Bosque arriba en la montaña, directed by filmmaker Sofía Bordenave, will have its international premiere in the Berlinale Forum, one of the most significant parallel sections of the Berlin International Film Festival, which will hold its 76th edition from February 12 to 22.

The film will be part of the Forum’s main programme, which in its 56th edition will showcase a total of 32 films from different regions of the world. These are complemented by 13 titles in the Forum Special section and a further 33 projects in Forum Expanded. Altogether, the Forum programme will comprise 78 titles, reaffirming its status as one of the most extensive and diverse strands of the German festival.

This year’s selection, curated by section director Barbara Wurm, once again underscores the Forum’s longstanding commitment to socially incisive and formally adventurous cinema. The chosen films engage with themes of coexistence, individual and collective memory, political conflict, history, and contemporary ecological crises, while also experimenting with hybrid and innovative forms.

Alongside Bordenave’s work, the Forum will present new films by internationally acclaimed directors such as Nicolás Pereda, Simón Vélez, Ted Fendt, James Benning, and Rithy Panh, among others. Screenings will take place from February 15 to 25, with the historic Kino Arsenal at Potsdamer Platz serving as the section’s main venue.

Among the highlights of this edition is We Are the Fruits of the Forest by Cambodian filmmaker Rithy Panh, which focuses on Indigenous Bunong communities and their confrontation with the pressures of the global economy. Also standing out is Flying Tigers by Indian writer and director Madhusree Dutta, a work that combines historical research and archival material to reflect on war and collective memory.

The programme maintains a strong political orientation across both fiction and documentary. Volker Koepp returns to the Forum with Chronos – Flow of Time, a portrait of life in Eastern Europe under the shadow of war, while Black Lions – Roman Wolves by Haile Gerima revisits a decade of Ethiopian history shaped by colonial legacies. These films are joined by works addressing mourning in Gaza, structural violence, military simulation, and familial addiction, as well as more intimate narratives centered on coming of age, desire, and self-exploration.

According to Barbara Wurm, this edition of the Forum is “probably one of the most political in a long time,” emphasizing the wide range of cinematic forms used to address “painful” themes such as enduring colonialism, the repression of Indigenous peoples, gender-based violence, and social injustice, in dialogue with more introspective works.

Forum

Ghost in the Cell – Joko Anwar (Indonesia)
Given Names – Nurith Aviv (France)
EIGHT BRIDGES – James Benning (USA)
Forest up in the Mountain – Sofia Bordenave (Argentina)
The Moths & the Flame – Kevin Contento (USA)
Crocodile – The Critics, Pietra Brettkelly (New Zealand/Nigeria)
Flying Tigers – Madhusree Dutta (Germany/India)
Doggerland – Kim Ekberg (Sweden)
Collapse – Anat Even (France)
Foreign Travel – Ted Fendt (Germany)
Black Lions – Roman Wolves – Haile Gerima (Ethiopia/USA)
Members of the Problematic Family – R Gowtham (India)
Sometimes, I Imagine Them All at a Party – Daniela Magnani Hüller (Germany)
AnyMart – Yusuke Iwasaki (Japan)
My Name – Chung Ji-young (South Korea)
On Our Own – Tudor Cristian Jurgiu (Romania/Italy)
Chronos – Flow of Time – Volker Koepp (Germany)
Women as Lovers – Koxi (Germany/Luxembourg)
If Pigeons Turned to Gold – Pepa Lubojacki (Czech Republic/Slovakia)
I Built a Rocket Imagining Your Arrival – Janaína Marques (Brazil)
We Are the Fruits of the Forest – Rithy Panh (Cambodia/France)
Everything Else Is Noise – Nicolás Pereda (Mexico/Germany/Canada)
Lust – Ralitza Petrova (Bulgaria/Denmark/Sweden)
Einar Schleef – No Germany Did I Find – Sandra Prechtel (Germany)
The Day of Wrath: Tales from Tripoli – Rania Rafei (Lebanon/Saudi Arabia/Qatar)
Cesarean Weekend – Mohammad Schirvani (Iran)
Hear the Yellow – Banu Sıvacı (Turkey)
Gemstones – Simón Vélez (Colombia/Portugal)
Scenario – Marie Wilke (Germany)
Joy Boy: A Tribute to Julius Eastman – Mawena Yehouessi, Fallon Mayanja, Rob Jacobs, Victoire Karera Kampire, Paul Shemisi, Anne Reijniers (Belgium)
Masayume – Nao Yoshigai (Japan)
Panda – Xinyang Zhang (Singapore/Hong Kong)