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Berlin International Film Festival · 2021

Berlin International Film Festival 2021

Generation 14plus

Competition section with films aimed at audiences aged 14 and over.

Programme

7 films · 4 reviews

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Cryptozoo

Review preview for Cryptozoo

Its Jurassic Park style themes concerning failed Utopias passed through the prism of Sixties politics and activism have a certain childlike simplicity to them and, as such, are likely to prove more endearing to some audiences than others.

Amber Wilkinson · 3 out of 5
As cryptozookeepers struggle to capture a Baku (a legendary dream-eating hybrid creature) they begin to wonder if they should display these rare beasts in the confines of a cryptozoo, or if these mythical creatures should remain hidden and unknown.

(Country: US; Year: 2021; Director: Dash Shaw; Writer: Dash Shaw; Stars: Lake Bell, Michael Cera, Angeliki Papoulia, Zoe Kazan, Peter Stormare, Grace Zabriskie)

Full review

International premiere

The Fam (La Mif)

Told episodically this docufiction hybrid intimately interweaves the life stories of young women who no longer have a real home with their own families.

(Year: 2020; Director: David Hourrègue; Stars: Axel Auriant, Lula Cotton-Frapier, Maxence Danet-Fauvel, Léo Daudin, Flavie Delangle, Lucie Fagedet, Zoé Garcia, Isma Kébé, Charlie Loiselier, Louise Malek, Robin Migné, Quentin Nanou, Sohan Pague, Coline Preher, Régis Romele)

World premiere

Fighter

As a North Korean in exile, Jina has no choice but to literally box her way through. With gentle force, she begins to stubbornly rebel against the everyday injustices which she experiences as an outsider from a disreputable country.

(Country: Republic of Korea; Year: 2020; Director: Jéro Yun; Stars: Lim Seong-mi, Baek Seo-bin, Oh Kwang-rok, Lee Seung-yeon)

International premiere

From The Wild Sea

Review preview for From The Wild Sea

Petré does not use filters, showing the world as it is – starkly beautiful on the eve of disaster.

Mateusz Tarwacki · 4 out of 5
The director considers the critical relationship between humans and wild animals and the consequences of climate change.

(Country: Denmark; Year: 2021; Director: Robin Petré; Stars: Dan Jarvis)

Full review

World premiere

Ninjababy

Review preview for Ninjababy

Like last year's Baby Done and 2019's Saint Frances this is a thoroughly modern consideration of impending motherhood that doesn't shy away from subjects like casual sex and allows the mother not to be consumed by sudden maternal instinct.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
When a woman discovers she is unexpectedly pregnant her unborn baby proves unexpectedly animated in the conversation department.

(Country: Norway; Year: 2021; Director: Yngvild Sve Flikke; Writer: Johan Fasting, Yngvild Sve Flikke, Inga Sætre; Stars: Kristine Kujath Thorp, Arthur Berning, Nader Khademi, Tora Christine Dietrichson, Silya Nymoen, Herman Tømmeraas, Mathias Kolstad Eriksen, Anita Gulliksen, Frida Øystese Haave, Janne Heltberg, Olivia Voldheim Hernæss, Thorbjørn Hesland, Espen Leite, Kristian Mehlum Lie, Evelyn Rasmussen Osazuwa)

Full review

International premiere

Stop-Zemlia

Review preview for Stop-Zemlia

Gornostai avoids obvious narrative arcs in favour of just letting us hang out and observe the everyday challenges and small dramas that pepper the lives of these 16-year-olds.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
Drama follows a shy teenager and her friend as they navigate their 16th year.

(Country: Ukraine; Year: 2021; Director: Kateryna Gornostai; Writer: Kateryna Gornostai; Stars: Maria Fedorchenko, Arsenii Markov, Yana Isaienko, Oleksandr Ivanov)

Full review

World premiere

The White Fortress (Tabija)

What could be a beautiful fairy tale for some - boy meets girl - could also be the beginning of a horror film for Faruk. The young man is crushed between the dark world of his criminal cousins in Sarajevo and the discovery of love.

(Country: Canada, Bosnia and Herzegovina; Year: 2021; Director: Igor Drljaca; Writer: Igor Drljaca; Stars: Jasmin Geljo, Pavle Cemerikic, Sumeja Dardagan, Jasmin Geljo, Pavle Cemerikic)

World premiere