Berlinale Talents Festival Returnees 2026: The Alumni with Work in Official Selection

Berlinale Talents alumni are once again leaving a strong imprint on the Berlin International Film Festival. This year, 142 former Talents are represented across 86 films screening throughout the 76th edition of the festival, with alumni contributions reaching every section of the programme.

Their work spans a wide range of fields, from directors and producers to sound designers, editors, actors, and beyond, reflecting the diversity of the Talents community. Notably, five of the films from this year's selection originated as projects developed in our Labs in previous years.

Once again, Berlinale Talents demonstrates its lasting impact as a platform for emerging filmmakers, supporting artistic growth and fostering a community that extends far beyond the programme itself. We are proud to celebrate the achievements of our alumni and invite you to discover this year’s full list of returnees!

Competition

“Yön Lapsi” – writer & director Hanna Bergholm (BT 2012), editor Jussi Rautaniemi (BT 2017)

“Everybody Digs Bill Evans” – composer Roger Goula (BT 2011)

“Nina Roza” – writer & director Genevieve Dulude-de Celles (BT 2016), producer Sarah Mannering (BT 2016 & 2022)

“Rose” – producer Johannes Schubert (BT 2023)

“Dust” – writer & executive producer Angelo Tijssens (BT 2021), co-producer Mikko Mäkelä (BT 2019), co-producer Joanna Szymanska (BT 2011), production designer Stijn Verhoeven (BT 2018)

“Moscas” – writer, director, editor & producer Fernando Eimbcke (BT 2003)

“Queen at Sea” – writer, director, producer & editor Lance Hammer (BT 2004), production designer Soraya Gilanni Viljoen (BT 2016)

“We Are All Strangers” – writer, director & producer Anthony Chen (BT 2012)

“At The Sea” – director & producer Kornél Mundruczó (BT 2004)

“Kurtuluş” – editor Özcan Vardar (BT 2011)

“Rosebush Pruning” – executive producer Guilherme Cezar Coelho (BT 2015)

Perspectives 

“Truly Naked” – co-producer Christophe Bruncher (BT 2003)

“Hangar rojo” – editor Valeria Hernández (BT 2015)

“Filipiñana” – writer, director, editor & producer Rafael Manuel (BT 2022), producer Bianca Balbuena (BT 2012), producer Jeremy Chua (BT 2017), producer Bradley Liew (BT 2015), actor Jorrybell Agoto (BT 2025). This project was developed at our Script Station 2022 by director Rafael Manuel.

“A Prayer for the Dying” – cinematographer Kate McCullough (BT 2006)

“Nosso segredo” – co-producer Julia Alves (BT 2019 & 2025), co-producer Catarina Sousa (BT 2023), cinematographer Wilssa Esser (BT 2019), editor Eva Randolph (BT 2014), sound designer Tiago Bello (BT 2013)

“17” – writer & director Kosara Mitik (BT 2017)

“Chronicles From the Siege” – actor Maria Zreik (BT 2024), actor Samer Bisharat (BT 2023)

“El tren fluvial” – actor Rita Pauls (BT 2024)

“Take Me Home” – producer Apoorva Guru Charan (BT 2023)

“Where to?” – writer & director Assaf Machnes (BT 2015 & 2021), co-producer Luis Singer (BT 2013), producer Dennis Schanz (BT 2014), actor Derya Durmaz (BT 2016). This project was developed at our Script Station 2021 by writer & director Assaf Machnes.

“Der Heimatlose” – writer, director & co-producer Kai Stänicke (BT 2016 & 2022), composer Damian Scholl (BT 202321). This project was developed at our Script Station 2022 by writer & director Kai Stänicke.

Panorama

“Tristan Forever” – writer, director, editor & cinematographer Tobias Nölle (BT 2004)

“Staatsschutz” – writer Claudia Schaefer (BT 2007), cinematographer Lotta Kilian (BT 2014)

“Two Mountains Weighing Down My Chest” – director, writer & cinematographer Viv Li (BT 2021), producer Erik Winkler (BT 2003). This project was developed at our Doc Station 2021 by director Viv Li.

“Jaripeo” – editor Analía Goethals (BT 2022), sound designer Maria Rojas (BT 2023), sound designer Arturo Salazar (BT 2022)

“London” – writer & director Sebastian Brameshuber (BT 2008), producer David Bohun (BT 2011)

“Douglas Gordon by Douglas Gordon” – cinematographer Martin Radich (BT 2003)

“Rumaragasa” – cinematographer Theo Lozada (BT 2019), producer Alemberg Ang (BT 2013 & 2021)

“Narciso” – writer, director & editor Marcelo Martinessi (BT 2013 & 2014), co-producer Julia Murat (BT 2014), co-producer Ico Costa (BT 2014)

“Árru” – producer Elisa Fernanda Pirir (BT 2019)

“Enjoy Your Stay” – composer Mirjam Skal (BT 2021)

“Safe Exit” – co-producer May Odeh (BT 2015)

“The Education of Jane Cumming” – writer & director Sophie Heldman (BT 2003), cinematographer Kate Reid (BT 2009)

“Traces” – editor Nikon Romanchenko (BT 2019), sound designer Mariia Nesterenko (BT 2011)

“El jardín que soñamos” – writer, director & producer Joaquín del Paso (BT 2014), editor Raul Barreras (BT 2012)

“Isabel” – writer, director & editor Gabe Klinger (BT 2004)

