76th Berlinale: shorts Imaginary Numbers and The Weary Hours of Two Lab Assistants on the programme: The fiction short Imaginary Numbers of director and screenwriter Jelica Jerinić and co-screenwriter Aleksandar Marković, co-produced by Eclectica (Tina Tišljar), to have its world premiere in the Generation Kplus competition, while the fiction short The Weary Hours of Two Lab Assistants directed by Burak Çevik, with Croatian co-producers Vanja Vascarac (Vertigo) and Stjepan Hundić (Robot 22), will premiere in the Forum Expanded section. In addition, Maja Holek (Velebit Cinema) will appear as a member of the Europa Cinemas Label jury. The Berlinale runs from 12 to 22 February.
The lead in Imaginary Numbers is played by Goran Bogdan, while rest of the Croatian film crew, in addition to co-producer Tina Tišljar, consists of director of photography Tomislav Sutlar, editor Nina Velnić, sound editor Ivan Zelić, and colourist Filip Tot.
The short follows Mirna and her father who take the bus from their village to the city of Niš for her to participate in the national mathematics competition. It is a big day: winning an award could gain her a place at a prestigious school and pave the way to a better future.
Imaginary Numbers was produced by Serbian company This and That Productions, while the producers on the project are Dragana Antić Gaši and Snežana van Houwelingen. It was also co-produced by the Croatian company Eclectica, with Tina Tišljar as the co-producer. The film was created with the support of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Serbia, the Film Center Serbia, the Croatian Audiovisual Centre, and the Creative Europe MEDIA sub-programme.
The short will appear in the Generation KPlus competition, dedicated to exceptional films from all corners of the world about the youth and for the youth, which is divided into two sub-programmes – 14plus (for young people) and Kplus (for kids), featuring Jelica Jerinić’s film.
Also representing Croatian filmmaking at Berlinale will be companies Vertigo and Robot 22, co-production partners on the Turkish fiction short The Weary Hours of Two Lab Assistants directed by Burak Çevik. The film will premiere in the Forum Expanded section. Croatian co-producers attached are Vanja Vascarac (Vertigo) and Stjepan Hundić (Robot 22).
Late at night, two lab assistants studying an unknown substance use precise machinery and procedures in the pursuit of knowledge. As exhaustion sets in, one of the assistants brews Turkish coffee for the other, and the night takes a different turn. As they shifting from scientific rigour to reading coffee fortunes, their scientific gaze gives way to intuition. Moving from analysis to foresight, the two women imagine another way of knowing, a space where rational inquiry and intuitive perception can coexist.
The film is a co-production of Turkey, Germany, United Kingdom, and Croatia. The director of photography is Gregory Oke, who also shot the multi-award-winning feature Aftersun, which won the Camera d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival.
The Weary Hours of Two Lab Assistants was created as a proof of concept of the director’s upcoming full-length feature All the Tired Horses, which is being made as a Turkish-Croatian co-production, starring Merve Dizdar, winner of the Palme d’Or for Best Actress in Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s feature About Dry Grasses.
In addition, Croatia is also represented at the Berlinale by Maja Holek, managing director of the Open University of Koprivnica and Velebit Cinema, and a member of the Europa Cinemas Label jury.
Four representatives of cinemas from Croatia, Estonia, Finland, and Germany will sit on the Europa Cinemas Label jury, which will award one of the ten films screening in the Panorama section of the 76th Berlinale International Film Festival.
Since 2003, the Europa Cinemas Label has been awarded to a European film by a jury of Europa Cinemas exhibitors at five European festivals: Panorama (Berlinale), Directors’ Fortnight (Cannes Film Festival), Proxima and Crystal Globe Competition (Karlovy-Vary International Film Festival), International competition, and the Cineasti del Presente section (Locarno Film Festival) and Giornate degli Autori (Venice Film Festival). The Europa Cinemas Label aims to elevate the promotion, circulation, and exhibition lifespan of these winning titles.
The jury members include: Maja Holek (Velebit Cinema, Koprivnica, Croatia), Kristiina Saar (Tartu Elektriteater, Tartu, Estonia), Minna Nurmi (Cinema Orion, Helsinki, Finland) and Ute Mader (Kommunales Kino Leverkusen, Leverkusen, Germany).
Maja Holek is the managing director of the Open University of Koprivnica, where she oversees a wide range of educational, filmmaking and community programmes. Along with this role, she is in charge of the programming at Cinema Velebit, with a strong focus on European films in recent years. Trained as a French and Croatian teacher, she brings pedagogical expertise and a earnest commitment to cultural accessibility, audience development, and lifelong learning. Her work focuses on film education, inclusive cinema practices, adult education, and the development of strategic cultural and educational partnerships at local and international levels. In 2024, she was a member of the jury at the Pula Film Festival awarding the Croatian Independent Cinema Network prize.
The Europa Cinemas Label Award ceremony will take place in Berlin, on Saturday, 21 February, at noon, as part of the official awards ceremony of the Independent Juries.
This year’s 76th Berlinale takes place from 12 to 22 February, launching with the screening of No Good Men, the world premiere of the third feature by the award-winning director Shahrbanoo Sadat.
