The 30 films making up the main programme of the 54th Berlinale Forum, helmed by new head Barbara Wurm, delve into the intricate relationship between political awareness and cinematic form, exploring diverse ways to experience world knowledge and grotesque reality. The movies, hailing from 30 countries, uncover complex floral formulas, vertical graves and determined women in unseen corners of the globe. The programme reflects Forum's daring approach to the filigree and fragmentary, underlining its openness to unconventional and larger-scale cinematic forms. This edition, to be hosted at Kino Arsenal in Potsdamer Platz, marks the Forum's last before relocating to the silent green Kulturquartier next year. As a reminder, the section’s first few titles were announced in December (see the news).

The 2024 Forum programme features the Malaysian debut film Oasis of Now by Chee Sum Chia, offering a poignant portrayal of an apartment block housing migrant workers and spotlighting Vietnamese nail artist Ta Thi Diu. Additionally, Holy Week [+lire aussi :
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interview : Andrei Cohn
fiche film] by Andrei Cohn explores the psychology of violence, providing intelligent insights into anti-Semitism. Elsewhere, the line-up showcases exceptional female characters and presents a unique perspective on physicality in The Human Hibernation [+lire aussi :
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interview : Anna Cornudella
fiche film] by Anna Cornudella.

Narges Kalhor's debut, Shahid [+lire aussi :
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fiche film], is brimming with creative energy, setting new standards in autobiographical post-migrant cinema as well as offering insights into both Germany and Iran. Faraz Fesharaki's documentary What Did You Dream Last Night, Parajanov? [+lire aussi :
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interview : Faraz Fesharaki
fiche film] is a diaspora study striking a delicate balance of distance and connection, presenting German-Iranian voices exploring the simultaneity of the non-simultaneous with tragicomic laconicism and the élan of dance. German productions dominate the 2024 Forum, with Romuald Karmakar's The Invisible Zoo [+lire aussi :
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fiche film], a three-hour analysis of both an institution and the present era shot at Zurich Zoo, as well as two more documentaries: Reproduction [+lire aussi :
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fiche film] by Katherina Pethke and Well Ordered Nature [+lire aussi :
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fiche film] by Eva C Heldmann. Pethke examines the challenges of reconciling career and motherhood, weaving together personal and objective elements against the backdrop of a Hamburg art school and maternity hospital. Meanwhile, Heldmann's essay delves into the 18th-century story of botanist Catharina Helena Dörrien, revealing a convergence of natural philosophy and social policy in a free-floating narrative through folios and meadow flowers.

Section head Barbara Wurm highlights the 54th Forum's focus on profound present-day themes through films exploring poverty, gender inequality, war trauma, neo-liberalism and neo-authoritarianism, blending edification, enlightenment, reflection and empathy. Notable essayistic documentaries include The Nights Still Smell of Gunpowder [+lire aussi :
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fiche film] by Inadelso Cossa, Resonance Spiral by Filipa César and Marinho de Pina, and L’homme-vertige: Tales of a City [+lire aussi :
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fiche film] by Malaury Eloi Paisley, offering a human-centric perspective on post-colonialism. The programme features additional highlights like The Secret Drawer [+lire aussi :
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interview : Costanza Quatriglio
fiche film] by Costanza Quatriglio and Traces of Movement before the Ice by René Frölke, both archival films challenging textual and image canons. Familiar faces and emerging auteurs, including Alexander Horwath's Henry Fonda for President [+lire aussi :
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interview : Alexander Horwath
fiche film], contribute to the selection, alongside films like Intercepted [+lire aussi :
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fiche film] by Oksana Karpovych, offering a piercing montage depicting the destruction in Ukraine and intercepted voice recordings of Russian soldiers and their families.

Finally, The Editorial Office [+lire aussi :
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interview : Roman Bondarchuk
fiche film] by Roman Bondarchuk (listen to our podcast), filmed before, and completed during, Russia's war on Ukraine and democracy since 2022, engages self-critically with corrupt post-Soviet realities. This droll, wild and impertinent film is a humorous and love-filled ode to cinema.

