Saturday, October 4, 2025

Berlinale 2025 Finalizes Panorama, Generation, Forum Programs

Panorama, Generation, and Forum Slates Now Final; Berlinale Special Expands With Additions From Bong Joon Ho, Justin Kurzel, and Guillaume Ribot.

Film Reviews

Navid Nikkhah-Azad
Navid Nikkhah-Azad
Navid Nikkhah-Azad is an Iranian film director and cinema journalist. He is a member of the Association of Dutch Film Journalists (KNF), the Dutch branch of the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI). He is the founder of 1TAKE NEWS and covers news about films and film festivals.

The Berlin International Film Festival has announced the complete lineups for its Panorama, Generation, and Forum sections, while also expanding the Berlinale Special program with additional titles ahead of the 75th edition of the festival, scheduled for February 13–23, 2025.

Berlinale Special

Berlinale Special, which had previously named four titles, now includes eight additional films. New entries include “Mickey 17” by Bong Joon Ho, “Shoah” by Claude Lanzmann, “Das Licht” (“The Light”) by Tom Tykwer, and “The Narrow Road to the Deep North” by Justin Kurzel. A total of 21 titles will screen in the section, with the final films to be announced on January 21.

Here is the lineup of films announced so far for the Berlinale Special:

  • “Ancestral Visions of the Future”
    Director: Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese
    France/Lesotho/Germany/Saudi Arabia
  • “Honey Bunch”
    Directors: Madeleine Sims-Fewer, Dusty Mancinelli
    Canada
  • “Islands”
    Director: Jan-Ole Gerster
    Germany
    Berlinale Special Gala
  • “Je n’avais que le néant – ‘Shoah' par Lanzmann” (“All I Had Was Nothingness”)
    Director: Guillaume Ribot
    France
  • “Köln 75”
    Director: Ido Fluk
    Germany/Poland/Belgium
  • “Das Licht” (“The Light”)
    Director: Tom Tykwer
    Germany
  • “A melhor mãe do mundo” (“The Best Mother in the World”)
    Director: Anna Muylaert
    Brazil/Argentina
  • “Mickey 17”
    Director: Bong Joon Ho
    USA/South Korea/United Kingdom
  • “The Narrow Road to the Deep North”
    Director: Justin Kurzel
    Australia
  • “Pa-gwa” (“The Old Woman with the Knife”)
    Director: Min Kyu-dong
    South Korea
  • “Shoah”
    Director: Claude Lanzmann
    France
  • “The Thing with Feathers”
    Director: Dylan Southern
    United Kingdom

Panorama

Panorama, which had earlier revealed 12 films, has now confirmed its complete 2025 program.  This year, 34 films from 28 countries will be shown. “Welcome Home Baby” (Austria/Germany), directed by Andreas Prochaska, has been set as the opening title. Additional new works include films by Sir Isaac Julien, Ina Weisse, Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay, Amalia Ulman, Jeanette Nordahl, Sébastien Betbeder, and Fernando Eimbcke. The section will also screen four episodes of the series “Other People’s Money.”

Panorama head Michael Stütz said this year’s lineup explores “societal fractures, battered bodies and precarious health systems,” adding that filmmakers have developed “diverse cinematic strategies to address the unspoken and capture the unimaginable or forgotten,” while still focusing on “humanity and solidarity.”

The Panorama Audience Award will return for the 27th time, with audience members voting on their favorite documentary and fiction films to determine the winner of the Panorama Audience Award.

Here is the full lineup of films in the Berlinale Panorama section:

