Berlinale 26

Around Paradise is a film of opposites and extremes, of myths, legends and beliefs. Set in a poor region of Paraguay, it is also a film about neo-colonialism, as practised by “settlers” from around the world [many of whom are German]. Meanwhile, locals such as students Will and Yoha are trying to eke out a living. “We were actually there to listen and to explore," director Lokshina tells BDE. "This is how we work in general... we are genuinely interested in understanding the dynamics of the places we are spending time in, getting an idea of what's driving the people who we interact with.”

The first documentary ever to open Berlinale’s Generation Kplus section, Brazilian Eliza Capai’s delightful feature engages the talents of a group of young girls to examine the business of…well, being young girls. As well as some other big topics, such as death and religion and their future lives. “I felt it was really powerful, because when we laugh about these topics in this crazy world, we are able to think about these topics,” Capai tells BDE of her experience with the girls. “We were able to create empathy.”

A deep dive into the wild and woolly filmmaking world of The Critics - a group of young would-be filmmakers working in a rough neighbourhood in the Nigerian city of Kaduna, also known as Crocodile City - Crocodile is a remarkable examination and celebration of a collective whose super low-budget sci-fi romps act both as a celebration of the films they love and the world they look to escape from.

The film, directed by Kristina Mikhailova, will have its world premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival in the Forum Special section. River Dreams marks a historic milestone as the first documentary from Kazakhstan ever selected for Berlin. “My film is a love-hate letter to Kazakhstan, told through a female gaze, already an act of resistance where I come from,” says director Mikhailova. (See exclusive first look at the film’s official poster.)

At EFM 2026, a packed Café Connect saw a revealing conversation between German filmmaker Andres Veiel and Deadline’s Matt Carey. The 30-minute discussion, held on 17 February, ranged from Veiel’s latest feature Riefenstahl to questions of archival ethics, documentary responsibility and the renewed relevance of historical material in a tense global political climate.

On February 16, EFM hosted a candid roundtable that examined gaps and opportunities in international documentary co-production between Germany and Morocco. The Moroccan–German Non-Fiction Assembly, organised within the DocSalon strand in partnership with Morocco’s Cinematographic Centre (CCM) and FIDADOC Agadir, brought together producers, broadcasters, festival programmers and filmmakers to explore how ties between the two industries might be strengthened in practical terms.

Indian filmmaker Madhusree Dutta could not understand why her mother, who died of Alzheimer’s in 2015, would talk so much about tigers, even though she had never mentioned seeing one before her illness. But after hearing the story of the eponymous US Flying Tiger planes that were operational in the Himalayas during WW2, things began to fall into place for Dutta, at which point she was inspired to embark on a genre-defying study of memory, war and infrastructure. Dutta discusses her new film with BDE.

Organisers of the 76th Berlinale announced January 14 the complete list of doc titles in its Panorama and Generation sections, and titles so far selected for Berlinale Special. Eleven docs are selected for Panorama, and four in the various Generation sub-sections, while six doc features and series are so far slated for Special. The upcoming Berlinale will run February 12 to 22.

A gently complex, yet resolutely compassionate film, and one that is neither fully documentary nor fully fiction, Maite Alberdi’s A Child of My Own (Un hijo propio) shines the spotlight both on the maternal impulse, as well as the social and familial pressures and expectations that come to dominate a Mexican woman’s life.

BFI (British Film Institute) announced February 16 tat it will continue to prioritise dedicated support of the UK documentary filmmaking sector, thanks to National Lottery funding. As part of the BFI National Lottery Funding plan 2026-29, Doc Society will receive £7.2m over three years as BFI’s UK-wide delegate partner to distribute documentary funding across features, immersive, shorts and support talent development - an uplift of 20% from the previous three-year period.