It was a highlight in the history of Forum Expanded when two of the most influential greats of experimental music, Genesis Breyer P-Orridge (Throbbing Gristle, Psychic-TV, Thee Majesty) and Tony Conrad, came together on the stage of HAU in 2011. The two of them had met for the first time while shooting Marie Losierʼs THE BALLAD OF GENESIS AND LADY JAYE, which premiered in the Forum of the Berlinale the same year, and discovered a lot of common ground in the way they approach music, sound, art, and life, as well as a shared love for the violin. For the legendary concert they were joined by percussionist Morrison Edley.

For those who were there and those who missed it, a live recording is now available. Utilizing recycled colored vinyl, each slab is completely unique and comes housed in a recycled craft paper jacket emblazoned with a removable embroidered patch attached to the front cover. Also included is an 8” x 8” black and white booklet featuring photos from the concert as well 2 postcard sized replicas of the original concert poster. Each package was lovingly stamped and assembled by hand.

Suzanna Liová's feature debut DOM (THE HOUSE) has received the main prize at the 25th Festival of Czech Film in Pilsen. The Film, which had its world premiere in last year's Forum program, tells the story of a generational conflict in the Czech province. Stone by stone, Imrich is building a small house for his daughter Eva almost entirely on his own. But for Eva, who is about to graduate from school, the prospect of moving into the house is about as appealing as being imprisoned in a jail she herself has helped to build. She has very different plans for her future. Her grumpy, stingy, controlling father has already broken with Eva’s sister, Jana, after she got herself involved with a scoundrel with whom she now has three children. So the father is twice as vigilant with Eva, but she still manages to indulge in a few little freedoms: skipping school for a couple of days, doing little jobs to save up cash for the trip she longs to make to London, and an affair with an older man who turns out to be her English teacher. A generational conflict in a milieu where even the minor characters are described in such detail that one suspects the film has been modeled on directors like Mike Leigh or Ken Loach. But the speechlessness and deeply entrenched feelings of the parent generation here also reflect the profound impact of radical social change and the struggle to come to terms with that change. This makes Zuzana Liová’s feature a notable example of young, intelligent cinema from Eastern Europe. (Anna Hoffmann)

Manuel von Stürler's HIVER NOMADE (WINTER NOMADS), has received the 'Great Price for the best Suisse feature film of all sections' at Visions du Réel in Nyon. WINTER NOMADS had its world premiere in this year's Forum program. The award is endowed with 15.000 CHF.

REVISION by Philip Scheffner has received the 'Remembrance and Future' Award at goEast Film Festival in Wiesbaden. The film, which was shown in this year's Forum program, reconstructs the circumstances which led to the death of Grigore Velcu and Eudache Calderar in a field near the German-Polish border in 1992, which have not been clarified until today. According to official reports, they were victims of a hunting accident, a tragic mix-up over wild boar. The hunters were never convicted, as the protracted trial failed to pursue many of the most decisive questions and eventually ended in an acquittal. Nearly 20 years later, Philip Scheffner carries out the painstaking investigation that never took place back then. He seeks out the dead men’s relatives in Romania and records the statements they were unable to give until now. As with the other witnesses and different experts he returns to question, he gives them the opportunity to listen to their own statements and reassess them as necessary – unlike standard practice, which elevates statements to fact the very moment they are made. In this way, Scheffner performs a cinematic revision of the case and the medium simultaneously. His diligent handling of material and reports creates a web of landscapes, recollections, case files and German political sentiment all of an increasingly oppressive complexity.

TEPENIN ARDI (BEYOND THE HILL) by Emin Alper has received several awards at the Istanbul International Film Festival: in addition to the "Golden Tulip" for best Turkish film, the film was given the award for best screenplay as well as the FIPRESCI award in the national competition.

