Berlinale alumni in Park Chan-wook, Justine Triet and the Eat The Night tandem of Caroline Poggi and Jonathan Vinel have been selected to present their latest works in the Berlinale Shorts 2025 – To Be in This World. As we await Park Chan-wook’s next feature film (currently in production) No Other Choice, he re-teamed with Park Chan-kyong for Paranmanjang (aka Night Fishing). It’s coined as a fairy tale about death and reincarnation, transmigration and the sounds of music. From Palme d’Or winning director for Anatomy of a Fall, we find Triet re-teaming with actress Laetitia Dosch (2013’s Age of Panic) for Vilaine fille mauvais garçon (Two Ships). Logline is simple: One night. A party. Thomas and Laetitia spend time together, caught up in the lightness of illusion and the weight of reality. A dance. Poggi and Vinel prsent not one, but two shorts – one live-action and one animation short. Here are the selections:
The 20 short films in Berlinale Shorts are about people and the circumstances in which they live. They examine how the past shapes the present, address collective trauma, adopt archives, reflect on the digital automation of everyday life and portray mothers, girls and young women. Their protagonists are filled with longing, find their way in the world, confront pain, fall in love and care for each other.
After Colossus
by Timoteus Anggawan Kusno | with Ari Dwianto, Jamaluddin Latif, Nizar Tama, Annisa Hertami, Berti Galang
Italy / Indonesia / Netherlands
Berlinale Shorts | International premiere
In the chaotic aftermath following the collapse of Indonesia’s dictatorship, a team of researchers discovers a forgotten archive revealing a covert operation that manipulated dreams and memories.
Anba dlo
by Luiza Calagian, Rosa Caldeira | with Berline Charles, Feguenson Hermogène, Doreen Granados, Alejandra de Jesús Garcell
Cuba / Brazil / Haiti
Berlinale Shorts | World premiere
Nadia is a biologist researching the native flora and fauna of Cuba. One day the forest sounds different. Something has happened. Her Haitian homeland has never felt further away.
Because of (U)
by Tohé Commaret | with Emma Gonzales-Commaret, Bastien Domergues
France
Berlinale Shorts | International premiere
Laura endures her narcissistic boyfriend’s rants with silent anger. She feels abandoned by the world and searches for something to hold onto between the dreary blocks of flats – while the music plays elsewhere.
Casa chica
by Lau Charles | with Katherine Bernal, Mauro Guzmán, Raúl Briones, Kala Martínez, Daniela Arroio
Mexico
Berlinale Shorts | World premiere
While their mother unpacks removal boxes, Valentina (5) and Quique (11) run riot around the flat. Their parents have separated. When their father picks them up to show them his new, old life, the children receive a painful glimpse into the adult world.
Casi septiembre (Close to September)
by Lucía G. Romero | with Ana Fernández Barja, Isabel Rico, Salim Tamoud Dahan, María del Mar Casas Font, Ninoska Linares Aranda
Spain
Berlinale Shorts | World premiere
Alejandra lives on a campsite close to the big hotels. She takes care of her siblings, hangs out in the neighbourhood and flirts casually with the tourists – until she meets Amara. A romance develops that grows more serious than Alejandra would like.
Children’s Day
by Giselle Lin | with Emma Lim, Adele Tong, Shu An Oon, Edward Choy
Singapore
Berlinale Shorts | World premiere
Xuan (8) is struggling to find the perfect outfit for her school’s upcoming Children’s Day celebration. Her sisters are mean, her father authoritarian, her mother busy with the new baby. Xuan tentatively approaches a classmate and makes a new friend.
Comment ça va? (How Are You?)
by Caroline Poggi, Jonathan Vinel | with Ariane Ascaride, Oulaya Amamra, Galatéa Bellugi, Grace Seri, Mouna Soualem
France
Berlinale Shorts | World premiere | Animation
A group of animals live on a wild coastline and try to heal the ills caused by the contemporary world. A kind of rehab.
Dar band (Citizen-Inmate)
by Hesam Eslami
Iran
Berlinale Shorts | World premiere | Documentary form
The electronic monitoring has transformed Tehran into a digital panopticon, turning the nightmare of constant surveillance and control into reality. But what happens when the roles are reversed and the focus is turned on the surveillants?
Élő kövek (Living Stones | Atmende Steine)
by Jakob Ladányi Jancsó | with Lilla Kizlinger, Árpád Schilling
Hungary
Berlinale Shorts | World premiere
A rehabilitation centre far from the city. Natasa is struggling to trust her much older therapist. She finds some solace in horse therapy. But a chasm is opening up between healing and harm.
Futsu no seikatsu (Ordinary Life)
by Yoriko Mizushiri | with Yoriko Mizushiri, Sumi Mizushiri
France / Japan
Berlinale Shorts | World premiere | Animation
A breath of air, a movement, a touch and, in between, a dissolution. Gestures of everyday life in variation, sensual, floating in pastel colours.
Happy Doom
by Billy Roisz
Austria
Berlinale Shorts Special Programme | No premiere
Flickering and pulsating, spitting and swallowing at the same time. The screen becomes a vibrating membrane; colours, shapes, beats
and sounds a psychedelic whirlpool. A short, fast-paced audiovisual ode to the hypnotic power of colour and vertigo.
