BERLIN (December 15, 2022) – GENERATION confirms the first films of the Generation Kplus and Generation 14plus competitions: nine short films and nine full-length films, among them eleven world premieres and eight feature-length film debuts. The first films confirmed so far hint at a programme that embraces both perceptive assessments of the state of the world as well as fantastical assertions of personal truths – in both content and cinematic language.

GENERATION 2023: The World In View

“Generation is excited about cinema that places perspectives and personal experiences of young people at their centre and that allow young audiences to see and envision themselves anew. A cinematic experience that holds up a mirror to a world created by others – and one that acts as a window onto a world that can be possible,” says section head Sebastian Markt regarding the first part of the programme selection.

Documentary forms that call attention to themes that move not only young people, but also others: The Iranian film Darvazeye royaha (Dreams’ Gate) follows young Kurdish women in their battle for autonomy and against the Islamic State, contradicting heroic male war iconography. Waking Up in Silence observes Ukrainian refugee children as they make a transitional place their home: a former military barrack whose walls tell about German history. Documentary essays take a look at more personal spaces: Crushed puts the messy feeling of irrepressible infatuation into cinematic order, and in To Write from Memory, Emory Chao Johnson reflects on their own transition and insists on the right to bodily autonomy and personal perception.

In the fiction films, precise observations of realities meet narrative styles full of fantasy that come closer to capturing subjective realities than simpler depictions could. Again and again, the title character in Sica returns to the sea, as rough as it is promising, and shouts questions at the wind and waves – questions that she has to find the answers to herself. It’s the portrait of a young woman trying to assert herself amidst powers she can’t control. In L’Amour du monde (Longing for the World) a teenager caught between caring for a strong-willed child and fascination with an older fisherman finds a new view onto herself in the process. In Adolfo, two lost souls converge and follow their very real feelings to imaginary places over the course of a night. Le paradis (The Lost Boys) is the story of young love behind bars, looking at prison not only as a social space, but equally as a bodily, physical one. The Czech animation Deniska umřela (Dede is Dead) creates a space for remembrance and grief over a beloved pet, and in Aaaah !, many individual voices join to form a collective scream about the joyful insanity of growing up.

The first year under a new head also looks like it’s finally going to be a year in which the festival takes place in its full glory again: With cinemas filled to capacity and many screenings being attended by the filmmakers offering plenty of possibilities for encounter and exchange – animated by the lively Generation audiences. The leadership change involved creating a new position to strengthen the section’s dialogue with its young audience. Together with the section head, section manager Melika Gothe will build on the successful work of years passed and set a new focus on film education and cultural participation amid a changing film culture.

