Berlinale Talents Festival Returnees 2024: The Alumni with Work in Official Selection

Each year an exhilarating Berlinale programme draws crowds to the Hauptstadt's cinemas, and with them come the teams whose hard work lies behind the films we see on screen. The return of Berlinale Talents alumni to the Berlinale is always a great pleasure, and never more so than when they return with films in the festival's official selection. This year, we have an incredible 117 returnees whose creative labour can be seen in 69 films selected for the 74th Berlin International Film Festival. There is a Berlinale Talents alumni presence in every section of the festival, including 16 alumni involved in eight of the films selected for the distinguished Competition, and four films that were once projects at our Talents Labs.

The return of our alumni to the competitive side of the Berlinale encourages us in our mission of sustainable talent development, seeking skilled filmmakers from across the world and creating space for their artistic and professional development. So, let's meet the returnees!

Competition

"L’empire" (Empire) – co-producer Dorothe Beinemeier (BT 2006), co-producer Matteo Rovere (BT 2006) WINNER Silver Bear Jury Price

"Keyke mahboobeh man" (My Favourite Cake) – cinematography Mohammad Hadadi (BT 2017), editor Ricardo Saraiva (BT 2015) -  WINNER Prize of the Ecumenical Jury & FIPRESCI Jury

"La Cocina" (Kitchen) – cinematography Juan Pablo Ramírez (BT 2015), music Tomás Barreiro (BT 2021)

"Dahomey" – editor Gabriel Gonzalez (BT 2018) - WINNER Golden Bear for Best Film

"Mé el Aïn" (Who Do I Belong To) – director, writer, editor and producer Meryam Joobeur (BT 2016)

"Shambhala" – director, writer & casting Min Bahadur Bham (BT 2013), writer Abinash Bikram Shah (BT 2010), editor Kiran Shrestha (BT 2019), co-producer Shuk Fong Chong (BT 2022), associate producer Rajesh Prasad Khatri (BT 2020), associate producer Jeremy Chua (BT 2017)

"Sterben" – music Lorenz Dangel (BT 2006) - WINNER Silver Bear for Best Screenplay, Berliner Morgenpost Reader's Award & Prize of the Guild of German Arthouse cinemas in Competition

"Gloria!“ – audience designer Jacopo Bistacchia (BT 2023)

Encounters

"Arcadia" – writer Konstantina Kotzamani (BT 2012), cinematography Konstantinos Koukoulios (BT 2015), producer Antigoni Rota (BT 2020), development producer Kyveli Short (BT 2023) This film was selected for our Talent Project Market in 2020 and presented to industry professionals by producer Antigoni Rota. 

"Some Rain Must Fall" – writer & director Qiu Yang (BT 2018), cinematography Constanze Schmitt (BT 2020), editor Carlo Francisco Manatad (BT 2012), producer Jeremy Chua (BT 2017) - WINNER Special Jury Award

"Cidade; Campo" – director & writer Juliana Rojas (BT 2015), sounddesign Tiago Bello (BT 2013) - WINNER Award for Best Director

"Direct Action" – co-producer Michel Balagué (BT 2014) Award of Best Film & Berlinale Documentary Award, Special Mention

"Dormir de olhos abertos" (Sleep with your Eyes Open) – director & writer Nele Wohlatz (BT 2016), cinematography Roman Kasseroller (BT 2014), editor Ana Godoy (BT 2015), production design Diogo Hayashi (BT 2017), producer Emilie Lesclaux (BT 2008), producer Meike Martens (BT 2009), executive producer Dora Amorim (BT 2021) - WINNER Prize of The FIPRESCI Jury

"Mãos no Fogo" (Hands in the Fire) – editor João Braz (BT 2006)

"Matt and Mara" – cinematography Nikolay Michaylov (BT 2023), executive producer Matthew Miller (BT 2014)

"Tú me abrasas" (You Burn Me) – producer Melanie Schapiro (BT 2009)

Berlinale Special

"Wu Suo Zhu" (Abiding Nowhere) – cinematography & editor Chang Jhong-yuan (BT 2023)

"Sasquatch Sunset" – director, writer & producer David Zellner (BT 2006)

"Treasure" – director, writer & co-producer Julia Von Heinz (BT 2004), producer Fabian Gasmia (BT 2013), costume Małgorzata Karpiuk (BT 2018)

"Das leere Grab" (empty grave) – producer Amil Shivji (BT 2014)

"Filmstunde_23" – cinematography Daniel Schönauer (BT 2006)

"Love Lies Bleeding" – director and writer Rose Glass (BT 2017)

"Supersex" – producer Matteo Rovere (BT 2006)

"The Strangers Case" – producer Ossama Bawardi (BT 2008) - WINNER Amnesty International Film Award

"Chime" – cinematography Koichi Furuya (BT 2019)

Berlinale Shorts

"Circle" – director, writer & editor Yumi Joung (BT 2013), editor & producer Kihyun Kim (BT 2008)

"The Moon Also Rises" – producer Thomas Hakim (BT 2020)

"Un movimiento extraño" (An Odd Turn) – co-producer Victoria Marotta (BT 2016) - WINNER Golden Bear for Best Short Film

Panorama

"The Outrun" – writer, director Nora Fingscheidt (BT 2012/17), cinematography Yunus Roy Imer (BT 2020), producer Sarah Brocklehurst (BT 2016), co-producer Jonas Weydemann (BT 2011/13)

"All Shall Be Well" – writer, director & producer Ray Yeung (BT 2013), cinematography Ming Kai Leung (BT 2007) - WINNER TEDDY Award for Best Feature

"Les Paradis de Diane" (Paradises of Diane) – co-producer Camille Genaud (BT 2021)

