FOOD & FOOTAGE: Berlin x Chengdu - A Sichuanationship

In the organizer's words:

At Food & Footage, filmmakers meet chefs to combine moving images with a menu specially tailored to the film program - bringing current social, cultural and political issues to the table.

For the fourth time, Berlin x Chengdu returns as a popular summer format: an evening that celebrates the creative energies, cultural resonances and warmth of two cities. This year's short film program builds a bridge between Chengdu's experimental film scene and a Berlin audience - with stories about queer identities, intergenerational relationships, imagined affiliations and fleeting encounters in urban space. Four independently produced films provide a polyphonic, personal insight into a contemporary China beyond common narratives. The program is accompanied by tea tasting, street food and music - an evening to watch, eat, share and connect.

Run! Dorothy! Run!
桃乐丝快跑！
Jinghao Shen
35'09''
China, 2023
Chinese with English subtitles

A queer re-imagining of the classic film The Wizard of Oz, inspired by Judy Garland and Western iconography. Through performances, songs and personal reflections, the film explores the construction of queer identity in contemporary China - between cultural appropriation, localization and confusion.

The Friends Zone 交友区域
Zijie Zhou
14'52''
China, 2024
Chinese with English subtitles

Three generations are observed performing their own social rituals in schools, parks and dance halls. The film shows how closeness and belonging are changing in China today - between role play, mediation practices and communal movement.

Walking With Her into the Night 一个散步的夜晚
Hui Shu
30'00''
China, 2023
Sichuan dialect with English subtitles

A man and a woman meet on the street at night. They talk and get closer - as if it were the beginning of something. But they both know: It is their last journey together. A quiet story about parting, closeness and transience.

The Parisian in Bali Village 巴黎人在八里庄
Bingxing Cen
15'00''
China
Mandarin & Sichuan dialect with English subtitles

Li Simiao lives in Chengdu's Bali Zhuang neighborhood and is convinced that she is Parisian - even though she has never been there. A lovingly absurd observation about longings, shifts in identity and urban self-images.