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Berlin International Film Festival · 2026

Berlin International Film Festival 2026

Generation

Programme

14 films · 5 reviews

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Bats & Bugs (Nachtschwärmer)

Review preview for Bats & Bugs

This is the sort of cast of characters that deserves its own TV series.

Amber Wilkinson · 4.5 out of 5
When a streetlamp lights up on a country road in the jungle, a group of insects goes crazy – which proves to be handy for the hungry bats in a nearby cave.

(Country: Switzerland; Year: 2026; Director: Lena von Döhren)

Full review

World premiere

Black Burns Fast

Adorkable Luthando is on track for an ordinary year at the prestigious boarding school she attends on scholarship – until the arrival of a new girl in her class ignites Luthando’s suppressed desires and threatens her self-image and relationships.

(Country: South Africa; Year: 2025; Director: Sandulela Asanda)

International premiere

Everyone's Sorry Nowadays (Tegenwoordig heet iedereen Sorry)

On a sweltering summer day, Bianca feels unseen by her parents. Then an unexpected encounter with her favourite female actor, Billie King, helps her to find herself. A tender, imaginative tale about dreams and carving out a space for yourself in life.

(Country: Belgium, Netherlands, Germany; Director: Frederike Migom)

World premiere

The Fabulous Time Machine (A Fabulosa Máquina do Temp)

In the arid Brazilian hinterland, girls play poised between their mothers’ difficult pasts and fantastic dreams for the future. In a place where men are still seen as giants compared to women, the girls cross the threshold from childhood into adolescence.

(Country: Brazil; Director: Eliza Capai)

World premiere

Ghost School

Review preview for Ghost School

Arsalan really does have something special.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
Rabia, a ten-year-old Pakistani girl, sets out to find why her only school in the village is closed.

(Country: Pakistan; Year: 2025; Director: Seemab Gul; Writer: Seemab Gul; Stars: Adnan Shah Tipu, Tariq Raja, Adnan Shah, Nazualia Arsalan, Kehan Naqvi, Vajdaan Shah)

Full review See: Interview with Seemab Gul about Ghost School

European premiere

The Girl (Ni'er)

Seventeen-year-old Ni’er feels trapped between her monotonous daily grind at a petrol station and the weight of family expectations. A fleeting encounter with a female truck driver radiating freedom and self-determination sparks a quiet revolution within her.

(Country: China; Director: Yucheng Tan)

World premiere

Gugu's World (Feito Pipa)

Review preview for Gugu's World

Deberton keeps the camera close and attentive to micro-gestures

Edin Custo · 3 out of 5
Drama revolving around a little boy, with a love of football who is living with his increasingly frail gran.

(Country: Brazil; Year: 2026; Director: Allan Deberton; Writer: Andre Araujo; Stars: Yuri Gomes, Lázaro Ramos, Teca Pereira, Carlos Francisco, Georgina Castro, Alda Pessoa, David Santos, Beatriz Carwile, Luan Vasconcelos, Nathyel Martins, Manuela Paulino, Pablo Vinícios, Enzo Uejo)

Full review

The Lights, They Fall

Review preview for The Lights, They Fall

The film keeps hinting at elsewhere, then shows how sealed his present is from it.

Edin Custo · 2 out of 5
Sixteen-year-old Ilay drifts through the summer on the outskirts of Berlin while a palliative nurse accompanies his ailing mother during her last days.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2026; Director: Saša Vajda; Writer: Saša Vajda; Stars: Mohammed Yassin Ben Majdouba, Flor Prieto Catemaxca, Mahira Hakberdieva, Safet Bajraj, Shanthi Philipp)

Full review

Memories of a Window

Following crackdowns on protests in Iran, civilians begin documenting the unrest from behind windows. When a woman is shot while recording, a film student writes her a letter raising the question: Can revolution emerge from behind windows?

(Country: US; Year: 2026; Director: Mehraneh Salimian, Amin Pakparvar; Writer: Amin Pakparvar, Mehraneh Salimian)

World premiere

Papaya

Review preview for Papaya

Told entirely without dialogue but with an upbeat, summery score from Talita Del Collado, it has an eco-conscious vibe.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
Papaya, a tiny seed in the Amazon rainforest who is passionate about flying, must keep moving to avoid taking root. But when she discovers the power of her roots, it triggers a revolution that transforms her world and fulfils her dreams in an unexpected way.

(Country: Brazil; Year: 2025; Director: Priscilla Kellen; Writer: Priscilla Kellen; Stars: Tulipa Ruiz, Aretha Garcia, Maria Vitória Garcia)

Full review

International premiere

Riding Time

Horse-obsessed Jaleal comes of age on the West Yorkshire moors while carrying forward the ancient cavalry sport of neza bazi. Filmed over three summers, this joyful portrait blows the dust off traditional tales of Empire, migration and belonging.

(Country: United Kingdom, France; Year: 2025; Director: Roopa Gogineni, Farhaan Mumtaz)

International premiere

A Serious Thought (ÖÖmõtted)

When a boy has trouble falling asleep at night, he begins to ponder his place in the world. If the Earth is just a small marble flying through space, and he is only one child among many, what is the meaning of his existence?

(Country: Estonia; Director: Jonas Taul)

World premiere

The Thread

Grace is born of dual heritage: she has a white British mother and a Black Jamaican father. As she reaches her early teens, Grace takes her identity into her own hands and begins to navigate how to exist as a young woman, fully Black, fully white.

(Country: United Kingdom; Year: 2025; Director: Fenn O'Meally)

International premiere

Tutti (Ni Chui Do Wo Chui Si)

Rong Chen would like to keep her place in the recorder group, Shao Yu wants to give up playing. She asks him for tips, and by practising together, they not only improve their skills, but also learn something much more important from each other.

(Country: Taiwan; Director: Rong-Zuo Zuang; Writer: Rong-Zuo Zuang)

World premiere