By Jessica Herndon
We may have just wrapped an unforgettable 2026 Sundance Film Festival, but the global festival circuit for Sundance Institute–supported cinema is just getting started as the 76th Berlin International Film Festival kicks off today.
Running February 12–22, the 2026 Berlin International Film Festival, also known as the Berlinale, will host premieres and screenings across Berlin, and we’re proud to see 18 projects in this year’s lineup that were championed by the Sundance Institute.
Among the titles showing in Berlin are Beth de Araújo’s Josephine, the winner of both the U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic and the Audience Award: U.S. Dramatic, starring Channing Tatum and Gemma Chan; Jason Osder and William Lafi Youmans’ Who Killed Alex Odeh?, which received the U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Journalistic Excellence; and Aidan Zamiri’s The Moment, starring Charli xcx.
Below, explore the Sundance Institute–supported films screening at Berlinale that premiered at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival, past Fests, or were nurtured through our artist programs, including the Screenwriters and Directors Labs, Catalyst program, and Feature Film and Documentary Film Program.
If you’re in Berlin, consider this your guide for what to add to your screening schedule. And for more on the Sundance Institute programs behind these films, click here.
FEATURES
Barbara Forever — 2026 Sundance Film Festival (winner of the Jonathan Oppenheim Editing Award: U.S. Documentary)
Logline: An archive-driven exploration of the life, work, and legacy of iconic, pioneering lesbian filmmaker Barbara Hammer.
Filipiñana — 2026 Sundance Film Festival (winner of the World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Creative Vision)
Logline: Tee girl Isabel feels strangely drawn to Dr. Palanca, the president of the country club where she works. However, after piecing together a violent picture of what lies beneath the club’s pristine surface, she realizes that what began as an innocent infatuation is actually rooted in a sinister shared history.
Jaripeo — 2026 Sundance Film Festival; Documentary Film Program Grant, Sony Music Vision Initiative, Documentary Edit Residency, 2025 Filmmakers Fund Sponsored by Chase Sapphire Reserve
Logline: A journey to Michoacán’s hypermasculine rodeos descends into the subconscious of memory, queer desire, and longing, leading to a reckoning with the wounds and beauty of a home left behind.
Josephine — 2026 Sundance Film Festival (winner of the U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic award and the Audience Award: U.S. Dramatic); 2018 Screenwriters and Directors Labs, Feature Film Program Grants, 2018 Asian American Feature Film Fellowship, 2024 Project Advancement Fund
Logline: After 8-year-old Josephine accidentally witnesses a crime in Golden Gate Park, she acts out in search of a way to regain control of her safety while adults are helpless to console her.
KOKOMO CITY – 2023 Sundance Film Festival (winner of the Audience Award: NEXT and NEXT Innovator Award)Logline: Four Black transgender sex workers explore the dichotomy between the Black community and themselves, while confronting issues long avoided.
LADY — 2026 Sundance Film Festival (winner of the World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Acting Ensemble); Feature Film Program
Logline: In the sprawling African metropolis of Lagos, a fiercely independent young cab driver meets a band of radiantly reckless sex workers whose sisterhood pulls her into danger and joy, setting her on a journey toward her own transformation.
Party Girl — 1995 Sundance Film Festival
Archival Logline: This improbable tale of a young woman who goes from organizing the most hip and outrageous parties on the New York scene to working in a library is the vehicle for a delightful and often very funny satire on career choices.
Run Lola Run — 1999 Sundance Film Festival (winner of the Audience Award: World Cinema)
Archival Logline: A breathtaking race against the clock, Run Lola Run straps Tykwer’s playfully hip sensibilities to a fun-filled mix of romance, thrills, and action as his tireless heroine pounds the pavement and racks her brain to save her lover from danger.
Saccharine — 2026 Sundance Film Festival
Logline: Hana, a lovelorn medical student, becomes terrorized by a hungry ghost after taking part in an obscure weight loss craze: eating human ashes.
Slacker — 1991 Sundance Film Festival
Synopsis: What would happen if you gathered 100 anonymous people and asked them to help you make a movie about a subculture of directionless drifters and dreamers in your hometown? If you were as inventive as Richard Linklater, the result would be Slacker.
Take Me Home — 2026 Sundance Film Festival (winner of the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award: U.S. Dramatic; Sundance Institute | Amazon MGM Studios Producers Award for Fiction went to Apoorva Guru Charan)
Logline: Anna, a 38-year-old Korean adoptee with a cognitive disability, cares for her aging parents in a fragile balance of meeting one another’s needs. When a Florida heat wave shatters their family and Anna’s routine, her future is uncertain until she creates a world where she can thrive.
The Moment — 2026 Sundance Film Festival
Logline: A rising pop star navigates the complexities of fame and industry pressure while preparing for her arena tour debut.
The Only Living Pickpocket in New York — 2026 Sundance Film Festival
Logline: When a theft goes awry, a veteran pickpocket is sent on a mission through New York to reclaim the stolen goods.
The Story of Documentary Film — 2026 Sundance Film Festival
Logline: Tracing the evolution of documentary film across time, examining landmark works and hidden treasures, while revealing how the form has helped us see and make sense of our world.
The Weight — 2026 Sundance Film Festival
Logline: In Oregon in 1933, Samuel Murphy is torn from his daughter and sent to a brutal work camp. Warden Clancy tempts him with early release if he smuggles gold through deadly wilderness, but betrayal festers within the crew, and Murphy questions how far he’ll go to see his child again.
Who Killed Alex Odeh? — 2026 Sundance Film Festival (winner of the US Documentary Special Jury Award: Journalistic Excellence)
Logline: The assassination of a beloved Palestinian American activist in Southern California ignites a 40-year quest for justice, revealing the roots of a dangerous political movement that thrives today.
Yo (Love is a Rebellious Bird) — Catalyst
Logline: After losing her friend, Anna has spent a decade obsessively building a detailed 1/3-scale version of her house.
SHORT FILM
575 Castro St. — 2009/2026 Sundance Film Festival
Logline: Set to the original audiocassette recorded by Harvey Milk in November 1977 to be played “in the event of my death by assassination.”
