Today, the Berlinale announced the full programmes for its Encounters, Panorama and Perspektive Deutsches Kino strands. In detail, this year’s Encounters line-up includes 12 titles from 16 countries, and seven of them are first features. The section was introduced last year, with the aim of supporting “new voices in cinema and to give more room to diverse narrative and documentary forms in the official selection”. A three-member jury will choose the winners of Best Film, Best Director and a Special Jury Award, and will announce them during the Berlinale Industry Event (1-5 March). The awards ceremony will take place at the Summer Special (9-20 June).

“Each film in the second edition of Encounters is a line that crosses an unknown field. If something unites these very diverse cinematic achievements, it is a sense of discovery. Like the Lumière brothers, 125 years later, these films want to take us to places where we will learn something about the world, humankind and, maybe, about ourselves, too. In a time where trips are almost always cancelled, cinema regains its function,” says artistic director Carlo Chatrian.

Meanwhile, the Panorama section comprises 19 titles, including 16 world premieres and six debut films. Speaking about this year's picks, section head Michael Stütz commented: “2021 is characterised by combative, political cinema. The cinematic gazes of strong female directors, critical new cinema from the Middle East as well as indigenous and queer narratives set clear focal points in the Panorama. The filmmakers are taking a stand with their observations, reflecting on individual conflicts and collective trauma while also questioning political and interpersonal power relations, and challenging others to respond.”

Finally, the Perspektive Deutsches Kino programme includes six titles, selected from among a total of 225 submissions. This year’s selection has been described as reflecting “the increasing blurring of national borders, and the free movement of filmmakers and their stories across geographic borders”.

Here is the list of films selected:

Encounters

As I Want [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] – Samaher Alqadi (Egypt/France/Norway/Palestine) (documentary)
Azor [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Andreas Fontana
scheda film] – Andreas Fontana (Switzerland/France/Argentina)
The Beta Test [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] – Jim Cummings and PJ McCabe (USA/UK)
Bloodsuckers [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Julian Radlmaier
scheda film] – Julian Radlmaier (Germany)
Social Hygiene – Denis Côté (Canada)
The Girl and the Spider [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Ramon Zürcher e Silvan Zür…
scheda film] – Ramon Zürcher and Silvan Zürcher (Switzerland)
Distr [+leggi anche:
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scheda film]ict Terminal [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] – Bardia Yadegari, Ehsan Mirhosseini (Iran/Germany)
Moon, 66 Questions [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Jacqueline Lentzou
scheda film] – Jacqueline Lentzou (Greece/France)
We [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Alice Diop
scheda film] – Alice Diop (France) (documentary)
Rock Bottom Riser – Fern Silva (USA)
The Scary of Sixty-First – Dasha Nekrasova (USA)
Taste [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] – Lê Bảo (Vietnam/Singapore/France/Thailand/Germany/Taiwan)

Panorama

Censor [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Prano Bailey-Bond
scheda film] – Prano Bailey-Bond (UK)
Death of a Virgin, and the Sin of Not Living – George Peter Barbari (Lebanon)
Dirty Feathers – Carlos Alfonso Corral (USA/Mexico) (documentary)
Genderation [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] – Monika Treut (Germany) (documentary)
Bliss [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Henrika Kull
scheda film] – Henrika Kull (Germany)
Celts [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Milica Tomovic
scheda film] – Milica Tomović (Serbia)
Human Factors [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Ronny Trocker
scheda film] – Ronny Trocker (Germany/Italy/Denmark)
Miguel's War [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] – Eliane Raheb (Lebanon/Germany/Spain) (documentary)
All Eyes Off Me [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Hadas Ben Aroya
scheda film] – Hadas Ben Aroya (Israel)
The World After Us [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Louda Ben Salah-Cazanas
scheda film] – Louda Ben Salah-Cazanas (France)
Night Raiders – Danis Goulet (Canada/New Zealand)
North By Current – Angelo Madsen Minax (USA) (documentary)
Brother's Keeper [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Ferit Karahan
scheda film] – Ferit Karahan (Turkey/Romania)
Souad [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] – Ayten Amin (Egypt/Tunisia/Germany)
Ted K – Tony Stone (USA)
Theo and the Metamorphosis [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Damien Odoul
scheda film] – Damien Odoul (France)
The Last Forest – Luiz Bolognesi (Brazil) (documentary)
Copilot [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Anne Zohra Berrached
scheda film] – Anne Zohra Berrached (Germany/France)
A Balance – Yujiro Harumoto (Japan)

Perspektive Deutsches Kino

Instructions for Survival [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] – Yana Ugrekhelidze (Germany) (documentary)
Jesus Egon Christ – David Vajda, Saša Vajda (Germany) (medium-length film)
Keep Moving [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] – Salar Ghazi (Germany) (documentary)
The Seed [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] – Mia Maariel Meyer (Germany)
When a farm goes aflame [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] – Jide Tom Akinleminu (Germany) (documentary)
Wood and Water [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] – Jonas Bak (Germany/France)