Berlinale Generation film lineup: full list of the 18 confirmed titles

Aaaah !
by Osman Cerfon
France 2023
Generation Kplus | International Premiere | Animation | Short film
The tumultuous school day is filled with cries of „Aaaah!“: cries of anger, of boredom, of joy and surprise – in short, the full spectrum of young emotions. A charmingly grotesque animated short about an uproar in a world that dances to the tune of the adults.
Adolfo
by Sofía Auza | with Juan Daniel García Treviño, Rocío de la Mañana
USA / Mexico 2023
Generation 14plus | World Premiere | Debut film
When Momo, Hugo and his cactus, Adolfo, meet one night, they are heading in opposite directions. Their peculiar encounter will not only magically change the course of their lives, but also encourage them to warmly embrace the beauty of the unexpected.
L’ Amour du monde (Longing for the World)
by Jenna Hasse | with Clarisse Moussa, Esin Demircan, Marc Oosterhoff
Switzerland 2023
Generation Kplus | World Premiere | Debut film
When teenager Margaux bonds with seven year old Juliette and a local fisherman, her summer holidays turn upside down. An unusual friendship, where Margaux experiences tenderness and play and discovers a new way to understand herself.
Antes de Madrid (Before Madrid)
by Ilén Juambeltz, Nicolás Botana | with Alejo Martínez, Agustina Castaño
Uruguay 2022
Generation 14plus | International Premiere | Short film
Today is their last chance to have sex for the first time. Early tomorrow morning, Micaela is moving to Madrid, Santiago is staying behind in Uruguay. They have it all planned out: a secluded spot, condoms – and getting a few tips from a friend, just in case.
Crushed
by Ella Rocca
Switzerland 2022
Generation 14plus | International Premiere | Documentary Form | Short film
A crush is emotionally very draining: what to do with all the infatuation, especially when it is unrequited? Ella Rocca questions the person they adore, the internet and themselves. The data is sampled into an essay about a very (in)determinate feeling.
Darvazeye royaha (Dreams’ Gate)
by Negin Ahmadi
Iran / Norway / France 2023
Generation 14plus | World Premiere | Debut film | Documentary Form
Driven by the desire to understand her inner truth as a marginalised woman in Iran, Negin Ahmadi embarks on a self-exploring precarious adventure to meet the Kurdish women fighters in the war zone of North Syria.
Deniska umřela (Dede is Dead)
by Philippe Kastner
Czechia 2023
Generation Kplus | World Premiere | Animation | Short film
Dede is dead. Before, she was always around: day and night, outside or inside, nestled in the family’s arms. In his animation, Philippe Kastner shows the darkness of grief and the rich colours of memories and dreams. Dede was not just any dog. She was his dog.
Entre deux sœurs (To Be Sisters)
by Anne-Sophie Gousset, Clément Céard
France 2022
Generation Kplus | International Premiere | Animation | Short film
Two sisters set their world in motion. The older one pulls the younger one along: through the playroom, childhood, and from frame to frame in the animation. The younger one follows until she can determine the direction herself. She now takes her sister with her.
Helt super (Just Super)
by Rasmus A. Sivertsen | with Hennika Eggum Huuse, Todd Monrad Vistven, Johannes Kjærnes, Tobias Santelmann, Kari Simonsen
Norway 2022
Generation Kplus | International Premiere | Animation
Neither acrobatic nor athletic, Hedvig is probably too clumsy to become a superheroine. In order to be able to follow in the footsteps of her father Super Lion, she accepts the challenge of convincing her skeptical environment of the opposite.
Infantaria (Infantry)
by Laís Santos Araújo | with Ana Luiza Ferreira, Karolayne Rayssa, Francisco Nunes, Ane Olivia
Brazil 2022
Generation 14plus | International Premiere | Short film
In opulent lush scenery a birthday party is being held. Joana longs for her period to start, her brother Dudu misses his absent father, Verbena looks for a way out. Fulfilling your dreams can come with pain, in this magical realist glimpse from Brazil.
Míng tian bi zuo tian chang jiu (Tomorrow Is a Long Time)
by Jow Zhi Wei | with Leon Dai, Edward Tan
Singapore / Taiwan / France / Portugal 2023
Generation 14plus | World Premiere
Acts of violence bring repercussions for exterminator Chua and his son Meng, who has been under pressure from bullies. Military service offers Meng escape into the jungle, an unknown world which could bring him closer to understanding his own nature.
Nanitic
by Carol Nguyen | with Kylie Le, Van Pham, Ly Pham, Dam Nguyen, Eve Sevigny
Canada 2022
Generation Kplus | International Premiere | Short film
Nine-year-old Trang and her family take care of her dying grandmother. As in an ant colony, each member has an important function. Carol Nguyen sensitively provides insights into the construct of family as a microcosm.
Le paradis (The Lost Boys)
by Zeno Graton | with Khalil Ben Gharbia, Julien de Saint Jean
Belgium / France 2023
Generation 14plus | World Premiere | Debut film
In a youth correctional facility, Joe is preparing his return to society. But William’s arrival turns his desire for freedom into desire of another kind. Behind fences and cell walls, passions begin to play havoc with the need for liberty.
Le proprietà dei metalli (The Properties of Metals)
by Antonio Bigini | with Martino Zaccara, Edoardo Marcucci, David Pasquesi, Antonio Buil Pueyo
Italy 2023
Generation Kplus | World Premiere | Debut film
In an Italian village, where the idyllic beauty of the landscape belies the toughness of life, word has it young Pietro has psychokinetic powers. A tender portrait of a young boy, and an allegory of the science of invisible forces.
Sica
by Carla Subirana | with Thais García Blanco, Núria Prims, Marco Antonio Florido Añón, María Villaverde Ameijeiras
Spain 2023
Generation 14plus | World Premiere
Waiting for answers that don’t seem to come, Sica stares at the waves crashing against the coastal rocks. Her father, a fisherman, drowned in the sea. In an isolated corner of the world, Sica doesn’t lose hope. Even if she needs to go against the current.
To Write from Memory
by Emory Chao Johnson
USA 2023
Generation 14plus | World Premiere | Documentary Form | Short film
A young person’s physical gender transition is steadily progressing, despite their mother’s vocal objections. To Write from Memory is an essay on moving forward, and the inevitability of confronting one’s own past in the process.
Waking Up in Silence
by Mila Zhluktenko, Daniel Asadi Faezi
Germany / Ukraine 2023
Generation Kplus | World Premiere | Documentary Form | Short film
A summer’s day in a former German military barrack: children forced to flee Ukraine have found refuge here. In their games, they discover military symbols from the past and link them to their experiences.
Zeevonk (Sea Sparkle)
by Domien Huyghe | with Saar Rogiers, Dunia Elwaleed, Sverre Rous, Valentijn Dhaenens, Hilde De Baerdemaeker
Belgium / Netherlands 2023
Generation Kplus | World Premiere | Debut film
When her father dies at sea, Lena starts desperately looking for the cause, convinced a sea monster is to blame. Her relentless push against the tide reveals a tale of anger and grief, yet also of the strength and comfort the ocean provides