With the support of the Romanian Cultural Institute “Titu Maiorescu” in Berlin, Romanian teams participate in the competitive programmes and reference sections of the festival, strengthening the visibility of Romanian film in the world. Romanian films will be screened in five sections of the festival: Berlinale Shorts, Forum, Generation Kplus, Berlinale Special (Berlinale Co-Pro Series 2026) and Retrospective.
In the Berlinale Shorts competition, Romania is represented by Shot Reverse Shot / Plan Contraplan by Radu Jude and Adrian Cioflâncă, a documentary that juxtaposes photographs taken by American journalist Edward Serotta in communist Romania with clandestine images of the Securitate, offering a surprising perspective on history. Also in this section, the French/Romanian/Lebanon coproduction Someday, a Child / Yawman ma walad by Marie-Rose Osta explores the story of a boy with supernatural gifts who lives under the daily threat of conflict in a Lebanese village.
The feature film On Our Own / De capul nostru directed by Tudor Cristian Jurgiu was selected in the Forum section of the Berlin International Film Festival, a feature film focusing on the emotional isolation of a teenage girl who tries to create a surrogate family for two runaway children.
In the Generation Kplus section, the film Atlas of the Universe / Atlasul Universului by Paul Negoescu was selected, a Romanian/Bulgarian coproduction that follows the journey of a ten-year-old boy in search of his lost left shoe, offering young audiences a story about courage, friendship and self-discovery. The film team will be represented at the Berlinale by producers Irina Enea and Adriana Bumbeș, who will also participate in KIDS Regio – Berlinale Meeting Point 2026, an event within the coproduction market, with the children’s feature film project Danger / Kid Hazard, an adventure production with a remarkable international track record, selected in multiple international forums and festivals.
As part of the Berlinale Co-Pro Series 2026, ICR Berlin supports the participation of producer Anda Ionescu and director and screenwriter Cristina Groșan, with the TV mini-series in development Angelmaker.
The Festival retrospective includes Videogramme einer Revolution / Videogramele unei Revolutii by Harun Farocki and Andrei Ujică, a historical documentary based on the archives of the 1989 Romanian Revolution, and the Berlinale Special Gala presents Heysel 85 by Teodora Ana Mihai, a film about the tragedy at the Heysel stadium and the complexity of human responsibilities in the face of catastrophe.
In parallel with the festival, the ICR Berlin is developing the Playlab initiative, an experimental platform dedicated to interdisciplinary dialogue and the promotion of young Romanian creators. The Playlab #2 edition – Love, Fear, and Other Rituals. Romanian Film & Art Lounge Berlinale 2026 (February 17 – March 6, 2026) transforms the ICR Berlin Gallery into a space for meeting and reflection for filmmakers, visual artists, students, curators and the general public. During the event, visitors will be able to discover Romanian student short films and contemporary visual art projects that explore themes such as love, fear and current rituals. Playlab #2 thus asserts itself as a temporary cultural hub, strengthening Romania's presence in the international context and creating opportunities for dialogue and exchange of ideas between professionals and the public.
