IFFR-backed titles at the Berlinale 2024
24 February 2024
A voice that claims to belong to a hippopotamus is that of Pepe, the entry point into a world full of stories in the film of the same name by Dominican filmmaker Nelson Carlo De Los Santos Arias, who picked up the Silver Bear for Best Director at the Berlinale 2024. It’s one of a number of IFFR-supported projects that screened and won prizes at the Berlinale this edition. Read about them all below.
Cu Li Never Cries
dir. Lan Pham Ngoc, Vietnam, Singapore, France, Philippines, Norway
World premiere in Panorama
Supported by the Hubert Bals Fund for development
“After inheriting a pygmy slow loris from her long-estranged husband, a woman clings to dwindling ties to her past while her niece prepares for her wedding and worries about the future.”
Winner of GWFF’s Best First Feature Award
Image © Ali Ghandtschi / Berlinale 2024
Disco Afrika : une histoire malgache
dir. Luck Razanajaona, France, Madagascar, Germany, Mauritius, South Africa, Qatar
European premiere in Generation 14plus
Presented at CineMart in 2018 & Darkroom in 2023
“Twenty-year-old Kwame toils in clandestine sapphire mines. When an unexpected event takes him back to his hometown, he is confronted with the rampant corruption that plagues his country. Kwame is forced to make a choice.”
Honourable Mention from Jury of the AG Kino Gilde – Cinema Vision 14plus
Dormir de olhos abertos
dir. Nele Wohlatz, Brazil, Taiwan, Argentina, Germany
World premiere in Encounters
Supported by the Hubert Bals Fund and presented at CineMart 2021
“A coastal city in Brazil. Fu Ang, Kai and Xiao Xin rarely meet in this quiet comedy of misunderstandings. Yet during a hot, slow summer, delicate bonds grow between them like islands in a sea full of sharks.”
Pepe
dir. by Nelson Carlo De Los Santos Arias, Dominican Republic, Namibia, Germany, France
World premiere in the Official Competition
Supported by the Hubert Bals Fund for development
“A voice that claims to belong to a hippopotamus. A voice that does not understand the perception of time. Pepe, the first and only hippopotamus ever killed in the Americas, tells his story.”
Winner Silver Bear for Best Director 2024
Image © Ali Ghandtschi / Berlinale 2024
Some Rain Must Fall
dir. Qiu Yang, China, USA, France, Singapore
World premiere in Encounters
Supported by the HBF+Europe: Minority Co-production scheme
“Cai, a 45-year-old housewife from the Chinese middle classes, is in a crisis. She no longer knows who she is or who she wants to be. Following a seemingly trivial incident, her life goes off the rails and she heads into an uncertain future.”
Winner Encounters – Special Jury Award 2024
Image © Ali Ghandtschi / Berlinale 2024
