Ooops, we did it again! What started out as an experiment with a planning period of not more than two months last year has grown and evolved this year, and the Berlin Art Film Festival now happily returns with a total of 47 films – which is 15 more than last year.

If you want to know what the first festival was all about in detail, you can have a look at last year’s welcome note, but the basic parameters haven’t changed: new and older films that show Berlin differently; experimental, unconventional, lesser known, braver, edgier, more controversial art cinema with one well-known protagonist.

Last year, we said: „from poetry to porn„. This year, we’re adding „politics“ to the alliterations – not just because it sounds fancy, but because we live in horrible times and would like to open a cinematic discourse to (not only) Berlin-related topics like the crisis of Europe (wrongly called refugee crisis by most media) and the fact that a once affordable Berlin is turning into another gentrified metropolis where cheap living space is rare. In our programme POST MIGRATIONS and an accompanying panel we take a closer look at some daring cinematic experiments dealing with refugee and migration issues. In a couple of architecture and city planning-related programmes, we investigate what happened to Berlin after the wall came down through films (On architecture, Germany, revised).

But there’s more news: For the first time, all programmes have titles and a more specific themes, we have a book launch, a kids screening for busy parents who love art films (Matinee) and collaborations with amazing galleries like Galerie Buchholz and KOW, who were gracious enough to let us borrow their works for cinematic use (films by Hito Steryl, Tobias Zielony and Isa Genzken).

This year’s festival patron, film and theatre actres Anne Ratte-Polle, is prominently presented on the poster, as the star of the trailer, in our kick-off screening and then again present for a cosy matinee with croissants and prosecco on Sunday, December 13.

Also, in 2015, we honour the ones who passed away (we dedicate an entire programme to actor/ filmmaker Peter Kern (Bodies of work) and take a closer look at the goings-on at the Berlin film school dffb in a film programme and a http://berlinartfilmfestival.de/2015/panels.

The list of guests ranges from Helke Sander (Feminist Frontiers) to Lior Shamriz (opening programme) to Thomas Arslan (On Architecture) and way beyond. Have a look!

A series of installations and small exhibitions inside and outside the cinema will accompany the film programmes, and three parties will give us time and space to get drunk, talk and dance with each other.

Also, the list of supporters and media partners has luckily grown, and we are happy that taz – die tageszeitung, Jungle World, Missy Magazine, Exberliner and Stil in Berlin are on our side!

Like last year, the festival is very much dependent on ticket sales and has no financial sponsors, so we hope you all spread the word (sharing is caring, remember?) so that we have a couple of full screenings, good discussions and hopefully a few enlightening cinematic adventures to go on together.

Looking forward to seeing you at Moviemento – a lot!

Berlin Art Film Festival