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BERLINALE 2025

Berlinale Shorts invites us “To Be in This World”

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- The festival’s 75th edition celebrates humanity in all its complexity, showcasing a diverse selection of short films that blend experimentation with storytelling

Berlinale Shorts invites us “To Be in This World”
Their Eyes by Nicolas Gourault (© Don Quichotte Films)

The Berlinale Shorts section offers an eclectic and striking mix of world-class short films, many of which are celebrating their premieres at the 2025 edition of the Berlin International Film Festival (13-23 February). Featuring 20 titles from 18 countries, including 15 world premieres, this year’s programme tackles themes of humanity, technology, war and memory through a vibrant array of genres, styles and formats, all amassed under the banner “To Be in This World”. Head of Berlinale Shorts Anna Henckel-Donnersmarck remarks, “This edition is rich in portraits of various kinds, spanning documentary, fiction and animated works. We encounter individuals who are sure to stay with us for a long time.”

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War and collective trauma are significant threads woven throughout the programme. Films like After Colossus and Ceasefire explore the impact of violent conflict, while In Retrospect and Koki, Ciao delve into how the past ripples through the present. Documentaries like Lloyd Wong, Unfinished make use of archival materials to examine lost narratives, while Citizen-Inmate questions the implications of automated and surveilled modern lives.

Themes of familial bonds, crisis and human resilience recur powerfully. Mothers appear in complex roles – nurturing yet domineering in Mother’s Child and Sammi, Who Can Detach His Body Parts. Adolescence is framed through stories of young women in personal turmoil in Because of (U) and Living Stones, and tales of girls confronting premature adulthood in Children’s Day and Casa chica. Longing, anger and connection also dominate the programme, from the intimate, romantic journey of Close to September to the unyielding rage in How Are You?. Experimental works like Through Your Eyes and Anba dlo invite viewers to embark on sensory and emotional explorations of love and pain.

The 75th Berlinale also honours its legacy by revisiting six iconic short films from its archive in a special compilation, “You and I Are Not Alone – Berlinale Shorts Revisited”. The screenings include Happy Doom by experimental filmmaker and musician Billy Roisz and the surreal, Golden Bear-winning Night Fishing by Park Chan-wook and Park Chan-kyong, also known as PARKing CHANce. Justine Triet and Sandra Hüller’s initial encounter took place at Berlinale Shorts in 2012 through Two Ships, when Triet presented the film and Hüller was a member of the Berlinale Shorts jury. In the black-and-white documentary Three Stones for Jean Genet, Frieder Schlaich accompanies Patti Smith to Tangier to visit Jean Genet’s grave. Meanwhile, Akihito Izuhara’s mythical creatures appear in the hand-drawn animated flick Vita Lakamaya.

Here is the full list of films screening in competition at Berlinale Shorts 2025:

After Colossus - Timoteus Anggawan Kusno (Italy/Indonesia/Netherlands)
In Retrospect - Daniel Asadi Faezi, Mila Zhluktenko (Germany) (documentary)
Anba dlo - Luiza Calagian, Rosa Caldeira (Cuba/Brazil/Haiti)
Stone of Destiny - Julie Černá (Czech Republic) (animation)
Casa chica - Lau Charles (Mexico)
Because of (U) - Tohé Commaret (France)
Citizen-Inmate - Hesam Eslami (Iran) (documentary)
Their Eyes - Nicolas Gourault (France) (documentary)
Ceasefire - Jakob Krese (Germany/Italy/Slovenia) (documentary)
Living Stones - Jakob Ladányi Jancsó (Hungary)
Children's Day - Giselle Lin (Singapore)
Lloyd Wong, Unfinished - Lesley Loksi Chan (Canada) (documentary)
Sammi, Who Can Detach His Body Parts - Rein Maychaelson (Indonesia)
Koki, Ciao - Quenton Miller (Netherlands) (documentary)
Ordinary Life - Yoriko Mizushiri (France/Japan) (animation)
Mother's Child - Naomi Noir (Netherlands) (animation)
How Are You? - Caroline Poggi, Jonathan Vinel (France) (animation)
Close to September - Lucía G Romero (Spain)
Extracurricular Activity - Dean Wei, Xu Yidan (China)
Through Your Eyes - Nelson Yeo (Singapore)

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