Generation, the Berlinale section for children and young people

"Los herederos", de Eugenio Polgovsky (México)

Thirteen films have already been selected to participate in the Generation section of the Berlinale 2009 - seven in Kplus and six in 14plus. A record number of more than 1000 films have been submitted this year.

For the first time, Generation will screen a documentary for its younger audiences in the Kplus competition. In Los herederos, Mexican director Eugenio Polgovsky sensitively but persistently observes how hard work defines the lives and existence of children and their families. “We cannot ignore documentary material that has such an enormous impact on the screen. We are eager to engage in the controversial discussions that this work will provoke across the generations”, says section director Maryanne Redpath.

A German film has also been confirmed. Lippels Traum by Lars Büchel (Erbsen auf halb 6) will celebrate its world premiere in Generation Kplus. Its illustrious ensemble includes Moritz Bleibtreu, Anke Engelke, Christiane Paul, Uwe Ochsenknecht, Edgar Selge and Eva Mattes.

“Every year, increasingly more filmmakers view what is happening in the world through the eyes of young people. Leading this time to the search for a father in China ’s remote provinces, the obsessive multimedia-wanderings of a youth who declares he will commit suicide on camera, or first explorations of love and sexuality in Taipei ”, comments Maryanne Redpath on the range of topics covered by the films selected for 14plus so far.

School project

Generation will also be continuing its Berlinale school project. Thanks to the ongoing support of VISION KINO, a network for film and media competence, teachers from Berlin and Brandenburg will again be able to view and discuss films from this section in class.

The selection process for Generation will be completed in early January 2009. To date, the following films have been invited:

Generation Kplus

C’est pas moi, je le jure! (It’s Not Me, I Swear!) by Philippe Falardeau, Canada 2008

Flickan (The Girl) by Fredrik Edfeldt, Sweden 2008

World premiere

Lippels Traum by Lars Büchel, Germany 2008

World premiere

Los herederos (The Inheritors) by Eugenio Polgovsky, Mexico 2008

Mamma Mu & Kråkan (Mamma Moo & Crow) by Igor Veyshtagin, Sweden/Germany/Hungary 2008

Max Pinlig (Max Embarrassing) by Lotte Svendsen, Denmark 2008

International premiere

Mommo (The Bogeyman) by Atalay Taşdiken, Turkey 2008

World premiere

Generation 14plus

Cherrybomb by Glenn Leyburn and Lisa Barros D’Sa, Great Britain 2008

World premiere

Gun Lala de qiang (Lala’s Gun) by Ning Jingwu, People’s Republic of China 2008

World premiere

Het zusje van Katia (Katia’s Sister) by Mijke de Jong, Netherlands 2008

Miao Miao by Cheng Hsiao-Tse, Hong Kong/Taiwan 2008

My Suicide by David Lee Miller, USA 2008

World premiere

Snijeg (Snow) by Aida Begić , Bosnia & Herzegovina/Germany/France/Iran 2008