Berlin International Film Festival unveiled the 2022 jury for the International Competition, Encounters, GWFF Best First Feature Award, Berlinale Documentary Award, and Generation – Generation Kplus and Generation 14plus.
Oink (Knor) by Mascha Halberstad opens the Generation Kplus competition. The stop-motion film, which was created in more than 200 days of shooting, tells the story of nine-year-old Babs in elaborate, detailed animation. Her grandfather gave her a pig with the ulterior motive of secretly using it for his comeback as Sausage King. Fast-paced, funny and simultaneously complex and profoundly told.
The film Rookies (Allons enfants) by Thierry Demaizière and Alban Teurlai will kick off the Generation 14plus competition. The documentary accompanies young people from various social backgrounds during their first year at the Paris Lycée Turgot, where they are being trained in hip-hop dance. The film succeeds in combining institutional film and group portraits and inspires with dance sequences in which the young people discover their outlet and expression in movement.
Director M. Night Shyamalan will head the International Jury who will decide who will take home the Golden and the Silver Bears at the Berlinale 2022. The other members of the jury are director, screenwriter and visual artist Karim Aïnouz (Brazil / Algeria), producer Saïd Ben Saïd (France / Tunisia), director and scriptwriter Anne Zohra Berrached (Germany), filmmaker and author Tsitsi Dangarembga (Zimbabwe), director and screenwriter Ryûsuke Hamaguchi (Japan), actor and producer Connie Nielsen (Denmark). 18 films are competing for the awards in this year’s Competition.
Since 2020 the competitive section Encounters has been a part of the Berlinale. A three-member jury will choose the winners for Best Film, Best Director and the Special Jury Award – Director of Content Chiara Marañón (Spain), artist and filmmaker Ben Rivers (United Kingdom) as well as producer, screenwriter and director Silvan Zürcher (Switzerland). The Encounters program features 15 films.
Since 2006, the GWFF Best First Feature Award has been given to one outstanding debut film across the Berlinale sections. In total, 18 directorial feature film debuts from the sections Competition, Encounters, Panorama, Forum, Generation and Perspektive Deutsches Kino are nominated for the GWFF Best First Feature Award.A three-person jury will decide on the award: Gaia Furrer (Italy), Vimukthi Jayasundara (Sri Lanka)and Shahrbanoo Sadat (Afghanistan).
The Berlin International Film Festival has long been committed to the diversity of documentary forms. A distinct award for the best documentary film was launched in 2017. In total, 18 documentary forms from the sections Berlinale Special, Encounters, Panorama, Forum and Generation are nominated for the Berlinale Documentary Award. A three-member jury will pick the winner: Wang Bing (People’s Republic of China), Rana Eid (Lebanon), Susanne Schüle (Germany).
The members of the International Jury of Generation Kplus are Daniela Cajías, Nicola Jones, Samuel Kishi Leopo; and the members of the International Jury of Generation 14plus are Paolo Bertolin, Rubika Shah, Dash Shaw.