Death in Sarajevo / Smrt u Sarajevu by Danis Tanović and United States of Love / Zjednoczone Stany Miłosci by Tomasz Wasilewski have been selected for the Competition section. Death in Sarajevo explores the existential fears, anxieties and moral dilemmas that plague modern European society. The film was produced by France's Margo Films and CCA/pro.ba from Bosnia and Herzegovina in coproduction with France 3 Cinema.
United States of Love / Zjednoczone Stany Miłosci by Tomasz Wasilewski is a Polish/Swedish coproduction between Manana and VP SA, Film i Väst and Common Ground Pictures. The story follows four apparently happy women of different ages who decide to change their lives in the 1990’s Poland.
Eighteen of the 23 films in the Competition programme will vie for the Golden and Silver Bears.
Panorama section will be opened on 11 February 2016 with a Czech directorial debut I, Olga Hepnarova / Já, Olga Hepnarová by Tomas Weinreb and Petr Kazda. The film shows how a young woman in the former Czechoslovakia feels so cornered that she tries to liberate herself in a devastating act – she then faces the death penalty, which was still in effect there until 1989. The film was profuced by Media Brigade from the Czech Republic in coproduction with Slovakia’s Alef Film & Media Group, France’s Arizona Productions and Czech production companies Black Balance, Love.FRAME, Barrandov Studios, FAMU and Michael Samuelson Lightning Prague.
A total of 51 films from 33 countries have been picked for Panorama, of which 17 will screen in Panorama Dokumente, and 34 feature films in the main programme and Panorama Special.
The Croatian / Serbian coproduction On the Other Side / S one strane by Zrinko Ogresta will also have its world premiere in Panorama. 20 years ago, Vesna moved her family to Zagreb, away from the events that almost destroyed their lives. However, an unexpected call will bring back the memory of a secret that she has been trying to hide all these years. The film is a coproduction of Interfilm and Zillion Films.
Debut film Hotel Dallas by Livia Ungur and Sherng-Lee Huang, a Romania / USA coproduction, will have its world premiere in Panorama Dokumente. The film takes Patrick Duffy, star of the American TV series Dallas, on a magical mystery tour of Romania, from the communist 80s into the present. Hotel Dallas was produced by Ungur and Huang.
Mariupolis by Mantas Kvedaravicius will also have its world premiere in Panorama Dokumente. Everyday life is defined by bomb threats in Mariupol, a city in the Ukraine, situated to the east of Crimea and once populated by Greeks. The film is a visually powerful homage to a city in crisis. Mariupolis is a coproduction between Lithuania / Germany / France / Ukraine.
The 46th Berlinale Forum will show a total of 44 films in its main programme, of which 34 are world premieres and nine international premieres. Among them the new feature film of the Romanian Adrian Sitaru, Illegitimate / Ilegitim, a Romanian / Polish / French coproduction between Domestic Film, Film Produkcja and Damned Films. This comedy-drama is a love story between a brother and a sister.
Dark comedy Panamerican Machinery / Maquinaria Panamericana by Joaquín del Paso, a coproduction between Mexico’s Ammondo Filmsand Poland’s Black Maria will also have its world premiere in Forum.
We Are Never Alone / Nikdy Nejsme Sami by Petr Vaclav, produced by Mimesis Film from the Czech Republic in coproduction with France’s Cinema Defacto, Czech Television and i/opost, was also selected for Forum. "The film is primarily a film of our times and deals with an unlikely friendship between a patriotic prison guard and an unemployed hypochondriac," the director told FNE.
The experimental documentary Bunker Drama by Mike Crane, USA / Lithuania coproduction, and the German / Polish coproduction The Right by Assaf Gruber, will screen in Forum Expanded.
Between Us / Zmeđu Nas – An Open Archive Project at the Library Hamdija Kreševljaković – Video Arhiv, Sarajevo – Clarissa Thieme (Germany), Nihad Kreševljaković (Bosnia and Herzegovina), and VHS Cyprus: A Lost History by Constantinos Taliotis (Cyprus), were selected for Visionnary Archives within Forum Expanded.
Three CEE feature films have been selected for Generation. Mellow Mud / Es esmu šeit, the debut feature of Latvian Renars Vimba, is a coming of age drama, telling the story of two teenagers who are forced to live with their grandmother while their mother works abroad. This is the first feature length project produced by Tasse Film.
In Your Dreams! / Ani ve snu! by Petr Oukropec is focusing on the fast and fearless, 16-year-old Laura who has little trouble conquering her hometown’s parkour routes. The film is a coproduction between Czech Republic / Slovakia / Bulgaria, involving the companies Negativ, Arina, The Chouchkov Brothers and also the Czech Television.
Marta Minorowicz’s Zud has been selected for Berlinale Kplus. The film is a German / Polish coproduction shot in the barren steppes of Mongolia, where 11-year-old Sukhbat is training for a win at horse races, hoping to gain his father’s recognition. The film was produced by Otter Films in coproduction with Zero one film GmbH.
The following CEE projects have been selected for the Berlinale Co-Production Market 2016: Hostages by Rezo Gigineishvili, produced by Georgia’s 20 Steps Productions, The Little Comrade by Moonika Siimets, produced by Estonia’s Amrion, Srebrenica by Jasmila Zbanic produced by Deblokada from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Outside by Michal Hogenauer, produced by Negativ from the Czech Republic.
Money for a Funeral by Magdelena Ilieva, produced by Bulgaria’s Little Wing Productions was selected for the Talent Project Market.
