Football and Film: A Creative Collaboration for the Berlinale and the UEFA EURO 2024
The Berlinale has announced its involvement in the cultural programme for the 2024 European Football Championship, which will take place in Germany. The festival will present Berlinale Meets Fußball, a film project that engages young football enthusiasts from various clubs across the country. They will star in short documentary films that will be produced by students of the University of Television and Film (HFF) in Munich, with the artistic guidance of Benedetta Films. The films will show the diversity, sustainability and inclusion that characterise football’s identity.
The short films will be shown as a compilation film at the Berlinale Special section of the festival in February 2024, at the Haus der Berliner Festspiele (HBFS). The young people who participated in the project will be invited to the Berlinale to attend the film premiere and join workshops on the socio-political aspects of football and film-related topics. They will also have mentors from the film industry who will discuss the films with them and support them. After the Berlinale, the compilation film will travel to the cinemas in the respective home towns of the participating clubs.
The Berlinale directors Mariëtte Rissenbeek and Carlo Chatrian expressed their enthusiasm for the project, saying that football and cinema are both community games that foster team spirit, exchange, understanding and social cohesion. They also said that Berlinale Meets Fußball is a project by and with young people, who will have the opportunity to express their creativity and learn from each other.
The patrons of Berlinale Meets Fußball are UEFA EURO 2024 tournament director Philipp Lahm and UEFA EURO 2024 ambassador and DFB vice-president Celia Šašić. They praised the project for its focus on participation, togetherness, diversity and inclusion, and said that it reflects the values and goals of UEFA EURO 2024 in Germany. They also said that the project will send a clear message: Togetherness makes us stronger!
The Berlinale has selected eleven clubs with very diverse backgrounds for Berlinale Meets Fußball, in cooperation with the Philipp Lahm-Stiftung and Benedetta Films. The clubs are located all over Germany, play in different age groups, and have different perspectives. The clubs are:
- Türkiyemspor Berlin 1978 e.V. – Females under 17s
- FC Internationale Berlin 1980 e.V. – Females under 13s
- ISC Al Hilal Bonn – Females under 15s
- SG Crostwitz 1981 e.V. – Males under 17s
- Athletic Sonnenberg e.V. – Males under 19s/under 17s
- KS Polonia Hamburg e.V. 1988 – Males under 13s
- SV 67 Weinberg e.V. – Females under 17s
- FC Ingolstadt 04 – Inclusion team (football for the blind)
- FC Español München e.V. – Inclusion team
- TSV Maccabi München e.V. – Males under 17s
- FFC Wacker München 99 e.V. – Females under 15s
The short films were made as part of a seminar at the HFF Munich, where eleven teams of two students (directing and cinematography) researched the associations and made a short film about them.
The Berlinale Meets Fußball project is funded by the Stiftung Fußball & Kultur Euro2024, which supports additional cultural events before and during the European Championship. The Berlinale is one of the partners of the foundation, along with other cultural institutions and organisations.
