Screen staff preview all of the titles in the Berlin film festival’s competitive Perspectives strand for international fiction feature debuts, which comes with a €50,000 prize. The festival runs February 12-22.
17 (N Mac-Serb-Slovenia)
Dir. Kosara Mitic
Berlinale Talents alumna Mitic’s debut feature centres on a pregnant 17-year-old girl who attempts to hide her secret on a school trip. The film was developed at Midpoint Feature Launch and received an award last summer at Sarajevo Film Festival’s CineLink Work in Progress. 17 is produced by Tomi Salkovski of North Macedonia’s Black Cat Production, Vlado Bulajic and Lija Pogacnik of Slovenia’s December, and Miroslav Mogorovic of Serbia’s Art & Popcorn.
Contact: Totem Films
Animol (UK)
Dir. Ashley Walters
UK actor Walters — best known for starring in TV series Top Boy and Adolescence — has set his directorial debut in a young offenders’ institution, where the inmates navigate their relationships and identity. Cast of the coming-of-age story includes rising stars Tut Nyuot (a Screen International Star of Tomorrow in 2025) and Vladyslav Baliuk, alongside Stephen Graham. Producers are Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor and Tom Hawkins for Joi Productions. BFI, Film4 and Sky are financing, with Nick Love penning the script. It marks a speedy return to Berlin for Gharoro-Akpojotor, after her directorial debut Dreamers played in Panorama last year.
Contact: Bankside Films
Chronicles From The Siege (Alg-Fr-Pal)
Dir. Abdallah Alkhatib
Five stories interweave in this film about ordinary people whose lives are upended when their city comes under siege. It marks the fiction feature debut of Palestinian Syrian filmmaker Alkhatib, whose 2021 documentary Little Palestine: Diary Of A Siege was selected for Visions du Réel and the Acid programme at Cannes. The ensemble cast includes Saja Kilani, whose credits include Venice grand jury prize winner and Oscar nominee The Voice Of Hind Rajab, and Nadeem Rimawi. Producers are Issaad Salah for France’s Evidence Film and Taqiyeddine Issaad for Algeria’s Issaad Film Productions.
Contact: Evidence Film
Filipiñana (Sing-UK-Phil-Fr-Neth)
Dir. Rafael Manuel
Filipino filmmaker Manuel makes his feature debut by expanding on his short of the same name, which won a Silver Bear at the Berlinale in 2020. The story follows a new teen girl working at an elite Manila golf course and country club, who is drawn to the club’s owner while uncovering dark truths. It premiered in Sundance’s World Cinema Dramatic Competition last month. Chinese filmmaker Jia Zhangke is among the executive producers and Jeremy Chua (Inside The Yellow Cocoon Shell) is producing along with the UK’s Alex Polunin and Bianca Balbuena.
Contact: Magnify Films
Forest High (Belg-Fr)
Dir. Manon Coubia
Belgian writer and director Coubia’s debut feature comes after a handful of shorts that have earned her acclaim on the festival circuit, playing in Locarno and Cannes Critics’ Week among others. Forest High is set in the northern Alps and follows three women who take turns tending a mountain hut across the seasons, and whose chosen lives of solitude test them in different ways. The film was produced by Belgium’s The Blue Raincoat and France’s Aurora Films.
Contact: Fulvio Firrito, Rai Cinema International Distribution
Light Pillar (China)
Dir. Xu Zao
This hybrid animation/live-action film is set in a snowy near-future and follows a lonely janitor at a forgotten film studio, accompanied only by a former cat actor. He finds solace in a virtual romance until the illusion is shattered. The film is executive produced by actor/filmmaker Da Peng (The Lychee Road) and produced by Lu Xiaowei of Shanghai-based Fengduan Film. It marks the feature debut of director Xu, whose 45-minute animation No Changes Have Taken In Our Life premiered at Rotterdam in 2023 and won top awards at DOK Leipzig and Image Forum Festival.
Contact: Cercamon
Our Secret (Bra-Port)
Dir. Grace Passo
This is the feature directorial debut of actress, playwright and filmmaker Passo, who was a best actress winner at Torino (Long Way Home in 2018) and Rio (Praça Paris in 2017 and The Day I Met You in 2023) film festivals. Our Secret is a reworked adaptation of her first play Amores Surdos and focuses on a Black family who, following a great loss, benefit from their youngest son’s secret to overcome their grief. It is produced by Ricardo Alves Jr, with whom Passo co-directed the mid-length film Dazed Flesh, selected for the Berlinale’s Forum Expanded in 2020.