Kámen Osudu (Stone of Destiny)
by Julie Černá
Czechia
Berlinale Shorts | World premiere | Animation
The Stone of Destiny longs for freedom and wants to overcome its self-doubt. So it embarks on a journey and meets strange creatures in strange places. An animated musical.
Ke wai huo dong (Extracurricular Activity)
by Dean Wei, Xu Yidan | with Tu Ling, Xu Yidan, Li Gengyou
People’s Republic of China
Berlinale Shorts | International premiere
Two teenagers secretly meet for sex, but something goes wrong. When the boy confesses to his mother what has happened, she takes charge and makes all further decisions.
Koki, Ciao
by Quenton Miller
Netherlands
Berlinale Shorts | International premiere | Documentary form
In his autobiography, Koki, the famous talking cockatoo, gives insights into his life with Tito, the long-time president of Yugoslavia
whose country residence was regularly frequented by political figures, dictators and movie stars.
Lloyd Wong, Unfinished
by Lesley Loksi Chan
Canada
Berlinale Shorts | World premiere | Documentary form
In the 1990s, Chinese-Canadian artist Lloyd Wong began a video work about his living with HIV. It remained unfinished. Thirty years after his death, filmmaker Lesley Loksi Chan discovers and edits the material.
Mother’s Child
by Naomi Noir | with Maya Devincenzi Dil, Grace Kimasi, Phaedra Fidessa, James Alexander Hyslop, Eoghan Ruddy
Netherlands
Berlinale Shorts | International premiere | Animation
Being a loving mother and full-time carer for her mentally and physically disabled son is Mary’s daily struggle. The authorities are anything but helpful and she is in danger of drowning in a sea of bureaucracy.
Paranmanjang (Night Fishing)
by Park Chan-wook, Park Chan-kyong | with Kwang-rok Oh, Jung-hyun Lee, Uhuhboo Project
South Korea
Berlinale Shorts Special Programme | No premiere
A fairy tale about death and reincarnation, transmigration and the sounds of music.
Prekid vatre (Ceasefire)
by Jakob Krese
Germany / Italy / Slovenia
Berlinale Shorts | World premiere | Documentary form
Hazira survived Srebrenica. She saw the war, it corroded her life. She has been stuck in a refugee camp in her own country for 29 years, working hard and unceasingly to make ends meet and keep the trauma at bay.
Rückblickend Betrachtet (In Retrospect)
by Daniel Asadi Faezi, Mila Zhluktenko
Germany
Berlinale Shorts | World premiere | Documentary form
Migrant workers are building a shopping mall for the 1972 Munich Olympics. In 2016, this same place becomes the site of a racist shooting. “And now all this hatred,” remarks a woman in Addressee Unknown (1983). An attempt at looking back and finding connections.
Sammi, Who Can Detach His Body Parts
by Rein Maychaelson | with Jefri Nichol, Nai Djenar Maesa Ayu, Damita Almira, Virencia Suganda, Hatta Rahandy
Indonesia
Berlinale Shorts | World premiere
Sammi has the ability to remove parts of his body and give them to those he loves and wants to help. After his death, Sammi’s mother goes in search of the pieces of her son.
Tant qu’il nous reste des fusils à pompe (As long as shotguns remain)
by Caroline Poggi, Jonathan Vinel | with Lucas Doméjean, Nicolas Mias, Naël Malassagne
France
Berlinale Shorts Special Programme | No premiere
Two friends. One commits suicide. The other does not want to continue living either. But before he can go, he must take care of his brother’s future and find a family for him.
Their Eyes
by Nicolas Gourault
France
Berlinale Shorts | World premiere | Documentary form
Clickworkers in Venezuela, Kenya and the Philippines talk about their working day: they edit and label countless images of traffic on US streets to be used as training material for self-driving cars.
Three Stones for Jean Genet
by Frieder Schlaich | with Patti Smith
Germany
Berlinale Shorts Special Programme | No premiere | Documentary form
Tangier, Patti Smith, Jean Genet, three stones, a secret, a glance. Their lives collide in this city. In the end, the stones will find their place and life will go on.
Through Your Eyes
by Nelson Yeo | with Doreen Toh, Lim Poh Huat, Tan Xin Yen, Edward Tan
Singapore
Berlinale Shorts | World premiere
In a discotheque stuck in the 80s, four lives intertwine as each searches for connection and meaning amidst the pulsating beats and timeless allure of an era that refuses to fade.
Vilaine fille mauvais garçon (Two Ships)
by Justine Triet | with Laetitia Dosch, Thomas Lévy-Lasne, Serge Riaboukine
France
Berlinale Shorts Special Programme | No premiere
One night. A party. Thomas and Laetitia spend time together, caught up in the lightness of illusion and the weight of reality. A dance.
Vita Lakamaya
by Akihito Izuhara
Japan
Berlinale Shorts Special Programme | No premiere | Animation
In the land of Vita Lakamaya, resting is the most important pastime of all. A procession goes by. The year draws to a close. The creature sleeps.