Four Catalan productions will compete at the Berlinale

Catalan cinema crosses borders. Four Catalan productions will be part of the selection of the Berlinale, the Berlin film festival that will celebrate its 75th edition this year from February 13 to 23. Catalan director Eva Libertad will premiere her first feature film Sorda in the Berlinale Panorama section. The film addresses the motherhood of Ángela, a deaf woman, and her doubts about how she will experience pregnancy and how she will communicate with her daughter, in a world that is not always inclusive.

The short film Casi septiembre by Catalan Lucía G. Romero will participate in the Berlinale Shorts section, a section in which more than 20 titles from up to 18 different countries compete. The Catalan production reflects on youth, identity, and unexpected romantic relationships. With this nomination, it will be the second time that this young director participates in the Berlin festival, after last year she won the Crystal Bear for best short film in the Generation 14plus section, with her short Cura Sana. In the previous year's edition, in addition to the award for Romero, Catalan audiovisuals were also recognized with director Anna Cornudella and her debut film The human hibernation, which won the International Critics' Award in the Forum section, dedicated to more experimental cinema.

In the German festival's Generation Kplus category, two Catalan productions will be presented. The first will be the Danish-Catalan co-production Només en la terra, a documentary that explores the story of four characters and their connection to wild horses and the landscape. Then will come Juanita, which follows the story of a twelve-year-old Latina girl who tries to grow up under the beauty expectations imposed on her and who aspires to live with the freedom she believes European women have.

Beyond the official competition sections, Catalan audiovisual content—which has experienced a record year with over 987,000 viewers in cinemas and on platforms—will also be present in the other categories of the German festival. Within the Berlinale Co-Production Market, the project Els homes i els dies, by Arnau Vilaró, will be presented. Vilaró was the screenwriter of Alcarràs, a film awarded the Golden Bear at La Berlinale in its 72nd edition, and now embarks on his first feature film after this success, with a project that addresses the repercussions of 1992, a key year for Barcelona. A festival that will also recognize the work of seven Catalan professionals, who are part of the Berlinale Talents selection: producers Gerard Rodríguez (Japonica Films), Araceli Isaac (Nakamura Films) and Laura Egidos (Contraria Media), director Juan Sebastián Vásquez, editor Gerard Borràs, costume and art designer Pau Aulí, and actress Valeria Sorolla.