With their fearless subjectivity, the filmmakers of the Berlinale Shorts invite us to see the world through their eyes: “As different as the films may be, they all deal with our present and are aesthetically highly interesting. They are sincere in attitude and playfully free in form. I believe that dealing with complex issues in the darkened cinema also makes it easier for us – the audience – to face the complexity of the world outside our door,” says section head Anna Henckel-Donnersmarck.

By concentrating the various topics within the maximum 30-minute running time, the films also reflect the bigger picture with all its ambivalences and ruptures. How, for example, does self-empowerment work in a world that is shaped by the consequences of colonialism (Kicking the Clouds, Heroínas) and capitalism (Soum), by classism and racism (Four Nights), by #MeToo (Starfuckers) or social media (By Flávio)? Where is environmental destruction leading humans and nature (Chhngai Dach Alai, Agrilogistics, Haulout)? What effects do authoritarian political systems have on the lives of individuals (Will My Parents Come to See Me, Trap, Dirndlschuld) and what are the mechanisms of war (Amintiri de pe Frontul de Est) with its long-term consequences and global collateral damage (Retreat)? Sometimes poetry is the answer (El sembrador de estrellas, Mars Exalté). Looking at the inner self (Ampangabagat Nin Talakba Ha Likol, Jon-Jae-Ui Jib) and the process of becoming (Bird in the Peninsula, Histoire pour 2 Trompettes, Manhã de Domingo) open the door to dreamlike worlds beyond reality.

“We are delighted to welcome some familiar faces and many new ones to the Berlinale Shorts programme,” says Anna Henckel-Donnersmarck. The filmmakers include Berlinale Bear winners Radu Jude (2021 Golden Bear for Best Film), Atsushi Wada (2012 Silver Bear Jury Prize (Short Film)) and Leonor Teles (2016 Golden Bear for Best Short Film, this year as cinematographer). Yann Gonzalez is taking part as a producer, Deepak Rauniyar is internationally recognised for his feature films, Evgenia Arbugaeva as a photographer and Antonio Marziale as an actor, while Sky Hopinka, Lois Patiño and Gerard Ortín Castellví have all made a name for themselves in the art world.

Interviews with the filmmakers and texts about their films can soon be found on the Berlinale Shorts blog.

The International Short Film Jury for Berlinale Shorts comprises the Italian artist Rosa Barba, the German short-film expert Reinhard W. Wolf and the Indian filmmaker Payal Kapadia. They will be selecting the winners of the Golden Bear for Best Short Film, the Silver Bear Jury Prize (Short Film) and the Berlin Short Film Candidate for the European Film Awards from the 21 competing films.

Berlinale Shorts Films

Agrilogistics
United Kingdom / Spain, 21’
by Gerard Ortín Castellví
World premiere / documentary form

Amintiri de pe Frontul de Est (Memories from the Eastern Front)
Romania, 30’
by Radu Jude, Adrian Cioflâncă
World premiere / documentary form

Ampangabagat Nin Talakba Ha Likol (It’s Raining Frogs Outside)
Philippines, 14’
by Maria Estela Paiso
with Alyana Cabral
International premiere

Bird in the Peninsula
France / Japan, 16’
by Atsushi Wada
World premiere

By Flávio
Portugal / France, 27’
by Pedro Cabeleira
with Ana Vilaça, Rodrigo Manaia, Tiago Costa
World premiere

Chhngai Dach Alai (Further and Further Away)
Cambodia, 24’
by Polen Ly
with Bopha Oul, Phanny Loem
World premiere

Dirndlschuld
Austria, 15’
by Wilbirg Brainin-Donnenberg
International premiere / documentary form

Four Nights
USA / Mexico / Nepal, 16’
by Deepak Rauniyar
with Asha Magrati, Dayahang Rai
International premiere

Haulout
United Kingdom / Russian Federation, 25’
by Evgenia Arbugaeva, Maxim Arbugaev
World premiere / documentary form

Heroínas (Heroines)
Peru, 21’
by Marina Herrera
World premiere / documentary form

Histoire pour 2 Trompettes (A Story for 2 Trumpets)
France, 5’
by Amandine Meyer
World premiere

