Madness

A young woman lives in a psychiatric facility in Mozambique. She misses her son. The personnel there lie to her, claiming that her son is not around when he’s really waiting for her. The woman refuses to believe them and won’t be deterred, escaping the clinic at the next opportunity. Symbolic actions mark her search. João Viana’s cinema is characterised by a very idiosyncratic visual style – unconcerned with a naturalistic representation of reality, he treats the screen as a stage.
The long fiction feature Our Madness by director João Viana is being shown in Berlinale Forum – analogous to 2013, when he presented Tabatô at Berlinale Shorts and A Batalha De Tabatô at Forum.
Maike Mia Höhne
by João Viana (Written and Directed by)
with Ernania Rainha, Hanic Corio
France / Portugal / Mozambique / Guinea-Bissau / Qatar 2018 Makhuwa 13' Black/White & Colour World premiere

With

  • Ernania Rainha (Lucy)
  • Hanic Corio (Junge)

Crew

Written and Directed by João Viana
Cinematography Sabine Lancelin
Editing Paulo Carneiro
Sound Design Mario Dias
Producers João Viana, François D’ Artemare, Sol Carvalho
Co-Production Papaveronoir Portugal
Promarte Mosambique
Telecine Bissau Guinea Bissau
Doah Film Institute Katar

World Sales

Agência – Portuguese Short Film Agency

Vila do Conde, Portugal

Produced by

Les Films de l'Après-Midi

Paris, France

Lamia Joreige

Lamia Joreige is a visual artist and filmmaker based in Beirut. Her practice, rooted in her experience in Lebanon, reflects on history and its possible narration. She explores personal and collective memory through archival documents and fiction. She has written, directed and produced short films as well as a feature narrative presented internationally. Her artworks are widely exhibited. She was a fellow at Columbia University’s Institute for Ideas and Imagination in Paris (2021) and Harvard University’s Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study (2016–2017). She co-founded Beirut Art Center, serving as co-director from 2009 to 2014.

Filmography (Filmography (selection))

1999 Objects of War (1,2,3,4,5,6) 2000 Replay 2002 Replay (bis) 2003 ﻫُﻨَﺎك وَرُﻤﺑﱠ َﺎ ﻫُﻨَﺎ (Here and Perhaps Elsewhere) 2004 Sleep 2007 Un Voyage (A Journey) 2013 Nights and Days 2014 And the Living is Easy 2016 After the river 2021 Sun & Sea 2026 Casting for a film, Ihsan’s Diary; Forum Expanded 2026

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2026