The five selected films in this year’s programme are relevant both in terms of content and artistry. Going beyond simply showing films from the Berlinale, the selection was guided by key subjects that are absolutely virulent. Current and persistent issues, such as human rights, gender equality, activism, the climate crisis, migration, and integration, are among the subjects dealt with in the films. Three documentaries and two feature films, each take us on a journey through different eras, cultures, cities, or even countries, sharing different perspectives, stories and experiences.
Sun and Concrete is not an ordinary coming-of-age film. It is based on the bestselling and much-lauded autobiographical first novel of Felix Lobrecht (German stand-up comedian, podcast moderator and author). The film, set in Gropiusstadt in the summer of 2003, paints a realistic picture of teenage kids in a socially deprived area of Berlin. Lukas, Julius, Gino and Sanchez take us on their nerve-wracking adventure through this fast-paced film with plenty of violence and brutality, yet full of situational comedy. Belrinale Selection 2024 starts and concludes with this film.
With the recent UN Climate Change Conference in Dubai and the COP28 Agreement signaling the “beginning of the end” of the fossil fuel era, the urgency for action is underlined. The climate crisis and environmental issues are at the core of the film Lonely Oaks. In this documentary and the discussion that will follow with environmentalist and environmental activist Klitos Papastylianou, pressing questions around activism, such as why people engage in activism, or how far activism should or even must go, are addressed.
The latest Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the imprisoned Iranian human rights advocate Narges Mohammadi, for having fought for decades for women’s rights. Currently held in Evin prison, her sentence has been extended by an additional 15 months, while she has been in and out of jail for two decades because of her activism. Following the screening of Born in Evin in the previous Berlinale Selection, this year we are showing Seven Winters in Tehran, a documentary about a young woman sentenced to death and executed by hanging, after being held in prison for seven years, for having defended herself by stabbing a man who tried to rape her.
Integration and its challenges are illustrated in almost all of the selected films, in each of them in a different context and environment. In Love, Deutschmarks and Death we see guest workers who migrated from Turkey to Germany in the early 1960s and in this documentary, we learn about both their celebrations and hardships through their music and its evolution over six decades.
We hope you will enjoy this thought-provoking film selection.
