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 [+lee también:
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entrevista: Andrei Cohn
ficha de la película] 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 [+lee también:
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entrevista: Anna Cornudella
ficha de la película] by Anna Cornudella.

Narges Kalhor's debut, Shahid [+lee también:
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ficha de la película], 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? [+lee también:
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entrevista: Faraz Fesharaki
ficha de la película] 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 [+lee también:
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ficha de la película], a three-hour analysis of both an institution and the present era shot at Zurich Zoo, as well as two more documentaries: Reproduction [+lee también:
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ficha de la película] by Katherina Pethke and Well Ordered Nature [+lee también:
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ficha de la película] 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 [+lee también:
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ficha de la película] 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 [+lee también:
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entrevista: Costanza Quatriglio
ficha de la película] 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 [+lee también:
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entrevista: Alexander Horwath
ficha de la película], contribute to the selection, alongside films like Intercepted [+lee también:
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ficha de la película] 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 [+lee también:
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entrevista: Roman Bondarchuk
ficha de la película] 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 [+lee también:
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entrevista: Roman Bondarchuk
ficha de la película] - Roman Bondarchuk (Ukraine/Germany/Slovakia/Czech Republic)
Exhuma - Jang Jae-hyun (South Korea)
Henry Fonda for President [+lee también:
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entrevista: Alexander Horwath
ficha de la película] - Alexander Horwath (Austria/Germany) (documentary)
Holy Week [+lee también:
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entrevista: Andrei Cohn
ficha de la película] - Andrei Cohn (Romania/Switzerland)
The Human Hibernation [+lee también:
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entrevista: Anna Cornudella
ficha de la película] - Anna Cornudella (Spain)
In the Belly of a Tiger - Siddartha Jatla (India)
Intercepted [+lee también:
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ficha de la película] - Oksana Karpovych (Canada/France/Ukraine) (documentary)
The Invisible Zoo [+lee también:
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ficha de la película] - 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 [+lee también:
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ficha de la película] - Abdenour Zahzah (Algeria/France)
Maria's Silence [+lee también:
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entrevista: Dāvis Sīmanis
ficha de la película] - Dāvis Sīmanis (Latvia/Lithuania)
The Nights Still Smell of Gunpowder [+lee también:
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ficha de la película] - 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 [+lee también:
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entrevista: Lola Arias
ficha de la película] - Lola Arias (Argentina/Germany/Switzerland) (documentary)
Reproduction [+lee también:
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ficha de la película] - 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 [+lee también:
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entrevista: Costanza Quatriglio
ficha de la película] - Costanza Quatriglio (Italy/Switzerland) (documentary)
Shahid [+lee también:
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ficha de la película] - Narges Kalhor (Germany)
Skin in Spring - Yennifer Uribe Alzate (Colombia/Chile)
Sleeping with a Tiger [+lee también:
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entrevista: Anja Salomonowitz
ficha de la película] - Anja Salomonowitz (Austria)
Traces of Movement before the Ice - René Frölke (Germany) (documentary)
The Undergrowth [+lee también:
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entrevista: Macu Machín
ficha de la película] - Macu Machín (Spain) (documentary)
Well Ordered Nature [+lee también:
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ficha de la película] - Eva C Heldmann (Germany) (documentary)
What Did You Dream Last Night, Parajanov? [+lee también:
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entrevista: Faraz Fesharaki
ficha de la película] - Faraz Fesharaki (Germany) (documentary)
The Wrong Movie [+lee también:
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ficha de la película] - Keren Cytter (USA/Belgium)

Forum Special

Mother and Daughter, or the Night Is Never Complete [+lee también:
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ficha de la película] - Lana Gogoberidze (Georgia/France)