  • “1001 Frames”
    Director: Mehrnoush Alia
    USA
  • “Ato noturno” (“Night Stage”)
    Directors: Marcio Reolon, Filipe Matzembacher
    Brazil
  • “Bajo las banderas, el sol” (“Under the Flags, the Sun”)
    Director: Juanjo Pereira
    Paraguay/Argentina/USA/France/Germany
  • “Bedrock”
    Director: Kinga Michalska
    Canada
  • “Begyndelser” (“Beginnings”)
    Director: Jeanette Nordahl
    Denmark/Sweden/Belgium
  • “Confidente” (“Confidante')
    Directors: Çağla Zencirci, Guillaume Giovanetti
    Türkiye/France/Luxemburg
  • “Delicious”
    Director: Nele Mueller-Stöfen
    Germany
  • “Den stygge stesøsteren” (“The Ugly Stepsister”)
    Director: Emilie Blichfeldt
    Norway/Poland/Sweden/Denmark
  • “Dreamers”
    Director: Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor
    United Kingdom
  • “Dreams in Nightmares”
    Director: Shatara Michelle Ford
    USA/Taiwan/United Kingdom
  • “The Heart Is a Muscle”
    Director: Imran Hamdulay
    South Africa/Saudi Arabia
  • “Hjem kaere hjem” (“Home Sweet Home”)
    Director: Frelle Petersen
    Denmark
  • “Hysteria”
    Director: Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay
    Germany
  • “Ich will alles. Hildegard Knef” (“I Want It All”)
    Director: Luzia Schmid
    Germany
  • “L' Incroyable femme des neiges” (“The Incredible Snow Woman”)
    Director: Sébastien Betbeder
    France
  • “Khartoum”
    Directors: Anas Saeed, Rawia Alhag, Ibrahim Snoopy, Timeea M Ahmed, Phil Cox
    Sudan/UK/Germany/Qatar
  • “Lesbian Space Princess”
    Directors: Emma Hough Hobbs, Leela Varghese
    Australia
  • “Listy z Wilczej” (“Letters from Wolf Street”)
    Director: Arjun Talwar
    Poland/Germany
  • “Looking for Langston”
    Director: Isaac Julien
    United Kingdom
  • “Magic Farm”
    Director: Amalia Ulman
    USA/Argentina
  • “Mikusu Modan” (“The Longing”)
    Director: Toshizo Fujiwara
    Japan
  • “Die Möllner Briefe” (“The Moelln Letters)
    Director: Martina Priessner
    Germany
  • “Monk in Pieces”
    Director: Billy Shebar
    USA/Germany/France
  • “Olmo”
    Director: Fernando Eimbcke
    USA/Mexico
  • “Once Again… (Statues Never Die)”
    Director: Isaac Julien
    United Kingdom
  • “Other People's Money” (“Die Affäre Cum-EX”)
    Directors: Jan Schomburg, Dustin Loose, Kaspar Munk
    Germany/Denmark/Austria
  • “Paul”
    Director: Denis Côté
    Canada
  • “Peter Hujar's Day”
    Director: Ira Sachs
    USA/Germany
  • “Queerpanorama”
    Director: Jun Li
    USA/Hong Kong/China
  • “Schwesterherz” (“The Good Sister”)
    Director: Sarah Miro Fischer
    Germany/Spain
  • “Silent Sparks”
    Director: Ping Chu
    Taiwan
  • “Sorda” (“Deaf”)
    Director: Eva Libertad
    Spain
  • “Welcome Home Baby”
    Director: Andreas Prochaska
    Austria/Germany
  • “Yalla Parkour”
    Director: Areeb Zuaiter
    Sweden/Qatar/Saudi Arabia/Palestine
  • “Zikaden” (“Cicadas”)
    Director: Ina Weisse
    Germany/France

Berlinale Generation

The Generation section, which had previously confirmed eight feature-length films and seven short films, has now finalized its lineup. The full slate includes 18 feature films, 20 shorts, and one series. Notable additions include the feature debut of Alissa Jung, along with new works by Zacharias Kunuk, Lucia Murat, Robin Petré, and Satoko Yokohama.

Brendan Canty’s “Christy” will open the 14plus competition, while “The Nature of Invisible Things” (“A natureza das coisas invisíveis”) by Rafaela Camelo will open Kplus.

Generation section head Sebastian Markt said many films reflect the challenges young audiences face in a world that feels “daunting, confusing and inhospitable.” He described this year’s selection as “films that understand cinema as a space of community” and a reminder of “the scope of our actions and agency,” emphasizing “imagination and fantasy as a source of empowerment.”

