Berlinale topper Carlo Chatrian is slowly unveiling titles for his final line-up and this morning we’ve got some stocking stuffers with the first batch of titles from the Berlinale Special, Generation and Forum Expanded sections. Among the headliners, we have the world premiere screenings for Julia von Heinz‘s Treasure and Tilman Singer‘s Cuckoo) while Johan Renck’s Spaceman (which Netflix dropped the assets for yesterday) will be showcased will also launch here. Another noteworthy Sundance-Berlin title is Zellner brothers with Sasquatch Sunset which features Riley Keough and Jesse Eisenberg. Among our most anticipated films for ’24, Philippe Lesage‘s Comme le feu will launch from the Generation section. Here are the selections for sections that are mostly incomplete.
Berlinale Special section:
Cuckoo
by Tilman Singer | with Hunter Schafer, Dan Stevens, Jessica Henwick, Marton Csókás, Jan Bluthardt Germany 2024
Berlinale Special Gala | World premiere
Dostoevskij (Dostoevsky)
by Damiano & Fabio D’Innocenzo | with Filippo Timi, Gabriel Montesi, Carlotta Gamba, Federico Vanni Italy 2024
Berlinale Special | World premiere | Series
Sasquatch Sunset
by David & Nathan Zellner | with Riley Keough, Jesse Eisenberg, Nathan Zellner, Christophe Zajac-Denek USA 2024
Berlinale Special | International premiere
Seven Veils
by Atom Egoyan | with Amanda Seyfried, Rebecca Liddiard, Douglas Smith, Ambur Braid, Michael Kupfer-Radecky Canada 2023
Berlinale Special Gala | International premiere
Spaceman
by Johan Renck | with Adam Sandler, Carey Mulligan, Kunal Nayyar, Isabella Rossellini, Paul Dano USA 2024
Berlinale Special Gala | World premiere
Treasure
by Julia von Heinz | with Lena Dunham, Stephen Fry, Zbigniew Zamachowski Germany / France 2024
Berlinale Special Gala | World premiere
Wu Suo Zhu (Abiding Nowhere)
by Tsai Ming-liang
Taiwan / USA 2024
Berlinale Special | World premiere | Documentary Form
Generation Section
Beurk! (Yuck!)
by Loïc Espuche
France 2024
Generation Kplus | International premiere | Animation | Short film
Yuck! Kissing on the mouth is disgusting. But secretly, little Léo really wants to try it …
Comme le feu (Who by Fire)
by Philippe Lesage | with Noah Parker, Aurélia Arandi-Longpré, Antoine Marchand-Gagnon, Arieh Worthalter, Paul Ahmarani Canada / France 2024
Generation 14plus | World premiere
Seventeen-year-old Jeff is invited by his friend Max’s family to stay at the wilderness lodge of film director Blake Cadieux.
Cura sana
by Lucía G. Romero | with Roser Rendon Ena, Rasvely Lissette Donaire Restituyo, Yaneys Cabrera Ramírez, Leisam Ramos Rodríguez, Ana Barja
Spain 2024
Generation 14plus | World premiere | Short film
Spain during the Noche de San Juan festival. Sisters Jessica and Alma are once again on their way to pick up food stamps from the Caritas charity. Although they have experienced violence at home, they both try to break the cycle and treat each other with love.
Disco Afrika : une histoire malgache (Disco Afrika: A Malagasy Story) by Luck Razanajaona | with Parista Sambo, Laurette Ramasinjanahary, Joe Lerova, Drwina Razafimahaleo, Jérôme Oza France / Madagascar / Germany / Mauritius / South Africa / Qatar 2023
Generation 14plus | European premiere | Debut film
Twenty-year-old Kwame toils in clandestine sapphire mines. When an unexpected event takes him back to his hometown, he is confronted with the rampant corruption that plagues his country and is forced to make a choice.
Ellbogen (Elbow)
by Aslı Özarslan | with Medine Karadeniz, Doğa Gürer, Jale Arikan, Haydar Şahin, Orhan Kiliç
Germany / Turkey / France 2024
Generation 14plus | World premiere
Hazal is 17 and lives in Berlin. Her biggest wish: to be given a chance. For her 18th birthday she wants to escape the everyday grind and party with her friends. But a fatal incident changes everything. Hazal is forced to flee.
Fox and Hare Save the Forest
by Mascha Halberstad | with Rob Rackstraw, Dan Skinner, Jamie Quinn, Teresa Galagher, Sarah Madigan
Netherlands / Belgium / Luxembourg 2024
Generation Kplus | World premiere | Animation
With Owl disappearing, mischievous Rats terrorising the neighbourhood and a lake overflowing their home, Fox and Hare embark on an exciting adventure to save the forest. It will push their friendship to the limit!
Lapso (Lapse)
by Caroline Cavalcanti | with Beatriz Oliveira, Juan Queiroz, Dora Rosa, Thayanne Lima
Brazil 2023
Generation 14plus | European premiere | Short film
Two teenagers from the suburbs of Belo Horizonte in Brazil meet each other while doing community service. Through their shared experiences of repression at the hands of the state authorities, they slowly draw closer together.
