Berlinale 2026: How South Asian films are gaining ground at the festival

In 1998, Tamil manager Mani Ratnam sent his Hindi musical Dil Se… in an “international cut” mentation without the songs to the Berlin International Film Festival. Juror and British professional Derek Malcolm exclaimed, successful mock horror, to the past South Asia programming delegate Meenakshi Shedde that it is the songs that they privation successful Indian cinema, that the opus picturisation sets it apart. In 2000 came Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam. Both these precise mainstream films were shown successful the ‘experimental films’ segment: International Forum of New Cinema. Berlinale began successful 1951, shaped by the authorities of the Cold War and West Berlin’s positioning arsenic a taste outpost of the “free world”. Early editions veered towards Hollywood films. Former curator astatine Berlinale, Dorothee Wenner, told Shedde that “Indian cinema is 1 of the precise fewer cinemas that has successfully resisted Hollywood domination.”

From past to now, South Asia’s autarkic voices person been popping up crossed each sections of the festival. Come February 12, for 10 days, the reddish carpet is acceptable to beryllium rolled out, welcoming the cinema satellite to the 76th Berlin International Film Festival. Among a line-up from astir the satellite is besides a spotlight connected the pulsating and often overlooked narratives of South Asia, including the first-ever Pakistani movie — produced afloat successful its location state — to marque its festival debut successful the Panorama conception this year: Sarmad Khoosat’s Lali.

Festival manager Tricia Tuttle opens the Berlinale with No Good Men, by the superb Afghan filmmaker Shahrbanoo Sadat, who was calved successful Iran and lives successful exile successful Germany. Over a Zoom call, she says, “We are truly arrogant and excited to beryllium opening with the Afghan movie No Good Men. We besides person the archetypal Nepalese filmmaker [Min Bahadur Bham] successful our authoritative jury, on with an Indian filmmaker, festival manager and archivist [Shaunak Sen; Saagar Gupta; and Shivendra Singh Dungarpur respectively]. It shows our involvement successful South Asian cinema. We truly privation to unfastened our perspectives and fortify our networks astatine the festival.” There’s besides Assamese filmmaker Rima Das’s Not a Hero, her 3rd outing astatine the festival. Booker Prize-winning writer Arundhati Roy’s archetypal ever film, In Which Annie Gives It Those Ones (1989), is successful the festival Classics. And determination are 7 Indian Talents this year, among others.

New frontiers

Tuttle, who was the manager of the BFI London and BFI Flare LGBTQ+ Film Festivals, took complaint of Berlinale successful the past edition. She “rebuilt the programme squad to a definite extent” and brought successful the Perspectives first-feature competition. “We’ve ever fixed awards to archetypal features, but I wanted to bring it into a contention truthful that we tin radiance a spotlight connected caller filmmakers and truly foreground 1 of the things that’s precise important and has been important to the Berlinale, which is astir renewal and supporting the adjacent procreation of filmmakers and film-goers,” she says. Tanushree Das and Saumyananda Sahi’s Tillotama Shome-starrer, Baksho Bondi / Shadowbox, was shown successful Perspectives past year.

This year, they received 8,000 submissions. Tuttle adds, “ We privation our programme to beryllium a snapshot of filmmaking from each implicit the world. Our programme of 280 films reflects that diversity. We had 340,000 admissions past year. We are besides 1 of the biggest marketplaces successful the world, with the Berlinale Pro activities and the European Film Market; astir 20,000 professionals are accredited.”

Between 2007 and 2025, 88 Indian films person been showcased astatine Berlinale, with four-five films connected mean each year. In 2025, Berlinale showcased 14 South Asian/diaspora films and Talents, and 19 successful 2024. Last year, Bham’s exquisite Shambhala — made despite Nepal’s meagre resources — became the archetypal South Asian movie successful the Berlinale’s main Competition. It was “a historical milestone and a slap successful the look of Indian cinema (the largest yearly movie shaper successful the region),” quips Shedde, National Award-winning critic, and the erstwhile South Asia programming delegate astatine the festival, who has bowed retired aft 27 years (Programmer-producer Anu Rangachar steps into that role). Delegates enactment pre-selection, bringing movie recommendations from their regions for information to the festival programmers, with whom rests the last selection. The task is to tread the slippery slope of “loving your region’s cinema and perceiving however a Western programmer mightiness spot it.”

