Skip to main content

Berlin International Film Festival · 2012

Berlin International Film Festival 2012

Short Films

Programme

32 films

Jump to a film

ABC

After endless years of the Liberian civil war, 17 year old Vele is struggling to make the future brighter for her and her two daughters - learning to read and write is the first step.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2012; Director: Madli Lääne)

Anesthesia (Mah-Chui)

A young nurse faces a dilemma after inadvertently witnessing her boss commit rape.

(Country: Republic of Korea (South Korea); Year: 2011; Director: Kim Souk-young; Stars: Baek Seon-ju, Park Myeong-sin, Park Se-jin, Lim Hyeong-guk)

Batman At The Checkpoint

Stuck with their parents in traffic at a checkpoint outside Jerusalem, two six-year-olds, Yuval from Israel and Mahmoud from Palestine begin to play and end up fighting over a Batman doll.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2012; Director: Rafael Balulu; Stars: Yoav Saadian Rosenberg, Michel Abou Maneh, Roy Turgeman)

The Blessed (La Santa)

(Country: Chile; Year: 2012; Director: Mauricio López Fernández; Writer: Mauricio López Fernández)

The End

Charlotte Rampling explores the nature of her past.

(Country: France; Year: 2011; Director: Didier Barcelo; Stars: Charlotte Rampling, Gérard Darmon, Géraldine Nakache, Philippe Caubère, Vanessa Fonte)

Erotische Fragmente Nr. 1,2,3 (Erotic Fragments No. 1,2,3)

“Three” is the rule. The film has three parts. Each part has three shots and each shot is thirty seconds in length. Three characters share their erotic desires from the point of view of a third class citizen in contemporary Thai society.

(Country: Thailand; Year: 2011; Director: Anucha Boonyawatana; Stars: Chatchawat Prasobned, Chinakhet Chandsamphao, Chuchat Nakthung)

The Five Elements (Panchabhuta)

The five elements of earth, water, fire, air and ether are explored from the perspective of those who live on the edges of society.

(Country: India; Year: 2011; Director: Mohan Kumar Valasala)

Five Ways To Kill A Man

Every morning, Sam wakes up with new and exotic people in his bedroom; each one forces him to confront the global impact of his consumerist lifestyle choices.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2012; Director: Christopher Bisset; Writer: Christopher Bisset, Stephen Hitchcock; Stars: Max Woelky, Conchita Soares, Jojo Urquico, Numan Acar)

The Great Rabbit (Gurehto Rabitto)

An animated rabbit prompts questions about belief and the true nature of reality.

(Country: France; Year: 2011; Director: Atsushi Wada; Writer: Atsushi Wada)

Hungary 2011 (Magyarország 2011)

Béla Tarr,has produced this anthology film together with 11 filmmakers from Hungary. The film is an outcry in a country where the right-wing government is increasingly restricting cultural and filmwork.

(Country: Hungary; Year: 2012; Director: András Jeles, Ágnes Kocsis, Ferenc Török, Simon Szabó, Márta Mészáros, Péter Forgács, László Siroki, György Pálfi, Bence Fliegauf, András Salamon, Miklós Jancsó)

I Too Have a Name (Enakkum Oru Per)

A Tamil woman living in devastated north-eastern Sri Lanka is helped to find new strength.

(Country: USA / Sri Lanka; Year: 2011; Director: Suba Sivakumaran; Writer: Suba Sivakumaran; Stars: Nimmi Harasgama, Subha Wijesiriwardena)

Karrabing! Low Tide Turning (Karrabing! Kurz Vor der Flut)

A group of indigenous Australians who were forced off their homeland go in search of their missing sisters.

(Country: Australia; Year: 2012; Director: Liza Johnson, Elizabeth A. Povinelli; Stars: Angie Lewis, Cecilia Lewis, Rex Edmunds)

Licuri Surf

An adventure film of a different kind: this film takes us on a journey into the world of young, indigenous men who live only for the next wave.

(Country: Brazil; Year: 2011; Director: Guile Martins; Writer: Guile Martins)

LI.LI.TA.AL.

Animated short.

(Country: Japan; Year: 2011; Director: Akihito Izuhara)

A Little Suicide

In a world where people hate you without exception and kill you mercilessly, it's no wonder this cockroach is suicidal.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2012; Director: Ana Lily Amirpour; Writer: Ana Lily Amirpour)

Looking Out (Utsikter)

A view framed by walls. A woman describes the feelings she has as her imprisonment comes to an end.

(Country: Sweden; Year: 2011; Director: Marcus Harrling, Moa Geistrand)

The Lost Land (Shi Luo Zhi Di)

Marco Polo once described the southern Chinese city of Suzhou as the ‘Venice of the East’. And yet, where streams once flowed, there is now mainly barren wasteland. A community of travellers now stops here to set up their circus... but soon find themselves threatened.

(Country: People's Republic of China; Year: 2011; Director: Zhou Yan; Writer: Zhou Yan; Stars: Wu Bi, Lipstick Chan)

Loxoro

The story of a search that crosses boundaries into a remote and unknown world where the unfamiliar is the familiar.

