The films are participating in various categories at the 75th edition of the festival.
This year’s Berlin International Film Festival, better known as Berlinale, will feature seven films from the Middle East in the feature and short film categories. The 75th edition of the festival runs from February 13 to 23, 2025.
The titles screening at the 2025 Berlinale include Yalla Parkour, by Palestinian filmmaker Areeb Zuaiter. The film is participating in the festival’s Panorama Dokumente category. The documentary spotlights the parkour community that practices the daring sport in Gaza. Khartoum tells the story of five different people who flee the Sudanese capital in the wake of war. The documentary, participating in the Panorama category, is directed by Anas Saeed, Rawia Alhag, Ibrahim Snoopy Ahmad, Timeea Mohamed Ahmed with creative director and writer Philip Cox. Next is Citizen-Inmate by Iranian filmmaker Hesam Eslami who explores the uncomfortable experience of being constantly under surveillance by the government. Citizen-Inmate will screen as part of the Berlinale Short Film Competition. Mahmoud Ibrahim’s The Last Day will screen as part of the Forum Expanded category.
1001 Frames by Iranian-American filmmaker Mehrnoush Alia follows a group of actresses auditioning for the role of Scheherazade in A Thousand and One Nights under the watchful eye of a well-known director. Soon, the women realise that the director is casting for more than just the lead role. Iraqi filmmaker Ali Yahya’s short film Beneath Which Rivers Flow follows a young man named Ibrahim who lives in Southern Iraq’s marshlands with his buffalo companion. The film traces the journey of the pair as they face an impending ecological disaster. Beneath Which Rivers Flow is making its global premiere at the Berlinale and will screen as part of the Generation 14 plus category. Another film participating in the same category is The Tale of Daye’s Family by Karim El Shenawy. It tells the story of Daye, a 14-year-old Nubian albino child with a golden voice.