Berlinale Topics

In the run-up to the festival you will find here interviews with Berlinale section heads and programmers as well as articles on the thematic focal points of the current edition.

Statement by Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeha

Because their government has imposed a travel ban on them, the two Iranian directors Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeha cannot present their film - Keyke mahboobe man (My Favourite Cake) from the Competition - in Berlin. At the Press Conference, the film's leading actor, Lily Farhadpour, read out a personal statement by Moghaddam and Sanaeeha.

© Emma Ackermann © Emma Ackermann

on scene

Young Photographers at the Berlinale

In 2024, the Berlinale will presented the "on scene" photography project in cooperation with the SRH Berlin University of Applied Sciences.

© Ulrich Seidl Filmproduktion / Heimatfilm © Ulrich Seidl Filmproduktion / Heimatfilm

Competition | Berlinale Special

A Focus on the Unusual

Carlo Chatrian and Mark Peranson on the significance of emotions in the selection, the strong presence of mother and child characters and the play with genre elements in the Competition and the Berlinale Special.

© Studio Mangosteen © Studio Mangosteen

Berlinale Shorts

About Animals, People and Togetherness

Contrasting cinematic forms and subject matters enter into dialogue with one another in the Berlinale Shorts programme. Familiar things are examined more closely, unfamiliar ones approached in an open way, feelings are expressed and doubts permitted.

© MDFF © MDFF

Encounters

Underneath our Reality

Ghosts, Sappho, treasure hunts - in its fifth edition the Encounters sections seeks to explore and question the limits of genre and cinematic truths. Artistic Director Carlo Chatrian and Head of Programming Mark Peranson discuss the 15 selected films and cinema’s quest to make the invisible visible.

Panorama

Bridges to the Possible

In the interview, section head Michael Stütz talks about how the films consistently succeed in building bridges across the fault lines of our times into a possible future, about exceptional life stories and the enormous formal diversity in the programme.

© Gema Films © Gema Films

Forum

Empathetic, Diverse and with Solidarity

Between generations, between genres, between people – this year, the Forum once again invites you to journey to and beyond the borders of what is familiar in film.

© Emilia Beatriz © Emilia Beatriz

Forum Expanded

Distant Connections

In the interview section heads Ala Younis and Ulrich Ziemons talk about ghosts as multipurpose metaphors, 16mm as a resurgent material in experimental film making and what may have surprised them in this year’s selection.

© Johan Carrasco © Johan Carrasco

Generation

Fiercely Supportive Realms of Experience

In this interview, Generation section head Sebastian Markt and section manager Melika Gothe discuss what cinema can accomplish as a social space, their understanding of age-appropriate interaction with young audiences and why they find coming of age more interesting when it deviates from the literal concept.

© Filmgalerie 451 © Filmgalerie 451

Retrospective

Busting the Canon

Rainer Rother and Annika Haupts on the high percentage of female directors in the 2024 Retrospective " An Alternate Cinema" and why the films are particularly worthwhile for a young audience.

© David Ausserhofer, Berlinale 2023 © David Ausserhofer, Berlinale 2023

Berlinale Talents

Film (Language) as a Favourite Language

In this interview, programme manager Florian Weghorn and project manager Nikola Joetze present the 2024 programme and discuss the importance of good communication and mutual understanding for successful film collaborations.

Berlinale Goes Kiez

Celebrating Neighbourhood Cinemas

Together with its audience, the festival would like to celebrate film and the cinema in particular, while also paying tribute to the valuable work that arthouse theatres perform. True to the established formula, from February 17 to 23 the little red carpet will be making its way from neighbourhood to neighbourhood, and even to the outskirts of the city.

© David von Becker © David von Becker

Exhibition

The Art of the Film Poster

The special exhibition "The Big Screen - Film Posters of All Time" can be seen at the Kulturforum until March 3, 2024. In this interview, exhibition curators Christina Thomson and Christina Dembny talk about the focus of the collection, true rarities and what makes the perfect movie poster.