unexpectedly his older brother Max shows up.

The groundbreaking members of the legendary Berlin club SchwuZ talk about their career, political activism in drag, and 'doing it' for the first time.

This erotic comedy is both a critique of the Japanese family image and a sexually playful homage to Japanese director Ozu Yasujirô.

In a successful semi-documentary mix, EASY LOVE tells of crises, moments of happiness, doubts, sex, and unconventional relationship models.

This style-setting iconic film by Japan's pink film movement offers an experimental mix of genres about gender roles, violence, and obsession.

Alexander Kluge and the multi-media artist Khavn revive the Orpheus myth and use it as a starting point for a true revolution.

A mesmerizing poetic narrative about a group of teenagers navigating the confusing world of sexuality, desire, conformity and capitalism.

A post-porn multimedia artwork of bodily fluids that challenges gender norms.

Part 1 of the groundbreaking Rosa von Praunheim documentary trilogy on the AIDS epidemic

Lotti Huber, the 77-year-old singer, dancer and actress brimming with the spirit of life, tells of her eventful life in this semi-documenary film.

Three German women go to New York City in the early 1980's and try to get established there.

Part 2 of the groundbreaking Rosa von Praunheim documentary trilogy on the AIDS epidemic.

This authentic documentary follows male sex workers from Bahnhof Zoo in Berlin as they work, shedding light on the issue of male prostitution.

The merciless fighting between militias in the region around Mount Lebanon ended in reprisals against civilians.

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.

Compassionate mumblecore-style drama about a young woman's struggles with the expectations placed on her by her partner and friends.

This harrowing documentary exposes the inhumane working conditions of foreign domestic workers in Lebanon that resemble modern-day slavery.

Jean-Gabriel Périot asks students on the outskirts of Paris to reenact iconic films from the '68 era and share their thoughts.

In one of the most dangerous countries in the world, a life is not worth much. Victims and perpetrators of the Mexican drug war tell their stories.

Filmmaker Hasan is seething with rage. He is banned from working and a serial killer is killing all the other directors in town. All except Hasan.

This episode film explores Russia's state of mind, which is characterized by disorientation, in a dystopian vision of the future.

This doc is based on newly discovered, powerful archival material documenting the most daring moments in the struggle for liberation in the Africa.

A young woman in Mauritania, is forced to gain weight to meet traditional beauty standards before her upcoming wedding.

Roland Klick is a film history legend. He made movies with Mario Adorf and Dennis Hopper, then mysteriously faded away after only six films.

Ronah is a sex worker and behavioral psychology student. As a surrogate partner, she sleeps with patients who have trouble allowing intimacy.

PARABETON shows in chronological sequence 17 buildings by the Italian engineer and architect Pier Luigi Nervi (1891-1979) in Italy and France.

This visually stunning monumental work is an emphatic reminder of the enduring threat of total annihilation by nuclear weapons.

The film begins with a man called 'Thief' who is harvesting a type of larva for the bizarre effects it has on the human mind.

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.

A young Italian student of agriculture wants to save her family's olive trees from pollution, parasite infestation, and corruption.

The last round in Sin City. In the shadow of Las Vegas, filmmakers spend the last 24 hours before they close the Roaring 20s bar.

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.

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.

On the river Tetscha in the southern Urals, in the middle of nowhere between Europe and Asia, is the most radioactively contaminated area in the world

Can a documentary depict reality? Should it even try? Constanze Ruhm examines how reality and the construction of reality are different.

Guatemala, 2018. The whole country is immersed in the trial of the soldiers who sparked the civil war.

A reactor safety engineer follows the trail of his disappearing daughter through the Kafkaesque West German province.

"MADONNAS paints the astonishingly differentiated picture of a young woman who neglects her children." (taz)

A bitter satire on the university business and its evaluation madness and third-party funding stupidity.

In search of her daughter, Agnes meets a bon vivant in the juggernaut that is Berlin.

A political and sociological look at the transformation and gentrification of Berlin through teenage eyes.

The modernization of post-war style apartment blocks in central Germany becomes a journey into his own GDR past for architect Alexander.

On 3 summer afternoons, a family meets up a beautiful house in an upscale Berlin neighborhood. They come together but ultimately drift further apart.

Jealousy and biting jokes about old wounds start slowly, but build until bald-face confessions and hand-to-hand scuffles take over.

In his debut film Thomas Arslan portrays a group of young people in a decisive phase of upheaval: the last days right before their school year end.

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.

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.