18/01/2024 - The section is focusing on unseen corners of the globe, with a total of 30 films from 30 countries set to be showcased from 15-25 February

The 30 films making up the main programme of the 54th Berlinale Forum, helmed by new head Barbara Wurm, delve into the intricate relationship between political awareness and cinematic form, exploring diverse ways to experience world knowledge and grotesque reality. The movies, hailing from 30 countries, uncover complex floral formulas, vertical graves and determined women in unseen corners of the globe. The programme reflects Forum's daring approach to the filigree and fragmentary, underlining its openness to unconventional and larger-scale cinematic forms. This edition, to be hosted at Kino Arsenal in Potsdamer Platz, marks the Forum's last before relocating to the silent green Kulturquartier next year. As a reminder, the section’s first few titles were announced in December (see the news).

The 2024 Forum programme features the Malaysian debut film Oasis of Now by Chee Sum Chia, offering a poignant portrayal of an apartment block housing migrant workers and spotlighting Vietnamese nail artist Ta Thi Diu. Additionally, Holy Week [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Andrei Cohn
film profile] by Andrei Cohn explores the psychology of violence, providing intelligent insights into anti-Semitism. Elsewhere, the line-up showcases exceptional female characters and presents a unique perspective on physicality in The Human Hibernation [+see also:
film review
interview: Anna Cornudella
film profile] by Anna Cornudella.

Narges Kalhor's debut, Shahid [+see also:
film review
film profile], is brimming with creative energy, setting new standards in autobiographical post-migrant cinema as well as offering insights into both Germany and Iran. Faraz Fesharaki's documentary What Did You Dream Last Night, Parajanov? [+see also:
film review
interview: Faraz Fesharaki
film profile] is a diaspora study striking a delicate balance of distance and connection, presenting German-Iranian voices exploring the simultaneity of the non-simultaneous with tragicomic laconicism and the élan of dance. German productions dominate the 2024 Forum, with Romuald Karmakar's The Invisible Zoo [+see also:
film review
film profile], a three-hour analysis of both an institution and the present era shot at Zurich Zoo, as well as two more documentaries: Reproduction [+see also:
film review
film profile] by Katherina Pethke and Well Ordered Nature [+see also:
film review
film profile] by Eva C Heldmann. Pethke examines the challenges of reconciling career and motherhood, weaving together personal and objective elements against the backdrop of a Hamburg art school and maternity hospital. Meanwhile, Heldmann's essay delves into the 18th-century story of botanist Catharina Helena Dörrien, revealing a convergence of natural philosophy and social policy in a free-floating narrative through folios and meadow flowers.

Section head Barbara Wurm highlights the 54th Forum's focus on profound present-day themes through films exploring poverty, gender inequality, war trauma, neo-liberalism and neo-authoritarianism, blending edification, enlightenment, reflection and empathy. Notable essayistic documentaries include The Nights Still Smell of Gunpowder [+see also:
film review
film profile] by Inadelso Cossa, Resonance Spiral by Filipa César and Marinho de Pina, and L’homme-vertige: Tales of a City by Malaury Eloi Paisley, offering a human-centric perspective on post-colonialism. The programme features additional highlights like The Secret Drawer [+see also:
film review
interview: Costanza Quatriglio
film profile] by Costanza Quatriglio and Traces of Movement before the Ice by René Frölke, both archival films challenging textual and image canons. Familiar faces and emerging auteurs, including Alexander Horwath's Henry Fonda for President [+see also:
film review
interview: Alexander Horwath
film profile], contribute to the selection, alongside films like Intercepted [+see also:
film review
film profile] by Oksana Karpovych, offering a piercing montage depicting the destruction in Ukraine and intercepted voice recordings of Russian soldiers and their families.

Finally, The Editorial Office [+see also:
film review
interview: Roman Bondarchuk
film profile] by Roman Bondarchuk (listen to our podcast), filmed before, and completed during, Russia's war on Ukraine and democracy since 2022, engages self-critically with corrupt post-Soviet realities. This droll, wild and impertinent film is a humorous and love-filled ode to cinema.

Here is the complete list of Berlinale 2024 Forum titles:

The Adamant Girl - Vinothraj PS (India)
All the Long Nights - Shô Miyake (Japan)
The Cats of Gokogu Shrine - Kazuhiro Soda (Japan) (documentary)
The Editorial Office [+see also:
film review
interview: Roman Bondarchuk
film profile] - Roman Bondarchuk (Ukraine/Germany/Slovakia/Czech Republic)
Exhuma - Jang Jae-hyun (South Korea)
Henry Fonda for President [+see also:
film review
interview: Alexander Horwath
film profile] - Alexander Horwath (Austria/Germany) (documentary)
Holy Week [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Andrei Cohn
film profile] - Andrei Cohn (Romania/Switzerland)
The Human Hibernation [+see also:
film review
interview: Anna Cornudella
film profile] - Anna Cornudella (Spain)
In the Belly of a Tiger - Siddartha Jatla (India)
Intercepted [+see also:
film review
film profile] - Oksana Karpovych (Canada/France/Ukraine) (documentary)
The Invisible Zoo [+see also:
film review
film profile] - Romuald Karmakar (Germany) (documentary)
L'homme-vertige: Tales of a City - Malaury Eloi Paisley (France) (documentary)
True Chronicles of the Blida Joinville Psychiatric Hospital in the Last Century, when Dr Frantz Fanon Was Head of the Fifth Ward between 1953 and 1956 [+see also:
film review
film profile] - Abdenour Zahzah (Algeria/France)
Maria's Silence [+see also:
film review
interview: Dāvis Sīmanis
film profile] - Dāvis Sīmanis (Latvia/Lithuania)
The Nights Still Smell of Gunpowder [+see also:
film review
film profile] - Inadelso Cossa (Mozambique/Germany/France/Portugal/Netherlands/Norway) (documentary)
Oasis - Tamara Uribe, Felipe Morgado (Chile) (documentary)
Oasis of Now - Chee Sum Chia (Malaysia/Singapore/France)
Reas [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Lola Arias
film profile] - Lola Arias (Argentina/Germany/Switzerland) (documentary)
Reproduction [+see also:
film review
film profile] - Katharina Pethke (Germany) (documentary)
Republic - Jin Jiang (Singapore/China) (documentary)
Resonance Spiral - Marinho de Pina, Filipa César (Portugal/Guinea-Bissau/Germany) (documentary)
The Secret Drawer [+see also:
film review
interview: Costanza Quatriglio
film profile] - Costanza Quatriglio (Italy/Switzerland) (documentary)
Shahid [+see also:
film review
film profile] - Narges Kalhor (Germany)
Skin in Spring - Yennifer Uribe Alzate (Colombia/Chile)
Sleeping with a Tiger [+see also:
film review
interview: Anja Salomonowitz
film profile] - Anja Salomonowitz (Austria)
Traces of Movement before the Ice - René Frölke (Germany) (documentary)
The Undergrowth [+see also:
film review
interview: Macu Machín
film profile] - Macu Machín (Spain) (documentary)
Well Ordered Nature [+see also:
film review
film profile] - Eva C Heldmann (Germany) (documentary)
What Did You Dream Last Night, Parajanov? [+see also:
film review
interview: Faraz Fesharaki
film profile] - Faraz Fesharaki (Germany) (documentary)
The Wrong Movie [+see also:
film review
film profile] - Keren Cytter (USA/Belgium)

Forum Special

Mother and Daughter, or the Night Is Never Complete [+see also:
film review
film profile] - Lana Gogoberidze (Georgia/France)