Following is the full slate of Berlinale Genration films:

  • “Akababuru: Expresión de asombro” (“Akababuru: Expression of Astonishment”)
    Director: Irati Dojura Landa Yagarí
    Colombia
    Generation Kplus, Short Film
  • “A natureza das coisas invisíveis” (“The Nature of Invisible Things”)
    Director: Rafaela Camelo
    Brazil/Chile
    Generation Kplus
  • “Anngeerdardardor” (“The Thief”)
    Director: Christoffer Rizvanovic Stenbakken
    Denmark/Greenland
    Generation Kplus, Short Film
  • “Arame farpado” (“Barbed Wire”)
    Director: Gustavo de Carvalho
    Brazil
    Generation 14plus, Short Film
  • “Atardecer en América” (“Sunset over America”)
    Director: Matías Rojas Valencia
    Brazil/Chile/Colombia
    Generation 14plus, Short Film
  • “Autokar”
    Director: Sylwia Szkiłądź
    Belgium/France
    Generation Kplus, Short Film
  • “Beneath Which Rivers Flow”
    Director: Ali Yahya
    Iraq
    Generation 14plus, Short Film
  • “Christy”
    Director: Brendan Canty
    Ireland/United Kingdom
    Generation 14plus
  • “Daye: Seret Ahl El Daye” (“The Tale of Daye’s Family”)
    Director: Karim El Shenawy
    Egypt/Saudi Arabia
    Generation 14plus
  • “De menor” (“Underage”)
    Director: Caru Alves de Souza
    Brazil | 2025
    Generation 14plus Special Screening, Series
  • “Down in the Dumps” (“Tief unten”)
    Director: Vera van Wolferen
    Netherlands
    Generation Kplus, Short Film
  • “El paso” (“The Leap”)
    Director: Roberto Tarazona
    Cuba
    Generation Kplus, Short Film
  • “Fantas”
    Director: Halima Elkhatabi
    Canada
    Generation 14plus, Short Film
  • “Hora do recreio” (“Playtime”)
    Director: Lucia Murat
    Brazil
    Generation 14plus
  • “Howl”
    Director: Domini Marshall
    Australia
    Generation 14plus, Short Film
  • “I Agries Meres Mas” (“Our Wildest Days”)
    Director: Vasilis Kekatos
    Greece/France
    Generation 14plus
  • “Juanita”
    Directors: Karen Joaquín, Uliane Tatit
    Spain
    Generation Kplus, Short Film
  • “Julian and the Wind”
    Director: Connor Jessup
    Canada
    Generation 14plus, Short Film
  • “Little Rebels Cinema Club”
    Director: Khozy Rizal
    Indonesia
    Generation Kplus, Short Film
  • “Maya, donne-moi un titre” (“Maya, Give Me a Title”)
    Director: Michel Gondry
    France
    Generation Kplus
  • “Ne réveillez pas l'enfant qui dort” (“Don't Wake the Sleeping Child”)
    Director: Kevin Aubert
    Senegal/France/Morocco
    Generation 14plus, Short Film
  • “On a Sunday at Eleven” (“Sonntags um Elf”)
    Director: Alicia K. Harris
    Canada
    Generation Kplus, Short Film
  • “Only on Earth”
    Director: Robin Petré
    Denmark/Spain
    Generation Kplus
  • “Ornmol” (“White Ochre”)
    Director: Marlikka Perdrisat
    Australia
    Generation Kplus, Short Film
  • “Paternal Leave”
    Director: Alissa Jung
    Germany/Italy
    Generation 14plus
  • “Pohádky Po Babičce” (“Tales From the Magic Garden”)
    Directors: David Súkup, Patrik Pašš, Leon Vidmar, Jean-Claude Rozec
    Czechia/Slovakia/Slovenia/France
    Generation Kplus
  • “Quaker”
    Director: Giovanna Molina
    USA | 2025
    Generation 14plus, Short Film
  • “Ran Bi Wa” (“A Story about Fire”)
    Director: Li Wenyu
    People’s Republic of China
    Generation Kplus
  • “Ruse” (“Finte”)
    Director: Rhea Shukla
    India
    Generation Kplus, Short Film
  • “Sous ma fenêtre, la boue” (“The Mud Under My Window”)
    Director: Violette Delvoye
    France/Belgium
    Generation 14plus, Short Film
  • “Space Cadet”
    Director: Eric San
    Canada
    Generation Kplus
  • “Sunshine”
    Director: Antoinette Jadaone
    Philippines
    Generation 14plus
  • “Têtes Brûlées”
    Director: Maja Ajmia Yde Zellama
    Belgium
    Generation 14plus
  • “Uiksaringitara” (“Wrong Husband”)
    Director: Zacharias Kunuk
    Canada
    Generation 14plus
  • “Umibe é Iku Michi” (“Seaside Serendipity”)
    Director: Satoko Yokohama
    Japan
    Generation Kplus
  • “Village Rockstars 2
    Director: Rima Das
    India/Singapore
    Generation 14plus
  • “Wish You Were Ear
    Director: Mirjana Balogh
    Hungary
    Generation 14plus, Short Film
  • “Zečji nasip (“Sandbag Dam”)
    Director: Čejen Černić Čanak
    Croatia/Lithuania/Slovenia
    Generation 14plus
  • “Zirkuskind (“Circusboy”)
    Director: Julia Lemke, Anna Koch
    Germany
    Generation Kplus

