WILD AT HEART: Subversive Reimagining of Cinematic Spaces
Abschnitt Info
The TEDDY’s very DNA is subversive, having consistently positioned itself against dominant norms in cinema, society and the cultural marketplace. As a deliberate countermovement, it forged its own legacy by rejecting market‑driven standards and championing films that pushed beyond the arthouse periphery into the heart of mainstream exhibition spaces. Each year, tens of thousands of viewers enter Berlinale cinemas to watch queer films drawn from every section of the festival, venues not historically associated with queer culture, but architecturally designed for mass audiences. Paradoxically, it was precisely this generic, ostensibly neutral infrastructure that allowed a queer counter‑public to take root and thrive. Even today, despite queer cinema’s increasing visibility within mainstream culture, it remains structurally marginalised. Through its strategic occupation and redefinition of these spaces, how has the TEDDY unsettled normative expectations and reshaped the global landscape of queer film programming?
Date: Wednesday 18 February 2026
Venue: Deutsche Kinemathek - Museum für Film und Fernsehen I Mauerstraße 79, 10117 Berlin
Time: 11:00 am - 12:15 pm
Free admission
Moderation:
Ana David
Programmer, Berlinale Panorama
Pronouns: she/her
Ana David is a festival programmer and curator working between Berlin and Portugal. She’s been an advisor to the official program of the Berlinale since 2024, a member of the advisory board at Berlinale Panorama since 2017, and a programmer at Márgenes - Festival Internacional de Cine de Madrid. Between 2021-2024 she was curator at Batalha Centro de Cinema (Porto), where she co-curated the thematic programmes ‘Politics of Sci-Fi’, ‘Domesticities’ and ‘After Hours: Clubbing on Film’. Previous programming positions include IndieLisboa, Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival, Oslo/Fusion, BFI London Film Festival, and Queer Lisboa, the latter as co-director. She has organized retrospectives dedicated to Angelo Madsen Minax, Claire Denis, Joanna Hogg, Luísa Homem, Annemarie Jacir, Mai Zetterling, and Jane Campion.
@anafdavid
Panelist:
Faridah Gbadamosi
Senior Programmer, Tribeca Enterprises
Pronouns: she/they
Faridah is a pop culture-obsessed lover of film, working towards making the space more inclusive, both in terms of whose stories get told and who gets to author those stories.
She has extensive experience as a film programmer, working at organizations such as Frameline, the California Film Institute, the Athena Film Festival, SIFF, and many more. At Outfest, she worked as the Artistic Director, leading the organization through its 40th anniversary year-long celebration.
In addition to her curation work, Faridah has provided consultations to several film/TV projects, as well as non-profit organizations. She has consulted on the creation of curation fellowships, online museums, inclusive programming initiatives, and numerous other programs. She has published articles on topics ranging from attribution and ownership of hashtags in popular media to the importance of featuring people of color falling in love in mainstream romantic comedies. She taught film courses on Black media and the cultural lessons embedded in romantic comedies. She worked as the Director of Distribution at Open Your Eyes and Think MF, the distribution wing of David Magdael & Associates, handling the virtual theatrical release of the Peabody Award-winning film Mr. SOUL!.
She is currently the Chair of the Board of the Anarchist United Foundation, an organization founded by Lily Wachowski that provides grants and development opportunities for filmmakers from historically excluded communities, and is joining the board for Baldwin for the Arts. She currently works at Tribeca Enterprises as a Senior Programmer.
@reed2201
Jakob Kijas
Founder, eksystent Filmverleih
Pronouns: he/they
Jakob Kijas (born 1983) founded the distribution company eksystent Filmverleih in 2015. Within their work, they focus on releases of independent movies with an extraordinary aesthetic approach.
The work of eksystent Filmverleih was honored by the DEFA Foundation with the program award and received the innovation award of the Association of German Film Critics.
IG @_j_a_k____ @ eksystent_filmverleih
Karim Aïnouz
Director, Rosebush Pruning, Competition
Pronouns: he/him
Karim Aïnouz is celebrated Brazilian-Algerian film director, screenwriter, and visual artist internationally acclaimed for his sensuous aesthetics, bold visual language, and politically resonant storytelling. His expansive body of work spans award-winning features, experimental short films, and installations, and is marked by a deep engagement with character, memory, and transformation. Aïnouz first gained international recognition with Madame Satã (2002), which premiered in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard. In recent years, he has presented four consecutive films at the Cannes Film Festival: The Invisible Life (Un Certain Regard Award, 2019), Mariner of the Mountains (Special Screening, 2021), Firebrand (Competition, 2023), and Motel Destino (Competition, 2024).
@karimainouz
Marcelo Martinessi
Director, Narciso, Panorama
Pronouns: he/him
Paraguayan writer and director. His debut feature, The Heiresses, received two Silver Bears, the FIPRESCI Prize, and a TEDDY Award at the 2018 Berlinale. He has written and directed several short films, including The Lost Voice, which won the Orizzonti Award for Best Short Film at the 2016 Venice Film Festival. He led the first public television communication initiative in his country during its only progressive government, until the 2012 coup d’état. He studied communications in Asunción and filmmaking at the London Film School. He curates a small cinema in his hometown.
@karainorte
Meninaputri Wismurti
Co-Founder and Film Program Director, 100% Manusia Film Festival, Festival Co-Director, Europe On Screen
Pronouns: she/her
Started as journalist and volunteer-turned-Festival Director of Q! Film Festival in Indonesia, Meninaputri Wismurti was invited as Jury for Teddy Award in Berlin International Film Festival 2008. Working as film programmer for various film festivals, she enriched her experiences as Program Manager for Motion Picture Association of America representation in Indonesia and as festival consultant for French Film Festival, Australian Film Festival and Italian Film Festival in Indonesia.
Menina’s creative approach in voicing gender rights brought her to Japan Foundation's Human Rights and Migrant Program 2019 in Japan. She served as Jury for Wicked Queer Boston Film Festival 2021 and speaker for Movies That Matter: Cinema Without Border 2021. In 2022, Menina was invited as Jury in QCinema Intl Film Festival in Philippines. She continued in Movies That Matter: Cinema Without Border 2024 in The Hague, by sharing experiences in Festival’s Security Assessments and Gender Activations.
Recently she served as speaker for Film Curatorial and Screening Management at Kineforum in Jakarta, Film Distribution session in QCinema International Film Festival 2025 in Manila, a Jury for Intl Queer and Migrant Film Festival 2025 in Amsterdam and Jury for Anti-Corruption Film Festival 2025 in Indonesia. Now she is working as Film Program Director for 100% Manusia Film Festival, a human rights film festival she co-founded in 2017 after the closing of Q!FF, and running Europe On Screen as Festival Co-Director since 2018. In spare time Menina loves to travels (mainly to film festivals), listening music and writing poems.
@mamabearbra @100persenmanusia