Here is the complete list of Berlinale 2024 Forum titles:

The Adamant Girl - Vinothraj PS (India)
All the Long Nights - Shô Miyake (Japan)
The Cats of Gokogu Shrine - Kazuhiro Soda (Japan) (documentary)
The Editorial Office [+lire aussi :
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interview : Roman Bondarchuk
fiche film] - Roman Bondarchuk (Ukraine/Germany/Slovakia/Czech Republic)
Exhuma - Jang Jae-hyun (South Korea)
Henry Fonda for President [+lire aussi :
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interview : Alexander Horwath
fiche film] - Alexander Horwath (Austria/Germany) (documentary)
Holy Week [+lire aussi :
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interview : Andrei Cohn
fiche film] - Andrei Cohn (Romania/Switzerland)
The Human Hibernation [+lire aussi :
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interview : Anna Cornudella
fiche film] - Anna Cornudella (Spain)
In the Belly of a Tiger - Siddartha Jatla (India)
Intercepted [+lire aussi :
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fiche film] - Oksana Karpovych (Canada/France/Ukraine) (documentary)
The Invisible Zoo [+lire aussi :
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fiche film] - Romuald Karmakar (Germany) (documentary)
L'homme-vertige: Tales of a City [+lire aussi :
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fiche film] - Malaury Eloi Paisley (France) (documentary)
True Chronicles of the Blida Joinville Psychiatric Hospital in the Last Century, when Dr Frantz Fanon Was Head of the Fifth Ward between 1953 and 1956 [+lire aussi :
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fiche film] - Abdenour Zahzah (Algeria/France)
Maria's Silence [+lire aussi :
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interview : Dāvis Sīmanis
fiche film] - Dāvis Sīmanis (Latvia/Lithuania)
The Nights Still Smell of Gunpowder [+lire aussi :
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fiche film] - Inadelso Cossa (Mozambique/Germany/France/Portugal/Netherlands/Norway) (documentary)
Oasis - Tamara Uribe, Felipe Morgado (Chile) (documentary)
Oasis of Now - Chee Sum Chia (Malaysia/Singapore/France)
Reas [+lire aussi :
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interview : Lola Arias
fiche film] - Lola Arias (Argentina/Germany/Switzerland) (documentary)
Reproduction [+lire aussi :
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fiche film] - Katharina Pethke (Germany) (documentary)
Republic - Jin Jiang (Singapore/China) (documentary)
Resonance Spiral - Marinho de Pina, Filipa César (Portugal/Guinea-Bissau/Germany) (documentary)
The Secret Drawer [+lire aussi :
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interview : Costanza Quatriglio
fiche film] - Costanza Quatriglio (Italy/Switzerland) (documentary)
Shahid [+lire aussi :
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fiche film] - Narges Kalhor (Germany)
Skin in Spring - Yennifer Uribe Alzate (Colombia/Chile)
Sleeping with a Tiger [+lire aussi :
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interview : Anja Salomonowitz
fiche film] - Anja Salomonowitz (Austria)
Traces of Movement before the Ice - René Frölke (Germany) (documentary)
The Undergrowth [+lire aussi :
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interview : Macu Machín
fiche film] - Macu Machín (Spain) (documentary)
Well Ordered Nature [+lire aussi :
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fiche film] - Eva C Heldmann (Germany) (documentary)
What Did You Dream Last Night, Parajanov? [+lire aussi :
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interview : Faraz Fesharaki
fiche film] - Faraz Fesharaki (Germany) (documentary)
The Wrong Movie [+lire aussi :
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fiche film] - Keren Cytter (USA/Belgium)

Forum Special

Mother and Daughter, or the Night Is Never Complete [+lire aussi :
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fiche film] - Lana Gogoberidze (Georgia/France)