With “Lost in the 90s”, the Retrospective of the 76th Berlin International Film Festival puts the spotlight on one of the most influential decades in recent film history. The end of the Cold War and the opening up of borders triggered a creative surge in cinema in the 1990s – in Berlin and Eastern Europe, but also internationally. Filmmakers from both East and West literally explored new spaces. While the crisis-rattled film industry in Eastern Europe had to adapt to the brave new world of market capitalism, Berlin was gripped by a new sense of freedom. Filmmakers began to discover the other side of the East-West divide and to shoot their films there. Video and Music Television (MTV) conquered the market, the digital revolution – although still in its infancy – began its forward march, and stylistically, anything was possible in the film world.

The Retrospective will look at this epoch in three thematic sections, “Berlin”, “East Meets West”, and “The End of History”, in an attempt to capture the nineties zeitgeist. The first will focus on Berlin films of the 1990s, with films such as Michael Stocks' ‘Prinz in Hölleland’ (Prince in Hell, 1993). The second leitmotif looks at interchange, with cinematic explorations from East and West. While the third focal point, with its title an ironic paraphrase of Francis Fukuyama’s outmoded theory on “The End of History” and the triumph of global market capitalism, encompasses works critical of the system, with the rise of the slacker and other subcultures. US-American cinema in particular produced intense cinematic portraits of Generation X, such as Richard Linklater's ‘Slacker’ (1990), John Singleton's ‘Boyz n the Hood’ (1991) and the films of Todd Solondz.

Heleen Gerritsen studied Slavonic Languages, Eastern European History and Economics in Amsterdam and Russian Philology in Saint Petersburg. While still a student, she worked for international festivals and production companies, including Lenfilm and the international literature festival berlin. After posts in film and television production, including at ARTE, SWR, RBB and SAT.1, she moved on to leading curatorial roles. From 2014 to 2016, she headed the dokumentART – European Documentary Film Festival in Neubrandenburg and, from 2017 to 2025, the goEast – Festival of Central and Eastern European Film at the DFF – Deutsches Filminstitut & Filmmuseum in Wiesbaden. Her main areas of focus are Central and Eastern European cinema, culture(s) of remembrance and immersive narrative formats. Heleen Gerritsen serves on international juries and works as a speaker and presenter around the world.

The 2026 Retrospective will showcase 22 films; the complete program will be published in December 2025. The Kinemathek will also be hosting a series of discussions and networking events at the E-Werk.