Contact: Cosimo Santoro, The Open Reel
A Prayer For The Dying (Nor-Gre-UK-Swe)
Dir. Dara Van Dusen
A dreamy new life in Wisconsin turns into a nightmare when a deadly epidemic and wildfire spread across a town, in the debut feature from New York-born, Norway-based Van Dusen. Set in the aftermath of the American Civil War, the film stars Johnny Flynn and John C Reilly, and is adapted by the director from Stewart O’Nan’s novel of the same name. Producers include Eye Eye Pictures, and Quiver has North American distribution rights.
Contact: Anton; New Europe Film Sales
The Red Hangar (Chile-Arg-It)
Dir. Juan Pablo Sallato
Sallato’s debut feature takes place during the unfolding military coup in 1973 Chile, as an air force captain is torn between duty and conscience when his academy is turned into a detention centre. The Red Hangar went through the inaugural Iberseries & Platino Industria’s features co-production forum in Madrid in 2023, and filmed in Mendoza, Argentina from late November to December 2024. Producers are Villano Producciones from Chile, Brava Cine from Argentina, and Italy’s Berta Film, Caravan and Rain Dogs.
Contact: Berta Film
The River Train (Arg)
Dirs. Lorenzo Ferro, Lucas A Vignale
This debut feature follows the story of a curious nine-year-old boy from an isolated riverside village who takes a train journey to Buenos Aires and juggles solitude with the pull of independence. Tomas Grandio, Valentine Torre and Casiana Vera produced for Argentina’s Cinco Rayos, with backing from patron and art collector Amalia Amoedo. Milo Barria stars alongside Lucrecia Pazos, Mariano Barria, Rita Pauls, and writer and musician Fabian Casas. Production took place in Argentina from November to December 2024 in Buenos Aires, Tandil and on the General Guido-Divisadero de Pinamar branch line.
Contact: Luxbox
Take Me Home (US)
Dir. Liz Sargent
This debut feature has its international premiere in Berlin after playing Sundance, and expands on Sargent’s 2023 Park City short of the same name. Newcomer Anna Sargent, the director’s sister, stars alongside Ali Ahn from Netflix series The Diplomat in the story of a Florida-based Korean adoptee with a cognitive disability who cares for her ageing parents. When a heatwave upends their lives, she must find a way to thrive. New York-based Cyprian Films and All Caps Films produced the feature and Sargent shot in Orlando, Florida with support from AT&T, Tribeca Festival, Tribeca Studios and Sundance Institute Artist Accelerator Program, among others.
Contact: Jessica Lacy, Gersh
Trial Of Hein (Ger)
Dir. Kai Stänicke
This German drama opens Perspectives and tells the story of a man who returns to his remote village after 14 years, but is put on trial by the community when he is deemed an imposter. It is produced by Tamtam Film in co-production with ZDF — Das kleine Fernsehspiel, which supports new talent. Trial Of Hein, also written by Stänicke, received support from the Berlinale’s Script Station and the Wolfgang Kohlhaase Scholarship. DCM will release the film in Germany.
Contact: Heretic
Truly Naked (Neth-Belg-Fr)
Dir. Muriel d’Ansembourg
An introverted teenager whose father works in the pornography business encounters real intimacy for the first time when he meets a fiery classmate in this UK-set feature. The cast includes Andrew Howard, Lyndsey Marshal and newcomer Caolan O’Gorman. D’Ansembourg was Bafta-nominated for her 2012 short Good Night. Truly Naked is produced by the Netherlands’ Isabella Films in co-production with Belgium’s Prime Time and French outfits Ici et La Productions and Cinéma Defacto.
Contact: m-appeal
Where To? (Isr-Ger)
Dir Assaf Machnes
In Berlin, a middle-aged Palestinian Uber driver and his young Israeli passenger find themselves bonded by heartbreak in this debut feature from the Berlinale Talents alumnus. Machnes previously played the festival in 2017 with his Generation 14plus short film Seven Minutes. Where To? is produced by Israel’s 2-Team Productions, Rogovin Brothers and Lev Cinema in co-production with Germany’s Iconclast and ZDF-Arte.
Contact: Lucky Number
Profiles by: Ellie Calnan, Ben Dalton, Tim Dams, Elaine Guerini, Jeremy Kay, Rebecca Leffler, Michael Rosser, Matt Schley, Mona Tabbara, Silvia Wong
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