New films by Angela Schanelec (pictured), Nicolas Wadimoff, Arvin Chen and Thomas Arslan are among 19 world premieres in the 40th edition of the Berlinale’s International Forum.

This year’s selection has a strong emphasis on German productions including Schanelec’s intimate chamber piece Orly, which is set against the backdrop of the Paris airport’s departure lounge; Tatjana Turanskyj’s feature debut The Drifter; Thomas Aslan’s gangster drama In The Shadows and Dominik Graf’s eight-hour epic Im Angesicht Des Verbrechens, which is set among the Russian underworld in West Berlin.

Other titles selected for the 34-title main programme include Nicolas Wadimoff’s Swiss-Qatar-French documentary Still Alive in Gaza;  Taiwanese filmmaker Arvin Chen’s gangster story Au Revour Taipei, Pietro Marcello’s prison love story between a man and a transsexual in La Bocca Del Lupo; and Tayfun Pirselimoğlu’s Haze,a laconic drama about life and death on the fringesof Istanbul.

In addition, there will also be an anniversary programme dedicated to “Four Decades of the Forum” and a number of special screenings, including Rob Epstein’s seminal work Word is Out – Stories of Some Of Our Lives in a restored print, and three films by the little known Japanese filmmaker Shimazu Yasujiro.

The full International Forum’s line-up:

A Crowd of Three (Kenta To Jun To Kayo Chan No Kuni), (Japan) Omori Tatsushi, international premiere

Aisheen [Still Alive in Gaza], (Switzerland/Qatar/France), Nicolas Wadimoff, world premiere

Au Revoir Taipei (Yī Yè Tái Běi), (Taiwan/US/Germany), Arvin Chen, world premiere

La Belle Visite, (Canada), Jean-François Caissy, international premiere

Bibliothèque Pascal, (Hungary/Germany) Szabolcs Hajdu, international premiere

Black Bus (Soreret), (Israel), Anat Yuta Zuria, international premiere

La Bocca Del Lupo, (Italy) Pietro Marcello, international premiere

Congo in Four Acts, (Democratic Republic of Congo/South Africa) Dieudo Hamadi, Divita Wa Lusala, Patrick Ken Kalala, Kiripi Katembo Siku, world premiere

Crab Trap (El Vuelco Del Cangrejo), (Colombia/France) Oscar Ruíz Navia, European premiere

Crossing the Mountain (Fān Shān), (China), Yang Rui, world premiere

Double Tide, (US/Austria), Sharon Lockhart, international premiere

End (Fin), (Spain), Luis Sampieri, Spain, world premiere

Haze (Pus),(Turkey/Greece),Tayfun Pirselimoğlu, international premiere

Head Cold (Schnupfen Im Kopf), (Germany/Hungary) Gamma Bak, world premiere

In the Shadows (Im Schatten), (Germany), Thomas Arslan, world premiere

I Am (Ya), (Russia), Igor Voloshin, international premiere

I’m in Trouble! (Na-Neun Gon-Kyeong-E Cheo-Haet-Da!), (South Korea), So Sang-min, international premiere

Imani, (Uganda/Sweden/Canada), Caroline Kamya, world premiere

Kanikōsen, (Japan), Sabu, European premiere

Native of Eurasia (Indigène d’Eurasie) (France/Lithuania/Russian Federation), Sharunas Bartas, world premiere

One Day (Yǒu Yī Tiān), (Taiwan), Hou Chi-Jan, world premiere

Orly, (Germany/France), Angela Schanelec, world premiere

Our Fantastic 21st Century (Neo-Wa Na-Eui I-Shib-l-Seki), (South Korea) Ryu Hyung-ki, international premiere

Portrait of the Fighter as a Young Man (Portretul luptătorului La Tinereţe), (Romania), Constantin Popescu, world premiere

Putty Hill, (US), Matthew Porterfield, world premiere

Sawako Decides (Kawa No Soko Kara Konnichi Wa), (Japan), Ishii Yuya, international premiere

Sona, The Other Myself (Sona, Mō Hitori No Watashi), (Japan/South Korea), Yang Yonghi, world premiere

Sunny Land, (Germany/South Africa), Aljoscha Weskott, Marietta Kesting, world premiere

The Counting of the Damages (El Recuento De Los Daños), (Argentina) Inés de Oliveira Cézar, world premiere

The Day of the Sparrow (Der Tag Des Spatzen), (Germany), Philip Scheffner, world premiere

The Drifter (Eine Flexible Frau), (Germany), Tatjana Turanskyj, world premiere

The Man Beyond The Bridge (Paltadacho Munis), (India), Laxmikant Shetgaonkar, Euopean premiere

The Oath, (US), Laura Poitras, international premiere

Winter’s Bone (US), Debra Granik, international premiere

Special Screenings

Antonio das Mortes (O Dragão Da Maldade Contra O Santo Guerreiro), (Brazil), Glauber Rocha

Boris Lehman et ses amis – Three short films by Boris Lehman:

  • Retouches Et Eéparations, (Belgium), world premiere
  • Choses Qui Me Rattachent Aux Etres, (Belgium), world premiere
  • Un Peintre Sous Surveillance, (Belgium)

Im Angesicht Des Verbrechens, (Germany), Dominik Graf, world premiere

Kyoto Story (Kyōto Uzumasa Monogatari), (Japan), Yoji Yamada, Tsutomu Abe

Nénette, (France), Nicolas Philibert, world premiere

Word is Out – Stories of Some of Our Lives, (US), Rob Epstein

The Lights of Asakusa (Asakusa No Tomoshibi), (Japan) Shimazu Yasujiro

So Goes My Love (Ai Yori Ai E), (Japan), Shimazu Yasujiro,

The Trio’s Engagement (Konyaku Sanbagarasu), (Japan), Shimazu Yasujiro

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