Los tonos mayores (The Major Tones)
by Ingrid Pokropek | with Sofía Clausen, Pablo Seijo, Lina Ziccarello, Mercedes Halfon, Santiago Ferreira
Argentina / Spain 2023
Generation Kplus | International premiere | Debut film
Following an accident, 14-year-old Ana has a metal plate in her arm. During the winter holidays, this plate suddenly starts to receive strange messages in Morse code.
Muna
by Warda Mohamed | with Kosar Ali, Raha Isse Farah, Elmi Rashid Elmi, Ahmed Nur, Meena Mohamed
United Kingdom 2023
Generation 14plus | International premiere | Short film
Muna is desperate to go on the school trip but her parents aren’t so sure. When her grandfather back in Somalia dies and the UK-based family mourn someone Muna never really knew, she learns that more connects the two of them than she ever realised.
Obraza (Resentment | Ressentiment)
by Gleb Osatinski | with Vladyslav Baliuk, Sergey Zdoronkov, Liudmila Gnatenko, Ariana Rimkutė, Vaidotas Martinaitis
USA / Lithuania 2023
Generation 14plus | World premiere | Short film
Seventeen-year-old Yasha is rebelling against authority. But in the USSR of 1990, some opposing forces are more dangerous than others. Determined not to give in, Yasha’s need for self-expression will propel him to the precipice of irreparable harm.
Porzellan (Porcelain)
by Annika Birgel | with Nell Marie Haack, Liv Heleen Haack, Niklas Leifert
Germany 2024
Generation Kplus | World premiere | Short film
On a remote German island, the inhabitants of a village come together to celebrate a traditional eve-of-wedding party. As the shards of the crockery smashed by the guests pile up, ten-year-old Fina struggles to keep a piece of herself intact.
Sieger Sein (Winners)
by Soleen Yusef | with Dileyla Agirman, Andreas Döhler, Sherine Ciara Merai, Samira Hamieh, Fatima Hamieh
Germany 2024
Generation Kplus | World premiere
Mona has fled Syria with her Kurdish family and ends up in a primary school in Berlin-Wedding. Things are tough there. Everyone on the girls’ football team, for which Mona is selected, plays against each other. But only “team work makes the dream work”.
Sukoun (Amplified)
by Dina Naser | with Malak Nassar, Suhad Khatib, Nadeem Al-Rimawi, Hanna Wardeh
Jordan / Egypt 2024
Generation Kplus | World premiere | Short film
Hind is a young karate athlete with a hearing disability. One day, after she is subjected to abusive behaviour at the training centre, her world becomes distorted. Hind must find a way to reclaim her power.
Forum Expanded section:
for here am i sitting in a tin can far above the world
by Gala Hernández López | with Olivia Delcán, Joseph Grossi
France 2023
Forum Expanded | World premiere
A woman dreams of a future economic crisis affecting the cryptocurrency market. Thousands have been cryogenized, waiting for better times. Are they suspended or are they falling into the void?
Here We Are
by Chanasorn Chaikitiporn | with Jarunun Phantachat, Suchanya Kaewsinual
Thailand 2023
Forum Expanded | International premiere
A housekeeper receives a film made by her daughter. The film, combining found footage of Thailand during the Cold War with present- day images of Bangkok, triggers a re-telling of her own story of coming to the capital.
O Seeker
by Gavati Wad | with Varun Sahni, Rajashree Sawant Wad, Sujata Mane
USA / India 2023
Forum Expanded | World premiere
In the aftermath of a global pandemic, this 16mm film examines science, politics, spirituality, and superstition in India as it pieces together a puzzle of unresolved questions through conversations about grief, loss, and absurd events, real and imagined.
The Perfect Square
by Gernot Wieland | with Rudolf Körner
Germany / Belgium 2023
Forum Expanded | World premiere
Director Gernot Wieland worked for twelve years with an animal trainer who taught birds to fly in circles or squares. The film examines how aesthetic norms influence Western views of the world and why these norms end in failure.
Quebrante
by Janaina Wagner
Brazil 2024
Forum Expanded | International premiere
Quebrante follows Ms. Erismar, a retired teacher and spelunker, as it traverses the caves, ruins, and phantasmagorias of the Trans- Amazonian Highway – still a fresh scar of the wrecked dream of Brazil’s history – portraying its stones and ghosts.
Room 404
by Elysa Wendi, Shing Lee
Poland / Hong Kong, China 2023
Forum Expanded | International premiere
Trapped in a hotel room by a never-ending typhoon in Hong Kong, an artist duo finds themselves isolated and cut off from the world. Affected by the social movement in the city, they start questioning the role of filmmakers in challenging times.
Sarcophagus of Drunken Loves
by Joana Hadjithomas & Khalil Joreige
France / Lebanon 2023
Forum Expanded | World premiere
Nowadays, Beirut is often deprived of electricity. It is not a one-time accident but a new state. In the national museum, visitors find themselves in darkness and use their phones to light the traces of past civilizations as their world crumbles.