Forum

Forum, marking its 55th edition, will showcase 30 films from five continents, including seven feature debuts.

Forum head Barbara Wurm described the section as spotlighting cinema that “moves beyond the cult and the commercial,” offering “sparks of humanity” and serving as “a seismograph of our time.”

Full lineup of films for Forum 2025 follows.

  • “2024 (2023)”
    Director: Stefan Hayn
    Germany
  • “After Dreaming”
    Director: Christine Haroutounian
    USA/Armenia/Mexico
  • “Batim” (“Houses”)
    Director: Veronica Nicole Tetelbaum
    Israel/Germany
  • “Bombam” (“Spring Night”)
    Director: Kang Mi-ja
    South Korea
  • “Cadet”
    Director: Adilkhan Yerzhanov
    Kazakhstan | 2024
    Forum | European Premiere
  • “Canone effimero”
    Directors: Gianluca De Serio, Massimiliano De Serio
    Italy
  • “Chas pidlotu” (“Time to the Target”)
    Director: Vitaly Mansky
    Latvia/Czechia/Ukraine
  • “Colosal
    Director: Nayibe Tavares-Abel
    Dominican Republic
  • “Evidence
    Director: Lee Anne Schmitt
    USA
  • “Fwends
    Director: Sophie Somerville
    Australia
  • “Holding Liat
    Director: Brandon Kramer
    USA
  • “Janine zieht aufs Land (“Janine Moves to the Country”)
    Director: Jan Eilhardt
    Germany
  • “Der Kuss des Grashüpfers (“The Kiss of the Grasshopper”)
    Director: Elmar Imanov
    Germany/Luxembourg/Italy
  • “little boy
    Director: James Benning
    USA
  • “La memoria de las mariposas (“The Memory of Butterflies”)
    Director: Tatiana Fuentes Sadowski
    Peru/Portugal
  • “Minimals in a Titanic World
    Director: Philbert Aimé Mbabazi Sharangabo
    Rwanda/Germany/Cameroon
  • “Palliativstation (“Palliative Care Unit”)
    Director: Philipp Döring
    Germany
  • “Punku
    Director: Juan Daniel Fernández Molero
    Peru/Spain
  • “Queer as Punk
    Director: Yihwen Chen
    Malaysia/Indonesia
  • “Restitucija, ili, San i java stare garde (“Eighty Plus”)
    Director: Želimir Žilnik
    Serbia/Slovenia
  • “The Sense of Violence
    Director: Kim Mooyoung
    South Korea
  • “Sirens Call
    Directors: Miri Ian Gossing, Lina Sieckmann
    Germany/Netherlands
  • “The Swan Song of Fedor Ozerov
    Director: Yuri Semashko
    Lithuania
  • “The Trio Hall
    Director: Su Hui-yu
    Taiwan
  • “Underground
    Director: Kaori Oda
    Japan
  • “Unsere Zeit wird kommen (“Our Time Will Come”)
    Director: Ivette Löcker
    Austria
  • “Vaghachipani (“Tiger's Pond”)
    Director: Natesh Hegde
    India/Singapore
  • “Wenn du Angst hast nimmst du dein Herz in den Mund und lächelst (“If You Are Afraid You Put Your Heart into Your Mouth and Smile”)
    Director: Marie Luise Lehner
    Austria
  • “What's next?
    Director: Cao Yiwen
    Hong Kong/China
  • “When Lightning Flashes Over the Sea
    Director: Eva Neymann
    Germany/Ukraine

 

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