BEYOND THE HILL had its world premiere at this year's Forum where it had received the Caligari award and a special mention of the First Feature Award Jury.

arsenal distribution will be releasing KABUL DREAM FACTORY, which was shown in the 2011 Forum, on 19 April. Sebastian Heidinger's second feature length documentary portrays a protagonist who is surprising in many ways: Saba Sahar has been a policewoman for 18 years in Kabul. As a representative of the state executive, but also a filmmaker, the central theme of her work is the everyday violence against Afghan women. She stands up for her cause with impressive matter-of-factness, even though in doing so she openly contradicts Afghan family law. Sahar’s great strength is her unshakeable passion for her shattered country: in a place where women’s rights are trampled underfoot she uses film as a weapon for hitting back. Traumfabrik Kabul takes an unusual look at a setting that is a reliable guarantee for sad news. In its encounters with Sahar, but also in entertaining clips from her work this documentary gives encouragement with its refreshingly different approach. One of her films shows a superheroine rescuing a woman from the clutches of her male adversary using martial arts techniques. Saba Sahar is no superheroine in real life – but she is a heroine who gives hope.

HABITER / CONSTRUIRE (LIVING / BUILDING) by Clémence Ancelin and AUTREMENT, LA MOLUSSIE (DIFFERENTLY, MOLUSSIA) by Nicolas Rey have been awarded at the International Documentary Film Festival Cinéma du Réel. HABITER / CONSTRUIRE from this year's Forum program received the 'Intangible Heritage Award'; AUTREMENT, LA MOLUSSIE, which was shown as part of Forum Expanded, was awarded the 'Cinéma du Réel Grand Prix'.

A selection of films from this and last year's Forum program will be presented in Paris and Brussels by Birgit Kohler in April. The program running at the Goethe Institute in Paris from April 12-19 will be opening with NEGOTIATING LOVE (BEZIEHUNGSWEISEN) (Germany 2012) followed by a discussion with Birgit Kohler and director Calle Overweg. In the following days Volker Sattel's UNDER CONTROL (UNTER KONTROLLE) (Germany 2011, followed by a discussion with Birgit Kohler and the director), DAY IS DONE by Thomas Imbach (Switzerland 2011), KAZOKU NO KUNI (OUR HOMELAND) by Yang Yonghi (Japan 2012), David Zellner's KID-THING (USA 2012), LA DEMORA (THE DELAY by Rodrigo Plá (Uruguay/Mexico/France 2012) and PAZIRAIE SADEH (MODEST RECEPTION) by Mani Haghighi (Iran 2012) can be seen. In addition, a small program showcasing the work of Heinz Emigholz will be presented with the artist and filmmaker being present at all events.

The Goethe Institute in Brussels will be showing four films from this year's Forum program between April 17 and 25: NEGOTIATING LOVE and KID-THING (presented by Birgit Kohler), MODEST RECEPTION and JAURÈS by Vincent Dieutre (France 2012).

"Dreileben" by Dominik Graf, Christian Petzold and Christoph Hochhäusler has received a special Grimme Award. The project which had its world premiere in last year's Forum program began with an email correpondence on the subjects of film aesthetics, the Berlin School, Germany and the film genre (published in film magazine "Revolver"). Two years later the three directors decided to continue this theoretical discussion with a joint film project: three individual stories revolving around the same "fait divers": the escape of a convicted criminal from police custody. Graf’s DON'T FOLLOW ME AROUND tells the story of a police psychologist who meets old acquaintances while investigating a case. In Petzold’s BEATS BEING DEAD a young man doing alternative national service experiences a love story without a future. And in Christoph Hochhäusler’s ONE MINUTE OF DARKNESS an indefatigable policeman hunting the escaped prisoner begins to doubt false certainties. Three films, three styles, three exciting approaches, variations, analyses. German television stations made this all possible. As Dominik Graf wrote: "… this work vis-à-vis mainstream TV, at its edges, in contradiction to and yet, whether voluntarily or involuntarily, in commentary on that mainstream – I find and have always found this to be extremely creative."