An oculus connected South Asia

In 1973, Satyajit Ray’s Ashani Sanket (Distant Thunder) won the Golden Bear, the festival’s apical prize, marking the archetypal (and, truthful far, only) clip an Indian movie bagged this grant astatine Berlin. Filmmaker Wim Wenders — who is the seat of the planetary assemblage this twelvemonth astatine the 76th Berlinale — recalled successful interviews astir gathering with Ray and his interaction connected satellite cinema.

Over the years, South Asian cinema has risen the festival ladder. “We [South Asia] nutrient astir 4,000 diagnostic films a twelvemonth (17,000 full films if you see shorts; with India being the largest contributor). Hollywood makes lone astir 700 features. We marque 8 times arsenic galore films arsenic Hollywood. Furthermore, we marque films successful 55 languages and dialects, which is treble the linguistic diverseness of the full European Union (EU),” says Shedde.

The portion keeps shifting and expanding. There’s nary fixed thought of what South Asia should look similar connected screen. Rangachar, who’s been a MAMI Mumbai Film Festival programmer since 2009, adds, “ The enactment coming retired of South Asia stands enarthrosis to enarthrosis with modern satellite cinema. There is simply a beardown consciousness of authorship, a heavy grounding successful spot and societal world and a increasing comfortableness with divers genres. The themes are often rooted successful lived acquisition and inquire bigger questions astir identity, migration, labour, caste, sex and ecology. What’s breathtaking is however varied the cinematic connection has become. South Asian plurality makes the infinitesimal vital.”

Tuttle has a heavy involvement successful South Asia and travelled to India past year. “Across each of our activities, there’s overmuch much extent and breadth from South Asia represented. The portion is truthful overwhelmingly vast. India, successful particular, has 1 of the astir vibrant film-producing cultures and traditions successful the world,” she says, “As an planetary festival, we tin lone correspond the tiniest glimpse of that for our audiences. Here, I privation determination was much space, but I was truly struck by however divers the filmmaking assemblage is. I loved being determination and I came backmost and raved astir going to Mumbai and past going to Goa to the [IFFI] Film Bazaar. The filmmakers I met are truthful interesting, engaged and creative. There’s a batch of diverseness of style, position and, obviously, language.”

Road up

If South Asia, with one-fourth of the planetary population, stops its governmental infighting and comes unneurotic creatively (aka co-productions) arsenic 1 beardown entity, overmuch similar the EU, it volition person conscionable arsenic galore stories to archer and amusement the West what diverse, inclusive storytelling the processing satellite tin offer. Pakistan’s Cannes-winning and Oscar-shortlisted Saim Sadiq’s Joyland (2022) is an example, for it has been co-produced by Indian-origin Apoorva Guru Charan. The 2023 Berlinale Talent and LA-based producer-screenwriter is simply a Sundance-winning co-producer of Liz Sargent’s engaging Take Me Home [in Perspectives segment], astir an American mates who follow a Korean kid with disabilities.

In India and South Asia, the festival isn’t arsenic fashionable as, say, Cannes. Does a Berlinale premiere bring successful casual distribution? Rangachar says, “I’m gladsome this question comes up, due to the fact that circulation and organisation are inactive wide misunderstood. Distribution doesn’t ever statesman astatine a marketplace oregon a festival premiere. It begins overmuch earlier. One of the structural challenges for South Asian autarkic cinema is the deficiency of a sustained arthouse organisation strategy astatine home. There’s precise small organization enactment and nary accordant theatrical circuit for autarkic films (unlike, say, successful the EU).” She adds that this spread is compounded by the information that OTT platforms successful India are mostly agnostic to festival premieres. “A Berlinale premiere and the EFM enactment champion erstwhile it’s engaged with early, arsenic a abstraction to deepen conversations already underway. Avinash Arun’s Killa, Pushpendra Singh’s The Shepherdess and the Seven Songs, and Shambhala person benefited from that ecosystem. Strong producers are crucial, but filmmakers contiguous request to deliberation beyond completing the movie by engaging with markets aboriginal and knowing however income and visibility work. Rather than seeing Berlinale arsenic an endpoint, it’s much utile to spot it arsenic portion of a longer journey,” Rangachar concludes.