“Lady” – cinematographer Alana Mejia Gonzalez (BT 2019), editor Gareth Scales (BT 2007), co-producer Adé Sultan Sangodoyin (BT 2021)

“Siri Hustvedt - Dance Around The Self” – actor Jules* Elting (BT 2019)

„Se eu fosse vivo... vivia“ – production designer Diogo Hayashi (BT 2017)

„Roya“ – sound designer Tirdaad Shabankareh (BT 2012)

Berlinale Special

“Monster Pabrik Rambut” – writer & director Edwin (BT 2005), co-producer Anthony Chen (BT 2012), co-producer Terutaro Osanai (BT 2024), editor Daniel Hui (BT 2016 & 2017), producer Meiske Taurisia (BT 2008)

“Heysel 85” – composer Anna Katharina Bauer (BT 2023)

“Mint” – composer Patrick Jonsson (BT 2009)

“The Weight” – producer Maximilian Leo (BT 2011 & 2012)

“The Testament of Ann Lee” – producer Viktória Petrányi (BT 2004)

“Un hijo propio” – actor Armando Espitia (BT 2017)

“The Only Living Pickpocket in New York” – production designer Rocio Giminez (BT 2019)

Generation

“The lights, they fall” – co-producer Sophie Ahrens (BT 2023), producer Fabian Altenried (BT 2017), producer Chantal Scheiner (BT 2023)

“Ghost School” – writer, director & producer Seemab Gul (BT 2019), co-producer Dorothe Beinemeier (BT 2006), editor Raluca Petre (BT 2023), composer Anna Bauer (BT 2023), line producer Carol Ann Noronha (BT 2022)

“Black Burns Fast” – cinematographer Pierre De Villiers (BT 2020), producer Cait Pansegrouw (BT 2017)

“A Fabulosa Máquina do Tempo” – writer & editor Daniel Grinspum (BT 2011)

“The Thread” – cinematographer Arseni Khachaturan (BT 2018)

“Tegenwoordig heet iedereen Sorry” – editor Christine Houbiers (BT 2020), composer Freye Arde (BT 2018)

“Lángbogár a zsebemben” – composer Bálint Szabó (BT 2012)

“Not A Hero” – co-producer Fran Borgia (BT 2014)

“Allá en el Cielo” – sound designer Carlos García (BT 2006)

“C’est ma soeur” – editor Amélie Labrèche (BT 2023)

„Chicas Tristes“ – composer Wissam Hojeij (BT 2018), producer Daniel Loustaunau (BT 2019 & 2023)

“Feito Pipa” – cinematographer Luciana Baseggio (BT 2020), producer Karen Castanho (BT 2023), production designer Dayse Barreto (BT 2023)

Forum

“The Valley where LOAB lives” – director, writer & producer Georg Tiller (BT 2015)

“Lust” – producer Poli Angelova (BT 2007), producer Nikolay Todorov (BT 2008 & 2010), sound designer Carlos Garcia (BT 2006)

“Auslandsreise” – cinematographer Jenny Lou Ziegel (BT 2014)

„Chronos – Fluss der Zeit“ – actor Ana Scutelnicu (BT 2019)

“Crocodile” – executive producer Chelsea Winstanley (BT 2008)

“Forest up in the Mountain” – cinematographer Ezequiel Salinas (BT 2019)

„De capul nostru“ – producer Tudor Giurgiu (BT 2003)

“Flying Tigers” – executive producer Meike Martens (BT 2009), producer Alexandra Gerbaulet (BT 2011)

“Everything Else Is Noise” – actor Francisco Barreiro (BT 2012)

“Piedras preciosas” – executive producer Paulo Carneiro (BT 2020 & 2021)

“River Dreams” – writer & director Kristina Mikhailova (BT 2023)

Forum Expanded

“Born of the Yam” – director, cinematographer, composer & producer Lam Li Shuen (BT 2024), cinematographer Lincoln Yeo (BT 2024)

“Floresta Do Fim Do Mundo” – director, writer & producer (casting) Felipe M. Bragança (BT 2017), executive producer Marina Meliande (BT 2015), cinematographer Guilherme Tostes (BT 2024), sound designer Edson Secco (BT 2018)

“Phi Pattana” – director, editor & cinematographer Komtouch Napattaloong (BT 2024)

“Filme Pin” – director, producer, sound designer & production designer Maria Rojas Arias (BT 2020)

“Warnungen an die ferne Zukunft“ – director, editor, producer, sound designer & cinematographer Juliane Jaschnow (BT 2020)

„El León“ – writer, director & producer Diana Bustamante (BT 2019), editor Felipe Guerrero (BT 2004), sound designer Carlos Garcia (BT 2006)

“Narrative” – writer & director Anocha Suwichakornpong (BT 2006), cinematographer Parinee Buthrasri (BT 2022)

Berlinale Shorts

“La hora de irse” – producer Laura Huberman (BT 2023)

“Yuragim” – cinematographer Sasha Kulak (BT 2020)

“Kontrewers” – writer, director, producer & editor Zuza Banasińska (BT 2025) This project was developed at our Short Form Station 2025 by director Zuza Banasińska.

“Les âmes du Fouta” – editor Céline Perréard (BT 2020)

“Graft Versus Host” – editor Mahdokht Mahmoudabadi (BT 2025)

Special Programme: TEDDY 40

“Mondial 2010” – writer, director, editor & producer Roy Dib (BT 2015)

“Una mujer fantástica” – sound designer Tina Laschke (BT 2017)

“Playback. Ensayo de una despedida” – editor Valeria Racioppi (BT 2014)