Rage Against the Machine

For the 100th anniversary of Fritz Lang’s groundbreaking film ‘Metropolis’ the Retrospective of the 77th Berlin International Film Festival will be dedicated to cinematic visions of the future and of rebellion. The film dystopias hover between post-apocalyptic, cyberpunk, and political allegory, creating alternate worlds in which freedom, identity, and self-determination are subject to re-negotiation. 

Above all, the films tackle issues that are more topical than ever. How do authoritarianism and surveillance work? Are we controlling technology, or is it controlling us? What types of opposition and resistance are available?

The Retrospective films spin that subject matter across a range of focal points – urbanism, artificial intelligence, feminism, and capitalism – much like the Deutsche Kinemathek exhibition “The Metropolis Century – Dystopia and Rebellion” (18 March through 26 September, 2027). 

Rebellion is the leitmotif in all the films: the struggle against machines, systems, and artificial intelligence; the feminist revolt against patriarchal power structures, opposition by individuals and oppressed groups to the state, ideology, and social control.

The Berlinale program includes American blockbusters like Paul Verhoeven’s ‘RoboCop’ (1987) in addition to underground films such as ‘Decoder’ (1984, dir: Muscha) and anime like ‘Metoroporisu’ (2001, dir: Rintaro). Germany’s film legacy is represented with ‘The Last Days of Gomorrah’ (1974) by Helma Sanders-Brahms, alongside international films that focus on viewpoints from society’s margins. One of those is Ngozi Onwurah’s ‘Welcome II the Terrordome’ (1995), the first feature length British film directed by a Black woman, which the Retrospective is screening in a new restoration.

Heleen Gerritsen, Artistic Director of the Deutsche Kinemathek and head of the Retrospective and Berlinale Classics sections, says, “One hundred years after ‘Metropolis’, the focus is on directors who created their own worlds and visions of the future. The aesthetic spectrum is broad, ranging from big-budget mainstream movies to underground films. ‘The Last Days of Gomorrah’, for instance, was shot in shopping malls, and boasts a punk look. I am particularly excited by how the genre allows minorities a chance to develop alternate visions of the future that are critical of existing systems.”

The Retrospective will present some 20 films, the complete run-down will be published in December 2026. The Deutsche Kinemathek in the E-Werk will also be hosting a series of side-bar panel discussions and networking events.