Perspectives Regulations

Perspectives is an international competitive strand for fiction feature debuts aiming to showcase genuine breakthrough talents.

To be considered a debut fiction feature film, the director must not have previously made a fiction film with a running time of over 60 minutes that has been screened publicly (at a festival, in the cinema, on television, on the internet/VOD). This also applies to previous fiction films they have co-directed. However, any documentaries made previously by the director (including feature-length documentaries) do not affect the eligibility.

1. Eligibility

Eligible for Perspectives are fiction feature debuts which

• are of at least 60 minutes running time.
• are available as world, international or European premieres. Submitted films must not have been presented publicly in Europe outside their country of origin, participated in any European film festival outside of their country of origin or have been theatrically released outside their country of origin. World premieres are given priority (see General Information on Premiere Status). The film’s country of origin is determined by the registered office address of the production company. In case of international co-productions, the main country of production will be considered as country of origin.
• have not been presented publicly in Germany. Accordingly, German films may have been presented publicly outside of Europe but must not yet have been publicly exhibited anywhere in Europe including their country of origin, Germany.
• have neither been broadcast on television nor presented on the internet/VOD.
• were completed within the 12 months prior to the start of the festival.
• are intended for theatrical release.
• have never been submitted to the Berlinale for selection.

In case of a co-directorship, the submitted film must be the debut feature of all participating directors.

Animated films and hybrid films with documentary elements are permitted, provided that the narrative component predominates and the film is officially submitted as a fiction film.

For all applications, the General Guidelines for Film Submission and Participation apply. The Festival Director reserves the right to decide on any eventuality not foreseen in the guidelines.

2. Selection and Programming

The Festival Director together with the Co-Directors of Programming invite the films to participate in Perspectives.

The selected films compete for the Best First Feature Award – funded by GWFF and endowed with 50.000 euros.

3. Language Version and Subtitles

All films invited to participate in Perspectives must be made available in the formats DCP or QuickTime ProRes – 35mm or other formats only upon request.

The films will be presented in their original version with English subtitles. The version (to be) released in the country of origin is regarded as the original version. The film’s producer is responsible for meeting the costs of subtitling and providing the English subtitled version on time.

To improve the festival’s accessibility offers, an additional version with German subtitles and/or an HI/SDH version with open captions in German or English is desirable but not mandatory.