(Country: Spain / Peru / Argentina / USA; Year: 2011; Director: Claudia Llosa; Writer: Claudia Llosa; Stars: Belissa Andía, Ariana Wésember, Pilar Gonzales)

The Man That Got Away

Director’s statement: A musical. A life. My family almost forgot to tell me about my great-uncle Jimmy. True story, or so I’m told. Jimmy grew up on a farm, on the Canadian prairies, in the Rosebud Valley, during the Great Depression. His older brothers were teenage mechanics, or outfielders on the local baseball team. But not Jimmy. At ten years old, Jimmy was Georgie Kempt’s star pupil in tap dance and acrobatics.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2012; Director: Trevor Anderson; Writer: Trevor Anderson, Trevor Anderson; Stars: Aryn McConnell, Bryce Kulak, Noam Gagnon, Connie Champagne)

Nostalgia (Nostalgie)

A man struggles to come to terms with the death of his wife.

(Country: Venezuela; Year: 2012; Director: Gustavo Rondón Córdova; Writer: Gustavo Rondón Córdova; Stars: Rafael Gil, Jesus Jimenez, Gonzalo Cubero, Iris Guedez)

Rafa

A teenager faces beaurocracy when his mum goes missing.

(Country: Portugal/France; Year: 2012; Director: João Salaviza; Writer: João Salaviza; Stars: Rodrigo Perdigao, Joana Verona, Nuno Bernardo, Nuno Portfirio, Pietro Romani)

THE RUINED HEART! Another Lovestory Between A Criminal And A Whore (PUSONG WAZAK! Isa Na Namang Kwento Ng Pag-ibig Sa Pagitan Ng Isang Kriminal At Isang Puta)

Boy meets girl. No, it’s not about that. Untimely death. You can’t protect yourself against that, ever.

(Country: Philippines; Year: 2012; Director: Khavn De La Cruz; Stars: Ian Lomongo, Cara Eriguel)

Say Goodbye to the Story (ATT 1/11)

A pure nightmare: outtakes of a film that consists of nothing but outtakes.

(Country: Germany 2005 -; Year: 2011; Director: Christoph Schlingensief; Stars: Katharina Schlothauer, Stefan Kolosko, Robert Stadlober, Irm Hermann, Björn Thors)

See You Tomorrow (Ad balloon)

A day in the life of a first grader at high school.

(Country: Republic of Korea (South Korea); Year: 2011; Director: Lee Woo-jung; Stars: Lee Min-ji, Jang Eui-young, Park Kyung-hye)

Some Actions Which Haven't Been Defined Yet In The Revolution (Yi chang ge ming zhong hai wei lai de ji ding yi de xing wei)

A place, set apart and yet familiar to everyone, is revealed to the viewer. A space in which time and surface become one; where crows and cats alternate and give way to a view of classrooms and burning clouds, the image of a teacher and an ordeal in a hospital …The events are not at all specific and could take place anywhere in the world. And yet the memory of the historical event, repeated in the present, is made visible by these images.

(Country: People's Republic of China; Year: 2011; Director: Sun Xun; Writer: Sun Xun)

Strauß.ok

Bird of paradise flowers, spider flowers and carnations are being beautifully arranged. It’s a bit too warm for the four people working in this little room.The rhythm and sequence of their movements is predetermined, and if you’re new here it’s not easy to join in their routine.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2011; Director: Jeanne Faust; Writer: Jeanne Faust; Stars: Nguyên Ngoc Guý, Hoáng Quôc Toan, Hui, Utz Biesemann)

To the Dawn (An das Morgengrauen)

Lola falls asleep with her head on the table and is pursued by nightmares.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2011; Director: Mariola Brillowska)

Two Ships (Vilaine Fille Mauvais Garçon)

An artist and a young woman spend the night together – vacillating between hospital and bed, between light-heartedness and high drama.

(Country: France; Year: 2012; Director: Justine Triet; Writer: Justine Triet; Stars: Thomas Lévy-Lasne, Laetitia Dosch, Serge Riaboukine)

Uzushio - Whirling Current (Uzushio)

“Denial provides the film with its conflicting structure. The conflict refers to the effort involved in bringing together that which was filmed earlier with the actual work on the material in the here and now – in other words, scratching on the celluloid.But this activity, this aesthetical clash, contains the denial of one or other of the two periods of time. How can the present be contained in the memory of the past?It is like a tiny spark that catches fire, or a single roar in the abundance of the ocean.” (Naoto Kawamoto)

(Country: Japan; Year: 2011; Director: Naoto Kawamoto)

We Will Win

The film is a portrait of the attempt to solve the Arab- Israeli conflict within eight minutes. Three Men meet in Paris and deal with the political, economical and psychological questions, which surround this antagonism.

(Country: Lebanon; Year: 2006; Director: Mahmoud Hojeij; Writer: Mahmoud Hojeij)

White Lobster

On Nicaragua’s Mosquito Coast, the windfall cocaine which washes onto the shores has been both a blessing and a curse.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2012; Director: David Lalé)

A Woman Called Yssabeau (Ein Mädchen Namens Yssabeau)

Set in a distant and unknown land, the film follows the journey of a young woman named Yssabeau and ventures deep into a culture full of unknown rules and rituals.

(Country: Germany / Mexico; Year: 2011; Director: Rosana Cuellar; Writer: Rosana Cuellar; Stars: Sophia Augusta Kennedy, Lou Castel, Fiona Bader)