With a compact program of eight films, the 2020 Perspektive Deutsches Kino program of the Berlin International Film Festival celebrates the world premieres of four outstanding feature films and four documentary films. The year 2020 will be the first time that Kino International will serve as the premiere screening cinema for Perspektive Deutsches Kino. All eight films compete for the Compass-Perspektive-Award, which is endowed with 5,000 €. The director Mia Spengler, the screenwriter Bernd Lange and the producer Melanie Andernach (MADE IN GERMANY) will decide on the prize for the best film in the program.

“I see every film in the program as a Heimatfilm, not as a transfiguration in the romantic, kitschy style of the 50s, but as a confrontation with the world we live in – right up to Heimat horror”, comments section head Linda Söffker with regard to this year’s selection.

36 feature films from all around the world are on the lookout for partners at the 17th Berlinale Co-Production Market (February 22-26). Almost half of the projects originate from female directors and strong female protagonists literally play a big role this time.

For the 18th edition of Berlinale Talents, 255 Talents from 86 countries (126 women, 123 men, and six that preferred to not state their gender) are invited to Berlin from February 22-27.

The group includes internationally emerging talents such as Sherwan Haji, the Syrian-Finnish lead actor in Aki Kaurismäki’s The Other Side of Hope, amongst others, as well as over 40 creatives that were part of the past Berlinale editions, including many with award-winning films such as Ixcanul, God Exists, Her Name is Petrunya or Systemsprenger.

Berlinale Artistic Director Carlo Chatrian and Executive Director Mariette Rissenbeek welcome the selected Talents: “At the Berlinale, we care about films as much as about the collective processes that shape these stories. Our lasting relationships with those behind and in front of the camera is what we wish to express and nurture with Berlinale Talents.”

Perspektive Deutsches Kino: Heimatfilm and Heimat Horror

Automotive
Germany
by Jonas Heldt
World premiere / Documentary form / Debut film

While Sedanur spends the whole night in Ingolstadt sorting car parts, headhunter Eva is looking for specialists in logistics automation. Two very different representatives of a generation in which, sooner or later, everyone will be replaceable.

Im Feuer (Sisters Apart)
Germany / Greece
by Daphne Charizani
with Almila Bagriacik, Zübeyde Bulut, Maryam Boubani, Christoph Letkowski, Gonca de Haas
World premiere

Rojda, a German soldier and native Kurd, volunteers for a mission to train female Kurdish soldiers in Iraq to fight ISIS. No one must know that she is actually looking for her missing sister.

Schlaf (Sleep)
Germany
by Michael Venus
with Gro Swantje Kohlhof, Sandra Hüller, August Schmölzer, Marion Kracht, Agata Buzek
World premiere

Mona’s days are filled with concern for her mother, a woman broken by her belief that her nightmares are real. In search of answers, Mona arrives in a village where she encounters an old family curse in a strange hotel.

Wagenknecht
Germany
by Sandra Kaudelka
World premiere / Documentary form

Left-wing politician Sahra Wagenknecht’s working day is marked by applause and admiration but also doubts and intrigues. This film follows her and her team: from the 2017 election campaign to her withdrawal from political leadership in 2019.

Guest of Perspektive Deutsches Kino

Out of Place
Germany
by Friederike Güssefeld
Documentary form

Three young Germans sent to an educational project in the middle of Romania. This quietly observational film brings us closer to Kevin, Dominik and David – their loneliness, their desires and their turmoil – in this remote place.

Official Project Selection Berlinale Co-Production Market 2020

(in alphabetical order of the production companies):

• Electric Child (D: Simon Jaquemet), 8horses, Switzerland
• Skin of Youth (D: Ash Mayfair), An Nam Productions, Vietnam & Mayfair Pictures, USA
• Toll (D: Carolina Markowicz), Biônica Filmes, Brazil & O Som e A Furia, Portugal
• Sweet Lips (D: Tusi Tamasese), Blueskin Films, New Zealand
• Antonia’s Garden (D: Christine Repond), Contrast Film, Switzerland
• Boldstar (D: Antoinette Jadaone), Epicmedia & Project 8 Projects, Philippines
• There Are Two Kinds of People in This World (D: Onur Saylak), Liman Film & b.i.t Arts, Turkey
• Reflection (D: Valentyn Vasyanovych), Limelite & Arsenal Films, Ukraine
• Salt Lake (D: Kasia Rosłaniec), Mañana, Poland
• Happiness (D: Pepa San Martín), Manufactura de Películas, Chile & Aleph Cine, Argentina
• Let The River Flow! (D: Ole Giæver), Mer Film, Norway
• Happy Lovers (D: Hicham Lasri), Moon A Deal, France & La Prod, Morocco
• Piggy (D: Carlota Pereda), Morena Films, Spain
• Winterreise (D: Alex Helfrecht), Oiffy, United Kingdom
• The Long Run (D: Andrea Magnani), Pilgrim, Italy
• Life of a Great Director (D: Philippe Lesage), Productions l’unité Centrale, Canada
• Bedsitterland (D: Nick Kelly), Samson Films, Ireland
• The Melting (D: Veerle Baetens), Savage Film, Belgium
• Zafari (D: Mariana Rondon), Sudaca Films, Peru & Venezuela & Klaxon, Brazil
• A House in the Country (D: Davi Pretto), Vulcana Cinema, Brazil
• Transit Times (D: Ana-Felicia Scutelnicu), Weydemann Bros, Deutschland & Mobra Films, Romania

“Berlinale Directors” Projects:

• Death and the Maiden (D: Adina Pintilie), Manekino Film, Romania
• The Herd (D: Milko Lazarov), Red Carpet, Bulgaria
• Maret (D: Laura Schroeder), Red Lion, Luxembourg & Red Balloon, Germany

“Rotterdam-Berlinale Express”:

• Sleepwalkers (D: Radu Jude), Microfilm, Romania
• A Shadow Creeps in Silver Trees (D: John Trengove), Urucu Media, South Africa

“Talent Project Market” – Projects and Producer Talents

(in alphabetical order of the production companies):

• The Sky Is Mine (D: Deepak Rauniyar), Aadi Production (P: Deepak Rauniyar), Nepal
• Little Boy Blue (D: Tommaso Pitta), Bridge Way (P: Chris Hees), United Kingdom
• Hazel Eyes (D: Maria Ibrahimova), Cinex (P: Maria Ibrahimova), Azerbaijan
• Just (D: Jack Turits), Jack Turits Studio (P: Jack Turits), USA & Poland
• The Last Paradise on Earth (D: Sakaris Stórá), KYK Pictures (P: Jón Hammer), Faroe Islands
• Sahar (D: Vera Egito), Lacuna Filmes (P: Diana Almeida), Brazil
• Richelieu (D: Pier-Philippe Chevigny), Le Foyer Films (P: Geneviève Gosselin-G.), Canada
• Mariam (D: Hamza Bangash), Other Memory Media (P: Anam Abbas), Pakistan
• Faraway (D: Yorgos Zois), Squared Square (P: Antigoni Rota), Greece
• Crocodile Tears (D: Tumpal Tampubolon), Tanakhir Films (P: Mandy Marahimin), Indonesia