Revisiting the Best of Berlinale: 4 Must-Watch International Underdogs
The 76th Berlin International Film Festival is just around the corner, running from February 12 to 22, 2026. As one of the most prestigious events in the cinematic calendar, the Berlinale is celebrated for its bold and diverse storytelling.
In honor of the upcoming festival, CinemaWorld is spotlighting four extraordinary films that have previously graced the screen at Berlinale—from the exciting, youth-minded Generation section to the boundary-pushing Panorama.
Winners (2024)
For filmmaker Soleen Yusef, who is of Kurdish origin, Winners is a deeply personal project. Based on her own story of moving to Berlin as a child, the film follows 11-year-old Mona, a Syrian refugee navigating the chaotic energy of a primary school in Berlin-Wedding. While Mona struggles with the language, she finds her voice through football.
Recognized as a Berlinale Generation Kplus Best Film Nominee, it’s a refreshing look at what it means to be an outsider through a young girl’s search for belonging. With a hopeful twist, Winners also proves that when diverse voices play together, they become unstoppable. Beyond its festival success, it also won the Outstanding Children or Youth Film (Film Award in Gold) at the 2024 German Film Awards.
Until Tomorrow (2022)
Nominated for the Panorama Audience Award (2022) at the 2023 Berlinale, Ali Asgari’s Until Tomorrow is a heart-stopping drama that exposes the hidden fractures of modern Tehran. The story follows Fereshteh, a young single mother who must hide her illegitimate baby for one night when her parents arrive for a surprise visit.
As Fereshteh and her friend Atefeh traverse the city, they carry a bag of essentials like refugees in their own home, searching for anyone willing to take the baby in. It is a desperate search for refuge where Fereshteh is met with indifference and suspicion. As CinemaWorld’s own film critic Ivan Chin writes, “Fereshteh’s iron facade does break, and it’s only then that we see the girl that hides within the mother.” (Read the full film review here.)
Pari (2020)
Making its World Premiere in the 70th Berlinale Panorama (2020), Pari is a suspenseful journey of an Iranian mother’s transformation after her son’s disappearance. When Pari and her devout husband arrive in Athens to visit their son, who is in college, they find he has vanished. This sets Pari on a desperate search through the darkest corners of an unfamiliar city and the hidden depths of her own soul.
A “love letter” to his own mother, writer-director Siamak Etemadi takes cues from Greek tragedy and Sufi poetry to turn a missing-person mystery into a portrait of a woman unbowed by fear.
Ricky (2009)
A prestigious Golden Berlin Bear Nominee (2009), François Ozon’s Ricky tells an absurd and magical story about an ordinary couple, Katie and Paco, who have an extraordinary baby—a baby with wings.
Starring Sergi López, known for his masterful range in films like Guillermo del Toro’s Oscar-winning Pan’s Labyrinth, Ricky blends kitchen-sink drama with comedy and the grotesque, making for a genre-bending fantasy that unfolds on screen.
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