So Yong Kim’s TREELESS MOUNTAIN is starting in selected cinemas on March 1. The film, which was shown in the 2009 Forum and has played successfully at many international festivals since, is being distributed by arsenal distribution. So Yong Kim's second feature length film (her third, FOR ELLEN, was shown in this year's Forum program) tells of Jin, a bright-eyed six-year-old, who lives with her mother and little sister, Bin, in Seoul, South Korea. When their mother decides to go look for their estranged father, Jin and Bin are forced to stay with their alcoholic Aunt for the summer. The girls are given a piggy bank with a promise from their mother that she will return when it is full. After their mother fails to return, Jin and her sister are forced to move to their grandparents. It is through this journey that Jin comes to learn the importance of family bonds.

As every year, the Arsenal Cinema will be screening a selection of this year's Forum titles over the coming week: BESTIAIRE by Denis Côté, SOLDIER / CITIZEN by Silvina Landsmann, WINTER NOMADS by Manuel von Stürler, NEGOTIATING LOVE by Calle Overweg, OUR HOMELAND by Yang Yonghi and GOLDEN SLUMBERS by Davy Chou. In addition, there will be another chance to see the three films by director Kawashima Yuzo, whose work is largely unknown outside Japan, in the form of THE SUN IN THE LAST DAYS OF THE SHOGUNATE, SUZAKI PARADISE: RED LIGHT and BETWEEN YESTERDAY AND TOMORROW. Shirley Clarke's THE CONNECTION and ORNETTE: MADE IN AMERICA can also be seen once again. The newly restored prints have also been added to our distribution range.

This year's Caligari Prize goes to TEPENIN ARDI (BEYOND THE HILL) by Emin Alper which also received a Special Mention by the Best First Feature Award Jury at the official Awards Ceremony of the 62nd International Film Festival. The Caligari Jury gave Special Mentions to the documentaries BAGRUT LOCHAMIM (SOLDIER / CITIZEN) by Silvina Landsmann and ESCUELA NORMAL by Celina Murga, as well as to "the most challenging film in this year's Forum programme": JAURÈS by Vincent Dieutre.

The independent juries of the Berlinale have awarded prizes to three Forum films: The 22nd NETPAC Award (Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema) was given to PAZIRAIE SADEH (MODEST RECEPTION) by Iranian director Mani Haghighi. LA DEMORA (THE DELAY) by Rodrigo Plá received the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury as well as the Tagesspiegel Readers' Jury Award. And the Award of the Conféderation Internationale des Cinémas D'Art et Essai (C.I.C.A.E.) was given to KAZOKU NO KUNI (OUR HOMELAND) by Yang Yonghi.

The Special Award of this year's TEDDY Jury goes to JAURÈS by Vincent Dieutre. The jury members were Joako Ezpeleta, Joao Federici, Shannon Kelley, Nhlanhla Nadja, Alessandro Rais, Magali Simard, Bielke Tas, Monika Visniarová und Yang Yang.

The prize of the Internatioanl Federation of Film Critics for a film in the Forum's programme goes to HEMEL by Sacha Polak. This year's jury was made up of Scott Foundas, Essam Zakarea, Zsolt Gyenge, Nils Olav Saeveras, Youngmee Hwang, Claudia Lenssen, Beat Glur, Meenakshi Shedde and Bettina Schuler.

As a fitting conclusion to this year's Forum Expanded Avi Mograbi will be presenting "At the Back/The Details", a program consisting of a video performance and live music at HAU2 on February 18. With "At the Back or Through the Looking Glass and What Mrs. Mograbi Found There" a live music score by Noam Enbar, Adam Sheflan, Ariel Armoni and Yoni Silver to lyrics by Lewis Carroll will be played to a video by Avi Mograbi, in which his former wife is a spectator spectated, wandering in an easily recognizable foreign land of wonders. "The Details" a live four-screen video composition by Avi Mograbi, containing a series of scenes from and concerning the Palestinian territories occupied by Israel in 1967, screened simultaneously on four screens. Mostly scenes that were shot for and used in previous films by Avi Mograbi are presented here to create a non-linear parrallel chaotic space, a disturbing representation of the filmmaker’s view of the reality in the Occupied Territories and of the act of documenting it.