Jon-Jae-Ui Jib (House of Existence)
South Korea, 8’
by Joung Yumi
World premiere

Kicking the Clouds
USA, 16’
by Sky Hopinka
with Brandy Goodbuffalo, Sylvia Gard, Modesta Van Oss
International premiere / documentary form

Manhã de Domingo (Sunday Morning)
Brazil, 25’
by Bruno Ribeiro
with Raquel Paixão, Leonardo Castro, Silvana Stein, André Pacheco, Indira Nascimento, Valéria Lima
International premiere

Mars Exalté (Exalted Mars)
France, 18’
by Jean-Sébastien Chauvin
with Alain Garcia Vergara
World premiere

Retreat
Germany, 30’
by Anabela Angelovska
World premiere / documentary form

El sembrador de estrellas (The Sower of Stars)
Spain, 25’
by Lois Patiño
World premiere

Soum
France, 31’
by Alice Brygo
with Inti Franc-Régis, Pauline Cormault, Jai Rebière
World premiere / documentary form

Starfuckers
USA, 14’
by Antonio Marziale
with Antonio Marziale, Cole Doman, Jonathan Slavin
International premiere

Trap
Russian Federation / Lithuania, 20’
by Anastasia Veber
with Ignat Dvoinikov, Elizaveta Broshkova, Anastasia Arzhevikina, Eugene Zherdy
International premiere

Will My Parents Come to See Me
Germany / Austria / Somalia, 28’
by Mo Harawe
with Xaliimo Cali Xasan, Shucayb Abdirahman Cabdi, Maxamed Axmed Maxamed, Mohamed Hirsi, Geenyada Madaw, Faysal Colaad Muxumed
World premiere

The Berlinale Shorts International Jury

Payal Kapadia, Rosa Barba and Reinhard W. Wolf

Rosa Barba (Italy) – Artist, Filmmaker
Artist and filmmaker Rosa Barba’s work encompasses films, sculptures, installations, live performances, texts and publications based on the material and conceptual qualities of cinema. She creates installations and site-specific interventions that explore how film defines the physical quality of the space, and places the work and viewer in a new relationship. Her cinematic works are set in undefined time periods and move between experimental documentary and narrative fiction. Her works are represented in international collections, renowned institutions and have been presented in biennials around the world, including Tate Modern London, Dia Art Foundation New York, Pirelli Hangar Bicocca Milan, Arter Istanbul, Jeu de Paume Paris, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía Madrid, Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt and the Biennale di Venezia. And for its reopening in 2021, the Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin featured an exhibition of Rosa Barba’s work.

Payal Kapadia (India) – Filmmaker
Payal Kapadia’s poetic, deeply personal and highly political debut feature A Night of Knowing Nothing premiered in the Quinzaine des Réalisateurs at Cannes in 2021, where it received the L’Œil d’Or as the best documentary film across all festival sections. Dubbed “one of the year’s most electrifying debuts,” it also garnered awards at the Toronto International Film Festival and the Mar del Plata International Film Festival. Her latest short, And What Is the Summer Saying, premiered at the 2018 Berlinale and went on to win the Special Jury Prize at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam. In 2017, Payal Kapadia celebrated her Cannes debut with Afternoon Clouds screening in the Cinéfondation section for young directors, after her short The Last Mango Before the Monsoon had won her the FIPRESCI prize as well as the Special Jury Prize at the 2015 International Short Film Festival Oberhausen. A Berlinale Talents alumna, she is currently working on her next feature film in Mumbai.

Reinhard W. Wolf (Germany) - Film and Media Art Curator, Writer
Reinhard W. Wolf heads the Mainz community cinema CinéMayence which is known not only for its carefully curated film programmes but also for being able to screen all kinds of formats – including Super 8 films. As a writer, his main thematic focus is on new media and short film. He works as a freelance editor for the online short film magazine shortfilm.de and has written numerous magazine articles and contributions to books as well as two studies on the situation of short films in Germany: Expertise zur Situation des deutschen Kurzfilms (An Expert Look at the Situation of German Short Film, Oberhausen: 1998) and Kurzfilm in Deutschland – Studie zur Situation des kurzen Films (Short Film in Germany – A Study of the Situation of the Short Film, Dresden: 2006). He has been working as a film and media art curator for exhibitions and film festivals at home and abroad for many years, especially for the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen.