All Summer, all Tickets before 6PM only 7€ (Mon–Fri)
性 ~SAGA~ brings together two works by Japanese director Ryuji Fukuyama (Fine 115) into a single evening programme of approximately 50 minutes.
Short narrative film — ~15 min An intimate kinbaku film featuring the late rope master Shigonawa Bingo and his rope partner Aya. A quiet meditation on trust, vulnerability, and the unspoken language between two people bound together by rope.
Documentary — ~30–40 min Co-directed by Ryuji Fukuyama and Mirei Nagahama, this documentary was re-edited following the sudden passing of Shigonawa Bingo as a tribute to his life and art. A deeply personal record of a master's world and the community he left behind.
Screened with English subtitles. Followed by a Q&A with director Ryuji Fukuyama and members of the Kinbaku Society of Berlin.
The Shorts In Season Film Festival Summer Edition celebrates bold, brilliant European short films on the big screen. After each block, the host will run discussions with attending filmmakers.
The program highlights come from two Berlin-based filmmakers: Cadenza Zhao’s most personal work, ‘The Lover’, Dominika Gayny’s David Lynch inspired, emotionally charged ‘The Highway’, and Estonian filmmaker Steven Kristjan Tšoba’s surreal directorial debut ‘Mango’.
MANGO DIR Steven Kristjan Tšoba (10.00, Estonia)
Young and handsome playboy Kaarel goes on a first date to Tuule’s apartment. Tuule asks Kaarel to sing like a bird.
THE HIGHWAY DIR Dominika Gayny (5.18, Poland)
A woman speeds down the highway, struggling to slow down – not just in her car, but in love.
THE LOVER DIR Cadenza Zhao (15.00, Germany)
Haunted by grief, Daniel fills the void with casual sex, hoping to escape his loneliness. But when he can no longer ignore the truth, he’s forced to face the emotions he has been running from.
JULIENNE OF LIGHT BULBS DIR Dave Lojek (5.28, Germany)
In a magician's private stand-off, two practitioners must brave tricky challenges to demonstrate a hidden ability.
BELOW THE END DIR Joscha Bürger (6.58, Germany)
Emma dances in bunker-like catacombs at an illegal rave. She stumbles upon an American soldier who warns her of an impending danger.
JOURNEY DIR Lee O'Connor (11:00, Germany)
A three-part experimental short film based on the poems written by Luke O'Connor.
THE NEAPOLITAN PLOT DIR Jan Melkebeek (17:36, Belgium)
A band of petty mobsters with no love for each other is forced to sit through a comically tense emergency meeting
Come network with creative minds and experience a wide range of perspectives on the big screen, while supporting grassroots cinema and the deserving works of local and European filmmakers. Tickets are limited and priced at only €5 each.
A program rooted in ritual, folklore, the body, and ancestral memory
BÁJANJE — Neža Jamnikar (Slovenia, 14:39)
On their journey toward 'the knowing', three women traverse hills and forests, twist their bodies, utter incantations, and make offerings.
HOWW TO WAYT — Johanna Winters (United States, 8:16)
A motel room’s interior trappings – twin beds, wall trim, pink bathroom tiles – become a puppet-protagonist’s staging grounds in a rehearsal for being desired.
Unfortunately_Wonderful_Difficult — Kumar Muniandy, Mădălina Zaharia (Germany/United Kingdom, 17:23)
A modestly furnished apartment becomes overcrowded with its inhabitant's emotionallife.
The Virgin, the Bitch, the Witch — Anežka Součková (Czech Republic, 18:40)
A middle aged TV hostess goes through a series of surreal situations. It all starts in the studio when mud suddenly starts to crawl in.
Zaxme — Soore Vahe (Iran, 13:42)
As the silence of the world envelops her, a single note strikes the strings, initiating a symphony of self-discovery.
cyclical being — Nele Gehricke, Solveig Weimar (Germany, 8:18)
As an experimental movement film, "cyclical being" follows four dancers embodying the phases of a monthly cycle through dance, music, and narration.
Amaltaas - اﻣﻠﺗﺎس — Xoori K. Sarhadi (Australia, 3:30)
Set in a foreign home, a newly married woman drifts through incense smoke, chai rituals, and beauty masks.
11:11 — Sophia Gordon (United States, 1:58)
A witch explores synchronicities through a divination ritual.
Lukso ng Dugo — Annika Magbanua (United States, 8:17)
With the unexpected help of a monster inspired by Filipino folklore, Mae and her mother confront their fears and begin a journey towards healing.
Anything, Always — Isabella Dagnino (Canada, 1:44)
The memories of our ancestors live within the memories around us, they love in the moments in between, in the passing glances and in our spirits.
Unrooting — Esteban Rosales (Germany, 5:12)
A ritual to transform and heal feelings of anxiety and fear.
Nacre — Lydia Jenkins (United Kingdom, 7:58)
When presented as a sacrifice to an elusive sea monster, Maggie must find her strength or be condemned to a dreadful fate.
KEEP COMING BACK - Episode 2: THE VISIT
Michel (François) is a good guy and would probably be great for Gabriel (Nekomato), but Gabriel remains hopelessly stuck in the past. For that reason, Paulo (P. Aries) suggests a ritual to reunite him with his lost love Christian (Xris Boy). Then, after the gateway is opened, desire and pleasure reveal their ability to exist beyond the grave: Christian’s spirit shares an intimate encounter with one of the guests.
As the second chapter of the Keep Coming Back trilogy, this queer film explores grief, human imperfection, recovery from substance abuse, and the ambiguities of modern queer relationships.
THE END
Javier is an obsessed artist who is grieving the end of a relationship. His sorrow comes as a combination of memories, instinct and denial, and the mourning’s harsh feelings will compromise his sense of reality.
Surrounded by doubt, and subjected to several addictions, Javier fights to find peace – until his lattermost move take him to a surrealistic emotional purgatory. The absurdity in which Javier finds himself might be a way out of the pain, and his redemption to love and all endings. But first he needs to confront his demons and to take one last chance into the pleasures of the flesh.