"Alle, die du bist" (Every You Every Me) – director & writer Michael Fetter Nathansky (BT 2020), actor Sara Fazilat (BT 2017)

"Afterwar" – director & writer Birgitte Stærmose (BT 2004)

"Diaries from Lebanon" – cinematography Mohamed Siam (BT 2012), producer Myriam Sassine (BT 2014)

"Cu Li Không Bao Giờ Khóc" (Cu Li Never Cries) – co-producer Bradley Liew (BT 2015) WINNER GWFF Best First Feature Award 2024

"Memorias de un cuerpo que arde" (Memories of a Burning Body) – production design Amparo Baeza (BT 2021) - WINNER Audience Award for Prize Winner Fiction Film 2024

"Tongo Saa" (Rising Up at Night) – director & cinematography Nelson Makengo (BT 2020), sound Moimi Wezam (BT 2022) This film was selected for the Doc Station in 2020 and developed there by director Nelson Makengo

 "Zeit Verbrechen 1: Dezember" – music Lorenz Dangel (BT 2006)

"Zeit Verbrechen 3: Deine Brüder" – cinematography Christopher Aoun (BT 2019)

"Zeit Verbrechen 4: Love by Proxy" – production design Anthony Tomety (BT 2009)

Forum

"Chroniques fidèles survenues au siècle dernier à l’hôpital psychiatrique Blida-J" (True Chronicles of the Blida Joinville Psychiatric Hospital in the Last Century, when Dr Frantz Fanon Was Head of the Fifth Ward between 1953 and 1956) – actor Alexandre Desane (BT 2015)

"Reas" – sound design Sofía Straface (BT 2017), editor Anita Remón (BT 2016)

"As noites ainda cheiram á pôlvora" (Nights Still Smell of Gunpowder) – director, writer, cinematography, producer & actor Inadelso Cossa (BT 2015), co-producer Frank Hoeve Elisa (BT 2010), co-producer Fernanda Pirir (BT 2019) This film was selected for the Doc Station in 2019 and developed there by director Inadelso Cossa

"Redaktsiya" (The Editorial Office) – music Anton Baibakov (BT 2010), actor Zhanna Ozirna (BT 2020)

"La piel en primavera" (Skin in Spring) – cinematography Luciana Riso Soto (BT 2012), co-producer Rebeca Gutierrez Campos (BT 2016), executive producer Alexander Arbelaez Osorio (BT 2018), producer Jose Manuel Duque López (BT 2019)

"Oasis" –executive producer Alba Gaviraghi (BT 2020)

"Oasis of Now" – producer Yve Vonn Lee (BT 2021), producer Fran Borgia (BT 2014), sound Chor Guan Ng (BT 2015) This film was selected for the Talent Project Market in 2021 and presented to industry professional by producer Yve Vonn Lee

"Resonance Spiral" – cinematography Jenny Lou Ziegel (BT 2014)

“Il cassetto segreto” (The Secret Drawer) – producer Antonietta Bruni (BT 2016)

“Intercepted” – co-producer Pauline Tran Van Lieu (BT 2020) Prizes of The Ecumenical Jury, Special Mention & Amnesty International Film Award, Special Mention

Forum Expanded

"I Don’t Want to Be Just a Memory" – editor Ygor Gama (BT 2016)

"hold on to her" – actress Lazara Rosell Albear (BT 2005)

"For Here Am I Sitting in a Tin Can Far above the World" – director, writer, producer & editor Gala Hernández López (BT 2023)

"Quebrante" – director, writer & producer Janaina Wagner (BT 2023), cinematography Lucas Barbi (BT 2016)

Generation

"Beurk!" (Yuck!) – co-producer Manon Messiant (BT 2023)

"Disco Afrika : une histoire malgache" (Disco Afrika: A Malagasy Story) ­­– writer & director Luck Razanajaona (BT 2012) Price of AG Kino - Gilde - Cinema Vision 14plus, Honorable Mention

"Ellbogen" (Elbow) – writer Claudia Schaefer (BT 2007)

"Cura sana" – director, writer & casting Lucía G. Romero (BT 2016) WINNER Crystal Bear for the Best Short Film 14plus

"Sukoun" (Amplified) – director, writer, producer & editor Dina Naser (BT 2020) - Special Mention - Children's Jury Generation Kplus, Crystal Bear for the Best Short Film

"Raíz" (Through Rocks and Clouds) – cinematography Johan Carrasco (BT 2023), producer Diego Sarmiento (BT 2014) - Special Mention - International Jury Generation Kplus 

"Reinas" – director Klaudia Reynicke (BT 2011), sound design Federico Disandro (BT 2020), co-producer Valérie Delpierre (BT 2016) - WINNER The Grand Prix of the International Jury for the Best Short Film in Generation Kplus 

"Young Hearts" – music Ruben De Gheselle (BT 2017) Special Mention - Generation Awards Kplus

"A Summer’s End Poem" – executive producer Yana Lekarska (BT 2020) - WINNER The Special Prize of the International Jury for the Best Short Film in Generation Kplus

"Huling Palabas" (Fin) – cinematography Theo Lozada (BT 2019), editor Cyril Bautista (BT 2021)

"Papillon" (Butterfly) – producer Ron Dyens (BT 2003)

"Quell'estate con Irène" (My Summer with Irène) – director & writer Carlo Sironi (BT 2013, BT 2014, Returnee 2020), editor Chiara Dainese (BT 2021), producer Giovanni Pompili (BT 2014)

"Songs of Love and Hate" – producer Min Bahadur (BT 2013) Special Mention Generation 14plus

"The Great Phuket" – producer Zuolong Shan (BT 2011, BT 2017)

"Un Pájaro Voló" (A bird flew) – writer Fabian Suárez (BT 2012) - WINNER The Special Prize of the International Jury for the Best Short Film in Generation 14plus