As in previous years, the Berlinale is presenting selected films in cinemas across town. Forum films that can be seen are PAZIRAIE SADEH (MODEST RECEPTION) on February 13 at Passage Neukölln (6.30 pm) and PŘÍLIŠ MLADÁ NOC (A NIGHT TOO YOUNG) on February 14 at 9.30 at Bundesplatz-Kino. Olmo Olmerzu's debut feature tells of two barely adolescent boys who take their first glimpse at the confusing sexual dynamics of the adult world when becoming the unexpected guests at a strangely charged New Year’s day party. In MODEST RECEPTION a rich couple finds the task of distributing bags of money to the allegedly needy surprisingly difficult. Their plan quickly enters the realm of the absurd, developing into a parable about debasement, morality and false charity.

As an introduction to the oeuvre of legendary American director Shirley Clarke we are presenting restored prints of THE CONNECTION and ORNETTE: MADE IN AMERICA , with a discussion with film restoration expert Dennis Doros providing some additional context. THE CONNECTION (1961), Clarkes first film which could be seen as part of a jazz film series in the 1985 Forum programme, has entered into the annals of film history as both a milestone of cinema vérité and a jazz musical. (11.2. & 17.2.) In her final Film ORNETTE: MADE IN AMERICA Clarke creates a portrait of legendary jazz saxophonist Ornette Coleman by way of different performances of his piece 'Skies of America' in various international locations.(12.2. & 18.2.) In addition, film restoration expert Dennis Doros will give a talk on restoring Shirley Clarke's PORTRAIT OF JASON. ("Where is Shirley, 13.2.)

To follow the world premiere of Heinz Emigholz's architecture film PARABETON – PIER LUIGI NERVI AND ROMAN CONCRETE, a panel of eminent personalities will be discussing Emigholz’s work at the newly re-opened Haus der Berliner Festspiele. Architect Arno Brandlhuber, film scholar Prof. Gertrud Koch and curator Anselm Franke will be in conversation with director Heinz Emigholz following the screening of the film, with Hanns Zischler chairing the discussion. Heinz Emigholz has been working on the "Architecture as Autobiography" series since 1993, recounting the biographies of individual architects by means of their buildings and creating a diary of his own cinematic approach to these spaces. The third autobiography in the series deals with modern architecture. PARABETON explores Italian architect Pier Luigi Nervi’s work and relates it to the great Roman concrete buildings from the start of the Common Era. "By going back to the Roman origins of the constructional core of modernism PARABETON will form the finale of my film series Architecture as Autobiography." (Heinz Emigholz)

Several events at this year's Forum Expanded are linked to the Living Archive project such as presentations by project participants and panel discussions on archival politics. "Möglichkeitsraum IV - Access: Diamond, Enter, Fin... Archival Viewing Acts (Speculations on the Invention and Emergence of New Subject Constellations in Cinema)" on February 10 is a performative archival screening by project participants Angela Melitopoulos and Constanze Ruhm, in which film clips from the Forum program in 1972 are shown in a performative act of assembly as a public process of viewing. On February 14, Harun Farocki will be holding a film lecture following the screening of LA VERIFICA INCERTA (Gianfranco Baruchello/Alberto Grifi, Italien 1965, 16mm, 31 min) at HAU2, and Avi Mograbi will be presenting "At the Back/The Details" - a program consisting of a video performance and live music at HAU2 on February 18. Two panel discussions will take place at the Filmhaus: "Cairo: the City, the Images, the Archives" chaired by Marcel Schwierin on February 11, and "Programming the Archive" on February 12, chaired by Stefanie Schulte Strathaus.

