Film festival
Berlinale Generation
Fri, Feb 8–Sun, Feb 17, 2019
Two competitions, Generation Kplus and Generation 14plus, present international cinema for a young audience: epic narratives and snapshots, longings, fantasies, and bitter realities. Feature films, documentary works and animated films compete equally with each other.
Consistent with past editions, this year’s Generation selection reflects a great diversity of cinematic imagery and form. Young individuals can be witnessed searching for lives of meaning and self-determination while facing down uncertain future prospects in a world that often appears to have gone off the rails. The films reflect upon current fundamental socio-political themes and grants young people in particular a voice. Frequently neglected and oppressed by the adult world surrounding them, many of the films’ protagonists feel forced to make radical decisions, with no turning back. Striking is the wide range of female perspectives on display— expressing solidarity with the less powerful, defiant, rebellious, and hell-bent on their aims: At the heart of the selection are girls and young women fighting to gain control of their own destinies, against all odds and external opposition.
Makoto Nagahisa’s feature-film debut We Are Little Zombies will open Generation 14plus, with the director and his team in attendance: In the film, four 13-year-old youngsters set off on a fulminant journey through their turbulent inner lives. An adventurous trip through time and a treasure hunt through the German capital, all the way to a spot under the Devil’s Mountain (Teufelsberg), await in Cleo by Erik Schmitt, the opening film for Generation Kplus.
2040 – Telling New Stories About Our Future
On the occasion of the screening of the documentary 2040, which celebrates its world premiere at Generation, the Berlinale is hosting a panel discussion with director Damon Gameau, and experts from the fields of film, culture, science and politics. Together, they will debate the possibility and potential of sustainable responses to climate change, the single most important issue facing humanity.