INTERFILM 41 International Short Film Festival Berlin
4 - 9 November 2025

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SPECIALS

ESSAY Essay Films - Craving for Narratives

We immerse ourselves in subjective worlds, which question, shift and reframe reality. Everyday life, technology, memory and chance encounter one another here – drivers get lost, AI alters perception, buildings reflect the past, animals stumble in algorithms. Between the surreal, the intimate and the peculiar, moments of humour, awe and quiet truth unfold. Essay films become testing grounds for probing the nature of the real. They open spaces for reflection and exploration, shake certainties and find insight in the fragile, the fleeting and the transitory. A snapshot capable of permanently changing our view of the world.

Curated by: Moritz Lehr, Alexander Stein
All films will be shown in their original language with English subtitles.

06.11.25, 18:30h, Unterfilm Clubkino

07.11.25, 18:00h, Zeiss-Großplanetarium Kino

Essay Films - Craving for Narratives
7 films
Overwork

Overwork

Overwork

Celine Berger // Germany // 2025 // 10:10 min

Experimental, Documentary

A short film reinterprets vintage 16mm instructional films from the German Federal Employment Agency, transforming bureaucratic film material into a personal reflection on work and life in general.

Campolivar

Campolivar

Campolivar

Alicia Moncholí // Spain // 2024 // 17:00 min

Documentary

Following the death of his estranged father, the filmmaker returns to the family house for the first time in eight years. The house becomes a space where memories and fractured relationships lie exposed.

"I can't think of anything right now"

"I can't think of anything right now"

"I can't think of anything right now"

Hussein Ibrahim // France, Lebanon, Argentina, Germany // 2025 // 10:04 min

Experimental, Live Action

A downpour, a taxi, a ride through forgotten pasts and lost futures and a decision: which of these do we want to keep?

Accidental Animals

Accidental Animals

Leila Fatima Keita / Felix Klee // Germany // 2024 // 10:20 min

Experimental, Documentary

Animals cross paths with Google Street View cars. Spiders, dogs and pigs appear – sometimes blurry, sometimes clearly visible. The film examines unexpected encounters between animal and algorithm, digitality and nature.

The Future Is Going to Be Weird AF

The Future Is Going to Be Weird AF

Silvia Dal Dosso // Italy, Germany // 2024 // 11:39 min

Experimental, Documentary

AI, deepfakes, dead celebrities and memes populate a chaotic world. Archival material, narrative and synthetic voices depict a society mediated by technology, pop culture and illusions of reality.

Filme-Copacabana

Filme-Copacabana

Film Copacabana

Sofia Leão // Brazil // 2025 // 12:00 min

Documentary, Live Action

A woman places a chair on the sidewalk in Rio and watches as the neighbourhood "unfolds" before her eyes – like a movie scene. Workers, tourists, dogs and street life combine to form a Copacabana portrait, through clever editing and montage.

Beneath Which Rivers Flow

Beneath Which Rivers Flow

Beneath Which Rivers Flow

Ali Yahya // Iraq // 2025 // 16:17 min

Documentary

Quiet Ibrahim lives in the swamplands of Southern Iraq, amid rivers, reeds and animals. As his world teeters on the brink of collapse, the well-being of his only companion, a buffalo, becomes threatened as well.