The Best First Feature Award was set up by the Berlinale in 2006 in order to promote new filmmaking talent. Nine films from the Forum program have been nominated for this year’s prize: ANG BABAE SA SEPTIC TANK (THE WOMAN IN THE SEPTIC TANK) by Marlon N. Rivera, Philippines, FRANCINE by Brian M. Cassidy and Melanie Shatzky, USA/Canada, HEMEL by Sacha Polak, The Netherlands/Spain, KASHI (CHOKED) by Joong-Hyun Kim, Republic of Korea, KOI NI ITARU YAMAI (THE END OF PUBERTY) by Kimura Shoko, Japan, PŘÍLIŠ MLADÁ NOC (A NIGHT TOO YOUNG) by Olmo Omerzu, Czech Republic/Slovenia, SALSIPUEDES by Mariano Luque, Argentina, SLEEPLESS KNIGHTS by Stefan Butzmüheln and Cristina Diz, Deutschland and TEPENIN ARDI (BEYOND THE HILL) by Emin Alper, Turkey/Greece.

With the addition of a series of Special Screenings to the titles already announced, the programme of the Berlinale Forum is now complete. In the documentary LAWINEN DER ERINNERUNG, Dominik Graf, one of Germany’s most influential film and television directors, puts together a portrait of another leading television personality in the form of author, director and producer Oliver Storz. In the process, his film also contributes to German television history and German history in general. The documentary project IN ARBEIT / EN CONSTRUCTION / W TOKU / LAVORI IN CORSO (IN THE WORKS) by Minze Tummescheit and Arne Hector is structured according to the principle of the chain interview, with the first interview partner leading the film team on to the second and so on. What all of their number have in common are the cooperative structures in which they work. Yet the most important question they debate is that of their own legitimacy: does it make sense or is it even possible to position oneself outside of industrial progress, the public arena of politics or the global market? Revivals and “unearthings” of seldom seen works also have a firm place in the Forum programme. Films by Tom Kalin, Kawashima Yuzo continue this tradition. The rediscovery of the Cambodian cinema of the 1960s and early 70s has been a true adventure.

In addition to the exhibitions at the Kunstsaele Berlin (Critique and Clinic) at Gutschow-Haus and the various events to be held at HAU, Forum Expanded will also be presenting ten film programmes at the Arsenal and Delphi cinemas. The programme is open for a wide range of different lengths and formats, with the works presented trying out individual forms of expression in experimental fashion in order to create new, critical perspectives on the world. Perhaps the most radical of these attempts is WHITEONWHITE:ALGORITHMICNOIR by Eve Sussman/Rufus Corporation, a film edited live in real time which shows a man under surveillance in a fictional East European city. Put together newly and differently at each showing, we will be presenting the film daily at Arsenal 2.

Many of the other works explore the ways in which they have been pre-fashioned by figures and ghosts from the past.

Differing life plans, generational conflicts and the ambivalence of so-called progress are at the centre of numerous films in the 2012 Forum programme. As such, Ann-Kristin Reyels’ film FORMENTERA follows a young couple on holiday who run into the ’68 ideals of their parents’ generation and come to realise the extent to which their own ideas about life diverge from one another. SLEEPLESS KNIGHTS by Stefan Butzmühlen and Cristina Diz is also set in Spain, telling a story of gay love in the provinces and presenting the co-existence of different generations as an alternative to urban dislocation. BEZIEHUNGSWEISEN (NEGOTIATING LOVE) by Calle Overweg also explores the complicated set of compromises involved with living together on a daily basis, blending documentary means and staging techniques to observe different clients attending couples’ therapy. WHAT IS LOVE by Ruth Mader tackles a similar theme, tracing the various different manifestations of love in five vignettes from the Austrian provinces. Present-day nomads form the focus of two films in this year’s programme: HABITER / CONSTRUIRE (LIVING / BUILDING) by Clémence Ancelin, which documents a road construction project in Chad and the effect it has on the local desert population, and HIVER NOMADE (WINTER NOMADS) by Manuel von Stürler, a portrait of two shepherds in French-speaking Switzerland in the depths of winter. European cinema as a whole is particularly strongly represented in the Forum 2012 programme with additional titles from France, the Netherlands, Sweden, Poland, the Czech Republic, Russia, Romania and Turkey.

