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Berlin International Film Festival · 2021

Berlin International Film Festival 2021

Generation Kplus

Competition section aimed at those aged four and above

Programme

8 films · 2 reviews

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Any Day Now

A teenager living in a refugee centre with his family finds himself under the shadow of deportation as their asylum application is denied.

(Country: Finland; Year: 2020; Director: Hamy Ramezan; Writer: Hamy Ramezan, Antti Rautava; Stars: Niilo Airas, Toni Airas, Lumi Barrois, Laura Birn, Muhammed Cangore, Pezhman Escandari, Kimiya Eskandari, Shabnam Ghorbani, Christian Godenhjelm, Kristiina Halkola, Henry Hanikka, Shahab Hosseini, Helen Kesete, Aran-Sina Keshvari, Pasi Kuivalainen)

International premiere

Beans

Review preview for Beans

If they sometimes have trouble moving seamlessly between the smaller dramas of childhood and the bigger picture of the protests, each element of the film carries resonance in its own right.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
Twelve-year-old Beans is on the edge: torn between innocent childhood and reckless adolescence; forced to grow up fast and become the tough Mohawk warrior she needs to be during the Oka Crisis, the turbulent Indigenous uprising that tore Quebec and Canada apart for 78 tense days in the summer of 1990.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2020; Director: Tracey Deer; Writer: Tracey Deer, Meredith Vuchnich; Stars: Kiawentiio, Violah Beauvais, Rainbow Dickerson, Joel Montgrand, Paulina Alexis, D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Jay Cardinal Villeneuve, Taio Gélinas, Caroline Gelinas, Dawn Ford, Kelly Beaudoin, Brittany LeBorgne, Ida Labillois-Montour, Adam LeBlanc, Emilie Paquet)

Full review

Last Days At Sea

Review preview for Last Days At Sea

Atienza and Reyboy are buddies, and the warmth of their friendship glows through almost every conversation they have.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
The filmmaker accompanies Filipino boy Reyboy in his last days in a fishing village by the sea before he heads off to school in the city.

(Country: Philippines, Taiwan; Year: 2021; Director: Venice Atienza)

Full review See: Fishing for truth - Venice Atienza on her documentary Last Days At Seae

World premiere

Mission Ulja Funk

Ulja, 12, is an energetic, clever researcher who is never at a loss for a good saying. She does not want to miss the arrival of the asteroid she discovered. With her parents' hearse, her accomplice Henk and her Russian-German grandmother in the back, a fast-paced road movie towards Belarus starts - always following the stars.

(Country: Germany, Luxembourg, Poland; Year: 2021; Director: Barbara Kronenberg; Writer: Barbara Kronenberg; Stars: Romy Lou Janinhoff, Hildegard Schroedter, Jonas Oeßel, Luc Feit, Anja Schneider, Ivan Shvedoff, Janina Elkin, Börje Lundberg, Martina Eitner-Acheampong, Christina Große, Oona von Maydell, Peter Trabner, Shary Reeves, Simon Damiral, Benoit Moureaux)

World premiere

Nelly Rapp - Monster Agent

Nelly wants to follow in her mother's footsteps, as a monster agent. When she visits her uncle Hannibal, the door opens up to a hidden parallel world full of ghosts, monsters and Frankensteins.

(Country: Sweden; Year: 2020; Director: Amanda Adolfsson; Writer: Sofie Forsman; Stars: Matilda Gross, Lily Wahlsteen, Marianne Mörck, Johan Rheborg, Björn Gustafsson, Jens Ohlin, Emma Broomé, David Wiberg, Josefin Johansson, Amy Deasismont, Elisabeth Wernesjö, Fredrik Dahl, Hannah Alem-Davidson, Peter Lorentzon, Ove Wolf)

International premiere

A School in Cerro Hueso (Una escuela en Cerro Hueso)

After numerous rejections, Ema's parents finally find a safe place for their daughter who has been diagnosed on the autism spectrum. In the loving community of the new primary school in the small town on the river, Ema can silently observe and explore the world at her own pace. The film gently follows Ema's small steps that evolve into magical moments.

(Country: Argentina; Year: 2021; Director: Betania Cappato; Stars: Mara Bestelli, Pablo Seijo, Clementina Folmer, Irene Zequin)

World premiere

Short Vacation (Jong chak yeok)

Together, four school friends journey to explore the unknown outskirts of the big city of Seoul, equipped with an old-fashioned analogue camera and a film that only has 27 pictures. The task sharpens their view of the familiar and opens their eyes to themselves and each other.

(Country: South Korea; Year: 2020; Director: Min-pyo Kwon , Seo Han-Sol; Writer: Seo Han-Sol)

International premiere

Summer Blur

Guo’s face is veiled in a delicate layer of wistfulness. She has to spend the summer alone in Wuhan with her aunt, who lives in poor conditions, while her mother leads a dazzling life in Shanghai.

(Country: China; Year: 2020; Director: Shuai Han; Writer: Shuai Han; Stars: Beibi Gong, Tian Huang, Xinyuan Zhang, Xingyue Yan, Feiyang Luo, Lixun Xie, Beibi Gong, Tian Huang, Xinyuan Zhang, Xingyue Yan, Feiyang Luo, Lixun Xie)