Dec 15, 2022
The World in View

The first 18 films confirmed so far hint at a programme that embraces both perceptive assessments of the state of the world as well as fantastical assertions of personal truths – in both themes and cinematic language. Among the selection are the feature film debuts of Antonio Bigini, Domien Huyghe, Jenna Hasse, Sofía Auza, Zeno Graton, Carla Subirana and Jow Zhi Wei.

“Generation is excited about cinema that places perspectives and personal experiences of young people at their centre and that allow young audiences to see and envision themselves anew. A cinematic experience that holds up a mirror to a world created by others – and one that acts as a window onto a world that can be possible,” says section head Sebastian Markt regarding the first part of the programme selection.

Documentary forms that call attention to themes that move not only young people, but also others: The Iranian film Darvazeye royaha (Dreams’ Gate) follows young Kurdish women in their battle for autonomy and against the Islamic State, contradicting heroic male war iconography. Waking Up in Silence observes Ukrainian refugee children as they make a transitional place their home: a former military barrack whose walls tell about German history. Documentary essays take a look at more personal spaces: Crushed puts the messy feeling of irrepressible infatuation into cinematic order, and in To Write from Memory, Emory Chao Johnson reflects on their own transition and insists on the right to bodily autonomy and personal perception.

In the fiction films, precise observations of realities meet narrative styles full of fantasy that come closer to capturing subjective realities than simpler depictions could. Again and again, the title character in Sica returns to the sea, as rough as it is promising, and shouts questions at the wind and waves – questions that she has to find the answers to herself. It’s the portrait of a young woman trying to assert herself amidst powers she can’t control. In L’Amour du monde (Longing for the World) a teenager caught between caring for a strong-willed child and fascination with an older fisherman finds a new view onto herself in the process. In Adolfo, two lost souls converge and follow their very real feelings to imaginary places over the course of a night. Le Paradis (The Lost Boys) is the story of young love behind bars, looking at prison not only as a social space, but equally as a bodily, physical one. The Czech animation Deniska umřela (Dede is Dead) creates a space for remembrance and grief over a beloved pet, and in Aaaah !, many individual voices join to form a collective scream about the joyful insanity of growing up.

The first year under a new head also looks like it’s finally going to be a year in which the festival takes place in its full glory again: With cinemas filled to capacity and many screenings being attended by the filmmakers offering plenty of possibilities for encounter and exchange – animated by the lively Generation audiences. The leadership change involved creating a new position to strengthen the section’s dialogue with its young audience. Together with the section head, section manager Melika Gothe will build on the successful work of years passed and set a new focus on film education and cultural participation amid a changing film culture.

The complete programme will be announced in mid-January.

Overview of the Generation films announced on December 15.

Press Office
December 15, 2022