For the 6th time, the Berlin daily newspaper "Der Tagesspiegel" is putting together a 9-person Reader’s Jury, which will award a prize to the best film showing in the Forum. Anyone interested in being part of the jury during the Berlinale can apply to the Tagesspiegel until January 26th. Participants should have an interest in independent cinema and enough time between February 9 and 18 to watch the entire Forum program. The jury watches four to five films per days. The winning film will be announced on February 18th and shown again on February 19th in a joint event organized by the Forum and the Tagesspiegel.

AUSENTE from Marco Berger is starting in selected cinemas on January 12. The film which had its world premiere in the 2011 Berlinale Forum where it received the Teddy award for best feature film is about the abuse of an adult by a minor, who is fully aware of his teacher’s delicate position and all too willing to exploit it. Martin finds a whole series of excuses to subtly invade his sport teacher Sebastian’s privacy, ending up spending a night in his apartment. But when Martin’s intentions dawn on him, the teacher has already been compromised. It takes a tragic accident for Sebastian to become aware of his own feelings for Martin. Marco Berger’s original feature film uses the glances exchanged by his protagonists to tell the story. Martin’s unwavering gaze is contradicted by his apologetic body language, which is nevertheless unable to conceal the fact that he wants to breach taboos and move into new territory. Sebastian’s evasive, worried look, on the other hand, reflects the fact that he does not want to see the game that is being played with him.

UTOPIANS by Zbigniew Bzymek is starting in selected cinemas on January 5. The film, which had its world premiere in the 2011 Forum is being distributed by arsenal distribution. It tells the story of three people on the edge: of society, of control, of strength and of collapse. Roger teaches yoga. The relationship with his daughter Zoe, who has just finished her military service, is put under strain by her love for Maya, a young woman who is allegedly a certified schizophrenic. There is tension with the participants of his yoga class when Roger repeatedly comes late and brings along a stray dog. When Roger, Zoe and Maya take on a renovation job on a middle-class home nothing goes to plan and the whole affair is wrought with tension. The different realities that Roger tries to get to grips with, metaphors for Maya’s schizophrenia catch up with him in his yoga class when his belief that "we can make our own time" reaches its limits just as fast as his "feel united with the world around you" notion clashes with social reality. For his feature debut, Zbigniew Bzymek has found a form that is remote from social drama – the outline of a story is sketched in a non-dramatic and non-linear way by scenes that are sometimes separated by fades to black. With an idiosyncratic floating atmosphere and one of the most long-lasting guitar improvisations since "Dead Man."

Forum Expanded 2012 will once again be exploring new forms of artistic, cinematic and political expression. 37 works by artists, filmmakers, theorists and musicians from 20 different countries comprise the compact and focused programme, taking in exhibitions, film programmes, discussions and performances that place an emphasis on aesthetic explorations of the global and individual dimensions of current crises.

The programme explores the extent to which the radical and avant-garde ideas of the past are still relevant today and seeks to redefine the role of contemporary cinema.

Thomas Imbach's DAY IS DONE from this year's Forum program is starting in selected cinemas on December 1, being distributed by arsenal distribution. The film just received the "Zurich Film Award 2011" last week. In the film essay Thomas Imbach observes life unfolding in front of him from the window of his studio over several years, complementing the images with archived answer phone messages from the same period. On the day of the release on December 1 director Thomas Imbach will be our guest at Kino Arsenal. The film will also be playing playing daily at Acud and fsk Kino from December 1.

TERRITOIRE PERDU by Pierre-Yves Vandeweerd is starting in selected cinemas across France next week. The film, which premiered in this year's Forum program, just received the Grand prix at the International Documentary Film Festival in Montréal (RIDM). Earlier this year it had already won the Special Jury Prize at Doclisboa as well as the Grand prix at Jihlava International Documentary Festival. In piercing black and white images shot on 8mm, TERRITOIRE PERDU depicts the plight of the Saharauis in the divided West Sahara, throwing light on a crisis largely neglected by the international community.

