Berlinale Spotlight at the Documentation Centre for Displacement, Expulsion, Reconciliation

Films from the Berlinale sections Competition, Panorama, Generation, Berlinale Shorts, and Forum Expanded hosted at the Documentation Centre for Displacement, Expulsion, Reconciliation.

The Berlinale has been present worldwide for many years with specially curated programmes. The Berlinale Spotlight extends the festival period and makes the Berlinale’s activities visible throughout the year.

Following the very well-attended Berlinale Spotlights last year, a the Spotlight programme will once again take place at the Documentation Centre for Displacement, Expulsion, Reconciliation in Berlin starting November 10, 2025. In February 2026, the centre will also once again serve as a venue for the European Film Market. Five Spotlight events are planned for November and December. Admission is free. Tickets can be booked through the Documentation Centre for Displacement, Expulsion, Reconciliation.

On Monday, November 10, the Competition section will present the festival favourite Yunan as a German pre-premiere; its official theatrical release in Germany is on November 13. On Wednesday, November 26, Panorama will screen Khartoum, a film funded by the Berlinale’s World Cinema Fund. On Thursday, December 18, Generation will show the films Autokar and Los Lobos and in a morning programme screening for school classes and other groups, as well as in the evening for the general public. Finally, Forum Expanded and Berlinale Shorts will present the two films Mua besoj më shpëtoj portreti and Prekid vatre on Sunday, December 21, for the German Short Film Day. These films address the wars in Yugoslavia and their aftermath.

Munir (Georges Khabbaz) has fled to Germany and now lives here as a writer in exile. He suffers from the fact that he can never return to his homeland. On a remote Hallig in the North Sea, Munir seeks solitude to reflect on the final chapter of his life. Unexpected comfort comes in the form of Valeska (Hanna Schygulla), whose compassion rekindles his fading will to live.

November 10, 2025, 7.00 pm
Yunan
Director: Ameer Fakher Eldin
Germany / Canada / Italy / Palestine / Qatar / Jordan / Saudi Arabia, 2025
Language: German / Arabic with English subtitles
124’
After the screening, film journalist Knut Elstermann will moderate a conversation with director Ameer Fakher Eldin

Five lives, one city, the fate of a nation. When civil war breaks out in Sudan, a government official, a tea seller, a resistance fighter and two street boys are forced to flee. An emotional, lyrical portrait of five individuals from Khartoum.

November 26, 2025, 6.30 pm
Khartoum
Directors: Anas Saeed, Rawia Alhag, Ibrahim Snoopy, Timeea M Ahmed, Phil Cox
Sudan / United Kingdom / Germany / Qatar 2025
Language: Arabic with English subtitles
80’
After the screening, there will be a talk with representatives of the film.

Autokar
In the 1990s, eight-year-old Agata leaves her Polish homeland for Belgium. Agata’s perception transforms the migrant experience into a rite of passage.

Los Lobos
They dream of Disneyland, but after brothers Max and Leo emigrate from Mexico to the USA, they first have to find their footing in their new home. And they must follow the seven rules their mother has imposed on them.

December 18, 2025, 10.00 am (schools and other groups) and at 6.30 pm (general public)

Autokar
Director: Sylwia Skiładź
Belgium / France 2025
Language: Polish / French with German narration*
18‘
Recommended for ages 9 and up

Los Lobos
Director: Samuel Kishi Leopo
Mexico 2019
Language: Spanish / English / Cantonese with German narration*
95‘
Recommended for ages 9 and up
*The films at 10.00 am will be shown in their original language and with a live voice-over in German.
Director Samuel Kishin Leopo and director Sylwia Skiładź will be present at the screening.

Mua besoj më shpëtoj portreti (I believe the portrait saved me)
25 years after his abduction during the Kosovo War, artist Skender Muja recalls a pivotal moment. In a prison camp, he drew the portrait of a Serbian commander — and in doing so, saved his own life.

Prekid vatre (Ceasefire)
Hazira survived Srebrenica. She witnessed the war that has consumed her life. For 29 years, she has endured life in a refugee camp within her own country, working tirelessly and restlessly to make ends meet and keep the trauma at bay.

December 21, 2025, 6.00 pm
Mua besoj më shpëtoj portreti
Director: Alban Muja
Kosovo / Netherlands 2025
Language: Albanian with English subtitles
10’

Prekid vatre
Director: Jakob Krese
Germany / Italy / Slovenia 2025
Language: Bosnian with English subtitles
30‘
The screening will be followed by a moderated film discussion with Alban Muja and Annika Mayer (producer and editor of Prekid vatre).
Moderator: Borjana Gaković (film and media scholar).

The Berlinale Spotlight: Competition, Panorama, Generation, Berlinale Shorts and Forum Expanded is a cooperation between the Documentation Centre for Displacement, Expulsion, Reconciliation and the European Film Market (EFM) of the Berlin International Film Festival. 

Admission to all events is free. Tickets must be booked in advance. through the Documentation Centre for Displacement, Expulsion, Reconciliation.

Venue:
Documentation Centre for Displacement, Expulsion, Reconciliation
Stresemannstraße 90
10963 Berlin
S-Bahnhof Anhalter Bahnhof / Close to Potsdamer Platz