Skip to main content

Berlin International Film Festival · 2024

Berlin International Film Festival 2024

Generation KPlus

Programme

17 films · 4 reviews

Jump to a film

Above The Dust (Wo Tu)

Ten-year-old Wo Tu dreams of having a water pistol like the other boys in his village. His dying grandfather promises to grant him his wish once he is a ghost…

(Country: China; Year: 2024; Director: Xiaoshuai Wang; Writer: Shijiang Li; Stars: Jun Li, Wenxin Ouyang, Jingchun Wang, Zichuan Wang, Mei Yong, Feng Zu)

Disco Afrika: A Malagasy Story

Twenty-year-old Kwame toils in clandestine sapphire mines. When an unexpected event takes him back to his hometown, he is confronted with the rampant corruption that plagues his country. Kwame is forced to make a choice.

(Country: France, Madagascar, Germany, Mauritius, Qatar, South Africa; Year: 2023; Director: Luck Razanajaona; Writer: François Hébert, Marcelo Novais Teles, Ludovic Rianando Randriamanantsoa, Luck Razanajaona; Stars: Delanoël Parista Sambo, Laurette Ramasinjanahary, Joe Clarence Lerova, Drwina Razafimahaleo, Jérôme Oza, Dominique Toditsara)

Elbow (Ellbogen)

Hazal is 17 and lives in Berlin. Her biggest wish: to be given a chance. For her 18th birthday she wants to escape the everyday grind and party with her friends. But a fatal incident changes everything.

(Country: Turkey, France, Germany; Year: 2024; Director: Asli Özarslan; Writer: Claudia Schaefer; Stars: Jale Arikan, Doga Gürer, Melia Kara, Orhan Kilic, Haydar Sahin)

Fin (Huling Palabas)

In the summer of 2001, 16-year-old Andoy searches for his long-lost father in the most unlikely of places: on VHS tapes. When two movie-like characters appear in his small hometown, his reality begins to falter.

(Country: Philippines; Year: 2023; Director: Ryan Machado; Writer: Ryan Machado; Stars: Mark Shun, Bon Andrew Lentejas, Jay Gonzaga, Marcus Belisario, Senanda Gomez, Cedrick Juan)

Fox And Hare Save The Forest (Fuchs und Hase retten den Wald)

With Owl disappearing, mischievous Rats terrorising the neighbourhood and a lake threatening to submerge their home, Fox and Hare embark on an exciting adventure to save the forest.

(Country: Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg; Year: 2024; Director: Mascha Halberstad; Writer: Fabie Hulsebos; Stars: Teresa Gallagher, Sarah Madigan, Jamie Quinn, Rob Rackstraw, Dan Skinner)

The Great Phuket

Fourteen-year-old Li Xing lives in a district full of ruins and reconstruction. School brings him nothing but problems and his family is no help at all. One day, he finds an underground shelter where strange things happen…

(Country: Hong Kong; Year: 2024; Director: Yaonan Liu; Writer: Yaonan Liu; Stars: You Junfen, Hang Kang, Li Rongkun, Xuan Yang, Liu Hui Yuan)

It's Okay!

One year after the tragic loss of her mother, In-young finds herself without a home. She takes shelter in the building of her dance school, but her secret sanctuary is in peril when the choreographer, Seol-ah, discovers her.

(Country: South Korea; Year: 2023; Director: Kim Hye-young; Writer: Hongjun Cho, Kim Hye-young; Stars: Lee Jeong-Ha, Re Lee, Jin Seo-yeon, Chung Su-bin, Son Suk-ku)

Last Swim

A-levels results day. An ambitious and brainy Iranian-British teenager embarks on a journey across London with her friends, while secretly grappling with a life-changing decision.

(Country: UK; Year: 2024; Director: Sasha Nathwani; Writer: Sasha Nathwani, Helen Simmons; Stars: Deba Hekmat, Denzel Baidoo, Lydia Fleming, Solly McLeod, Jay Lycurgo, Narges Rashidi, Nathan Hall, Emeline Nsingi Nkosi)

The Major Tones (Los Tonos Mayores)

Following an accident, 14-year-old Ana has a metal plate in her arm. During the winter holidays, the plate suddenly starts to receive strange messages in Morse code.

(Country: Argentina; Year: 2023; Director: Ingrid Pokropek; Writer: Ingrid Pokropek; Stars: Sofía Clausen, Santiago Ferreira, Mercedes Halfon, Walter Jakob, Pablo Seijo, Lina Ziccarello)

Maydegol

An Afghan teenager living as an immigrant in Iran strives to pursue her dream of becoming a professional Muay Thai boxer while battling the social injustice and violence she encounters beyond the ring.

