Few tragedies have left as deep a scar on European football as the events at Brussels’ Heysel Stadium on 29 May 1985. In Heysel 85, filmmaker Teodora Ana Mihai revisits that night, reframing the catastrophe of the 1985 European Cup Final between Liverpool F.C. and Juventus F.C. through an intimate, human lens, that focus on the dynamics that lead to questionable moral decisions and on the ordinary people caught in its wake. At the 76th Berlinale where her third feature premiered in the Special section, the Belgian-Romanian director spoke about the responsibility of dramatizing real events, confronting painful archives, and the challenge of balancing personal stories with broader historical context.

Few artists have interrogated time, memory, and authorship as rigorously as Douglas Gordon. For more than three decades, the Turner Prize–winning artist has redefined the language of contemporary art through works that fracture and reframe cultural memory. Filmmaker Finlay Pretsell turns his camera toward the artist at a moment of personal and creative transition, crafting an intimate portrait that blurs the boundaries between observer and subject. Shot over several years, the film defies the conventions of biographical documentary.In conversation with Lidanoir at Berlinale, where Douglas Gordon by Douglas Gordon premieres, Gordon and Pretsell reflect on their collaboration, art, and the tension between documentation and performance.

Almost two decades after his last feature Ballast, Lance Hammer returns to screen in the spotlight of the Berlinale Competition. There the US-American director turns his contemplative gaze at dementia and the devastating toll it takes, both on the elderly character suffering from the illness and her deeply conflicted relatives. Set against the fragile social and familiar worlds of its characters, Queen at Sea turns its realist lens on mental collapse, systemic neglect, and corroding relationships. On site at the Berlinale, speaks about the long development of the story, the extensive research that went into portraying dementia with authenticity rather than sentimentality, and the primal fears his film aims to address.

With her first cinematic feature, renowned Brazilian theater actor, director, and writer Grace Passô announces herself as a compelling new voice, attuned to the delicate emotional undertones beneath everyday life. Premiering at the 76th Berlinale’s Perspectives section, Our Secret explores the weight of what goes unsaid in a family after a devastating loss and listens for the ghosts that linger in a house shared by generations. In conversation with Lidanoir, Passô talks about the personal and creative origins of the project, the challenges of moving her play from stage to the screen, and the special role of the location for her story.

Following the neuropsychological dread of Relic and the occult paranoia of Apartment 7A, Natalie Erika James’ latest feature continues her exploration of the emotional fallout of social pressure and painful family histories. Brutal beauty standards and toxic diet culture literally threaten to consume the young protagonist of Saccharine which premiered in Sundance’s Midnight section before running at Berlinale’s Special section. On site in the busy Berlinale Palace, the Japanese-Australian filmmaker talks about the personal origins of the story, the devastating social impact of rigid physical standards, and the elaborate special effects langue shaping the symbolic scares.

Seine Dokumentarfilme laufen regelmäßig auf internationalen Film Festivals und brachten Tobias Nölle zahlreiche Preise, darunter in Locarno einen Goldenen Leoparden für seinen Kurzfilm René. Nun kehrt der Schweizer Regisseur zurück zur Berlinale, wo sein jüngstes Werk im Panorama Weltpremiere feiert. Tristan Forever balanciert auf der Grenze zwischen Dokumentation, Fiktion, Erinnerung und Traum in seiner Erkundung der jahrzehntelangen Beziehung des Pariser Arztes Loran Bonnardot zur abgelegensten, dauerhaft bewohnten Insel der Welt. Dreißig Jahre lang zieht es Bonnardot immer wieder auf Tristan da Cunha im Südatlantik. Sein Entschluss, dort überzusiedeln, eröffnet Fragen nach Zugehörigkeit, Gemeinschaft, Ideal und Illusion. Im Gespräch mit Lidanoir auf der Berlinale berichtet Nölle von der Faszination von Menschen und Orten außerhalb der assimilierten Gesellschaft, den Dreharbeiten auf Tristan und der Grenze zwischen Realität und Fiktion.

Right after premiering her intimate feature film debut at Sundance in the U.S. Dramatic Commpetition, Liz Sargent presents Take Me Home at the Berlinale. Fictional, but very close to life, the story follows Anna and her aging parents as they navigate increasing challenges in their delicate balance of caregiving. On site at the festival, she reflects in conversation with Lidanoir on the personal nature of the story, centered on her own sister Anna Sargent, and discusses the commplexe challenges she faced during production and the emotional journeys that shaped the final cut.

For A Family, which looks at divorce through the eyes of a sister and her younger brother, putting their individual perspectives beside and opposite one another, director Mees Peijnenburg drew on his own experience of divorce as a kid. At the Berlinale, where his personal family drama debuts in the Generation section, the director and lead actress Carice van Houten open up about their collaboration, the universality they both see in this specific story, and the other chapters that didn't make it onto the screen.

Rising filmmaker Ryan Machado keeps his cinematic lens on challenging subjects. After exploring queerness through a bittersweet nostalgic lens in his previous feature film, Huling Palabas, which premiered in 2023 in Berlinale’s Generation section, the Philippine director returns to the festival with a visceral, tonally dark drama. Set in the 90s on a provincial Philippine island, Raging touches upon the taboo subject of sexual assault experienced by young men. Just before the festival closes, Machado takes time to talk with Lidanoir about the true events that fueled Raging, its creative risks, and why he believes audiences are ready for stories that confront raw, uncomfortable, but necessary subjects.

Mit Liebhaberinnen schaffen Regisseurin Koxi und Schauspielerin Johanna Wokalek ein zeitgenössisches Update Elfriede Jelineks gleichnamigen Romans um Sehnsucht nach Stabilität und Abhängigkeit, von gesellschaftlichen Zwängen, Selbstbestimmung und Selbstdarstellung. Auf der 76. Berlinale, wo ihre gesellschaftskritische Groteske im Forum Premiere feiert, sprechen die Regisseurin und ihre Hauptdarstellerin mit Lidanoir über die Zusammenarbeit, die Notwendigkeit authentischer Frauenfiguren auf der Leinwand sowie den Kontakt zu Jelinek und die Aktualität ihres Werks.