Marie Losier's THE BALLAD OF GENESIS AND LADY JAYE which had its world premiere at this year's Berlinale Forum where it received the Caligari as well as a Teddy award will be touring through several German cities from Novemvber 24-29. It is a film about Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, well-known for his work with Throbbing Gristle and Psychic TV, and his life and work partner Lady Jaye. One would expect the film to be about the history of industrial music, about Genesis as a link between the pre- and post-punk era, about the underground scene since the 1970s. And it is, but it tells the story from the perspective of a great romantic love. Genesis and Lady Jaye start to undergo surgical procedures to merge into a third being, a pandrogynous being. Release 24.11. – playing daily in Berlin at Kino Arsenal and fsk. The preview on 23.11. in the presence of the director at Kino Arsenal is supported by the Caligari Award. (English with German subtitles). Distribution in cooperation with Neue Pegasos.

Jan Krüger's LOOKING FOR SIMON is starting in selected cinemas on November 10. The film, which had its world premiere in this year's Forum, is being distributed by Edition Salzgeber. It tells the story of Valerie, who has not been able to get hold of her son in Marseille for some time now. She goes to the French port city and finds an abandoned apartment. She asks Simon’s ex-lover Jens to come too so he can support her quest in the strange city. Why does somebody disappear without a trace? How can somebody one thought one knew so well suddenly become so unknown? And who is Simon really? As it unfolds, Jan Krüger’s film develops into an unconventional psycho-thriller. Each lead that Valerie and Jens pursue comes to nothing. Despite booking a trip, Simon did not go to Morocco; neither of them can explain why he might have bought an expensive yellow sports car. Together they watch vacation videos and other films they find in the apartment. And they come across two people – Simon’s colleague Camille and the mysterious car dealer Jalil – who both evidently had a special relationship with the disappeared Simon. Valerie and Jens begin to question their own relationship with him and consequently themselves. All the participants are thrown off course by the search. And with its particular atmosphere, the French port city plays a very singular role.

Submissions for the 42nd Berlinale Forum can now be made until October 31.

To submit your film online, please go to www.berlinale.de. Please make sure that you read the regulations carefully before submitting your film. The 42nd Berlinale Forum will take place from February 9-19, 2012.

Matt Porterfield’s PUTTY HILL is starting in selected cinemas on September 29. The film, which had its world premiere in the 2010 Forum and has played successfully at many international festivals since, is being distributed by arsenal distribution. The film is set on the day before the funeral of a young man, who died of an overdose, showing his family and friends, who are beginning to get on with their lives again. Observing them in an almost documentary fashion, the film captures a mood and a milieu at the same time. Teenagers that come across as strangely exhausted by the impositions of growing up, only finding freedom in the small patch of green by the river or at the skate-park; adults whose lives are not just marked by tattoos. It is the film's great gentleness that allows both the places and the protagonists to speak for themselves.

Hugo Vieira da Silva's SWANS, which had its world premiere in this year's Forum, is opening in selected cinemas across Germany on July 14. The film's distributor is Edition Salzgeber.

Nanouk Leopold's BROWNIAN MOVEMENT from this year's Forum programme is starting in selected cinemas on June 30. Main actress Sandra Hüller just received a special mention at the Festival des Deutschen Films.

On June 9, Szabolcs Hajdu's BIBLIOTHÈQUE PASCAL from the 2010 Forum is opening in selected cinemas across Germany. The film's distributor is Camino Filmverleih.

Philip Scheffner's DAY OF SPARROW has been awarded the city of Ludwigsburg prize at the 2011 German documentary film awards.

Volker Sattel’s extremely topical film UNTER KONTROLLE is starting on May 26. The film’s distributor, Farbfilm, in conjunction with arsenal distribution, will circulate 25 copies to cinemas across Germany.

This year’s Horizonte Prize (worth 3,000 euros) at DOK.fest Munich went to Marcela Said and Jean de Certeau’s EL MOCITO. The film premiered in this year’s Forum.