(Country: France, Iran, Germany; Year: 2024; Director: Sarvnaz Alambeigi; Writer: Sarvnaz Alambeigi; Stars: Farzaneh, Maydegol, Mohadesseh)

My Summer With Irène

Review preview for My Summer With Irène

The Italian filmmaker employs a minimalist approach that embraces the languorous nature of summer.

Sergiu Inizian · 3.5 out of 5
Italy 1997. When 17-year-old Clara and Irene meet they are nothing alike but get on marvelously. They run away together to an island in Sicily to live their summer freely, and to hide from a reality they want to forget.

(Country: Italy, France; Year: 2024; Director: Carlo Sironi; Writer: Carlo Sironi, Silvana Tamma; Stars: Noée Abita, Maria Camilla Brandenburg, Claudio Segaluscio, Beatrice Puccilli, Anna De Luzio, Gabriele Rozzo)

Full review See: Carlo Sironi on his coming-of-age movie My Summer With Irene

Queens (Reinas)

Review preview for Queens

A confident and well-constructed tale that is built on the firm foundations of a great ensemble cast.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
Lucia, Aurora, and their mother, Elena, plan to leave Lima in 1992 and seek opportunities in the US. Their farewell involves reconnecting with the kids' estranged father, adding to the emotional turbulence of their departure.

(Country: Switzerland, Peru; Year: 2024; Director: Klaudia Reynicke-Candeloro; Writer: Klaudia Reynicke-Candeloro, Diego Vega Vidal; Stars: Susi Sánchez, Gonzalo Molina, Luana Vega, Jimena Lindo, Abril Gjurinovic)

Full review See: Family ties: Klaudia Reynicke on bringing her own emotions to Reinas

She Sat There Like All Ordinary Ones (Kai Shi De Qiang)

Zhuang takes the blame for a theft actually carried out by his classmate Meng. But then she gives him the cold shoulder. Zhuang is just waiting for the right moment to make an impression...

(Country: China; Year: 2024; Director: Youjia Qu; Writer: Youjia Qu; Stars: Hanyu Fu, Jijun Miao, Taiwen Zhang)

Through Rocks And Clouds (Raíz)

Review preview for Through Rocks And Clouds

Becerra’s film is a measured affair that takes pleasure in its surroundings, whether it’s the mountain lakeside where the alpacas graze or the warm intimacy of Felciano’s home.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
Eight-year-old alpaca farmer Feliciano is ecstatic: Peru has the opportunity to qualify for the World Cup. However, the scheming of a mining company is jeopardising the future of his village.

(Country: Peru, Chile; Year: 2024; Director: Franco García Becerra; Writer: Annemarie Gunkel, Alicia Quispe; Stars: José Merma, Albert Merza, Alberth Merma, Rubén Huillca, Nely Huayta Cutipa, Richard Taipe)

Full review See: Franco García Becerra and Annemarie Gunkel chat about Through Rocks And Clouds

Who By Fire (Comme le Feu)

Seventeen-year-old Jeff is invited by his friend Max’s family to stay with them at the wilderness lodge of film director Blake Cadieux.

(Country: Canada, France; Year: 2024; Director: Philippe Lesage; Writer: Philippe Lesage; Stars: Noah Parker, Arieh Worthalter, Aurélia Arandi-Longpré, Paul Ahmarani, Antoine Marchand-Gagnon, Sophie Desmarais, Guillaume Laurin, Carlo Harrietha, Irène Jacob, Laurent Lucas)

Winners (Sieger Sien)

Mona has fled Syria with her Kurdish family and ends up in a primary school in Berlin-Wedding. Things are tough in the school. Everyone on Mona’s all-girls football team plays against each other. But only “team work makes the dream work”.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2024; Director: Soleen Yusef; Writer: Soleen Yusef; Stars: Dileyla Agirman, Andreas Döhler, Fatima Hamieh, Sherine Merai, Amira Shamieh, Ravand Zaid)

Young Hearts (Junge Herzen)

Review preview for Young Hearts

The film works as well as it does because of the central pairing of Goussens and De Saeger, whose shared glances and stray touches work on an emotional level.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
A 14-year-old boy feels attracted to his new neighbour, Alexander. Soon he realises that he's truly in love for the first time, but interactions with his friends and family bring more questions than answers.

(Country: Belgium; Year: 2024; Director: Anthony Schatteman; Writer: Anthony Schatteman; Stars: Lou Goossens, Marius De Saeger, Geert Van Rampelberg, Emilie De Roo, Dirk van Dijck)

Full review See: Anthony Schatteman on love, authenticity and acceptance in Young Hearts