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The Berlin Film Festival has unveiled the lineup of 20 shorts from 17 countries which will compete for the Golden and Silver Bear awards for short films.

The festival said the films “daringly confront the present and rewrite the past,” while imagining “a new tomorrow” in many different ways. “There is longing to understand and to be understood (running) through the selection,” said the fest.

Among the films selected, some explore colonial history, such as “Motorcyclist’s Happiness Won’t Fit Into His Suit,” “Strange Object,” “One Hundred Steps;” others tackle political violence, such as “International Dawn Chorus Day,” and right-wing terror, like “Your Street.”

“A Love Song in Spanish” and “My Uncle Tudor,” meanwhile, confront trauma within people and their families. “Vadim on a Walk,” “Glittering Barbieblood,” “One Thousand and One Attempts to Be an Ocean” look at society; or “Rehearsal” looks at institutions.

Some of the more philosophical and spiritual films include “Zonder Meer” and “Easter Eggs,” “Young Hearts,” “Day Is Done,” “The Men Who Wait” and “More Happiness,” as well as “A Present Light,” “Blastogenese X,” and “Window.”

“Art, and film in particular, allows us to see the world through different eyes. It helps us to experience reality through someone else’s perception, to rethink it and to find our place within it,” said Anna Henckel-Donnersmarck, head of Berlinale Shorts. “At the same time, it requires a sounding board, an audience, so that what is said can find its echo and continue to reverberate,” added Henckel-Donnersmarck.

An international jury of three will vote for the Golden and Silver Bear awards which will announced during the online Industry Event in early March. The award ceremony will take place in front of a live audience during the Berlinale Summer Special in June.

Here is the lineup of shorts:

“Motorcyclist’s Happiness Won’t Fit Into His Suit,” Gabriel Herrera

“The Men Who Wait,” Truong Minh Quý

“Blastogenese X,” Conrad Veit, Charlotte Maria Kätzl

“Your Street,” Güzin Kar

“Easter Eggs,” Nicolas Keppens

“Glittering Barbieblood,” Ulu Braun

“International Dawn Chorus Day,” John Greyson

“A Love Song in Spanish,” Ana Elena Tejera

“A Present Light,” Diogo Costa Amarante

“More Happiness,” Livia Huang

“My Uncle Tudor,” Olga Lucovnicova

“One Hundred Steps,” Bárbara Wagner, Benjamin de Burca

“One Thousand and One Attempts to Be an Ocean,” Wang Yuyan

“Rehearsal,” Michael Omonua

“Young Hearts,” Émilie Vandenameele

“Strange Object,” Miranda Pennell

“Vadim on a Walk,” Sasha Svirsky

“Window,” by Edgar Jorge Baralt

“Day Is Done,” Zhang Dalei

“Zonder Meer,” Meltse Van Coillie