C / LENS

15/09/2026

Re:Frame 2026 closes here — Sept 19, Studio dB.

The last three screening programs of the festival, then a full night of live performance, audiovisual sets and DJs till 1AM. Co-presented with Jiā La.

Re:Frame is CiLENS' curatorial platform for 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗘𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗔𝘀𝗶𝗮 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗱𝗶𝗮𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗿𝗮, presenting screenings and performances across five venues in Berlin this September.

Come celebrate with us this Saturday!

CiLENS x Jiā La co-present a moving image x sound day-to-night event at Studio db on Sept 19th! Five nights across Berlin, and Re:Frame 2026 ends here — with…

15/09/2026

Re:Frame 2026 continues — screening of 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗕𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗔𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗿𝗲 舶来品, this week at Kino & Bar in der Königstadt.

Re:Frame is CiLENS' curatorial platform for 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗘𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗔𝘀𝗶𝗮 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗱𝗶𝗮𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗿𝗮, presenting screenings and performances across five venues in Berlin this September.

This program presents six films trace what happens after arrival — labour embedded in objects, rituals taking on a local taste, borrowed forms recast through performance — asking not just where things come from, but who reframes them, and what history returns to view.

Doors open 19:30 for a complimentary 𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗲𝗮 𝘁𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴, screening starts 20:10. The screening of Hong Kong Heels is followed by a short talk with special guest 𝗣𝗼𝗽𝗼 𝗙𝗮𝗻.

Line-up�· Beauty·Labors 美·工 — dir. SUN Tiange�· Birthday cakes from China 生日蛋糕 恭祝你福寿与天齐 — dir. ZHANG Shengjia�· PARK.DAT 公园.DAT — dir. DU Zhenyu�· Hong Kong Heels 港出我天后 — dir. Elias Fritz, Carlos Laux y Silió�· Where clouds once formed 雲過無雨 — dir. SU Yu Hsin�· King of Cyborg Elephant — dir. Nanut Thanapornrapee

🎫：€12 （including tea tasting). Note: payments at the venue are cash only. Capacity limited, so we encourage you to grab ticket online in advance :)

Doors open: 19:30 Screening start: 20:10 Before the screening, there will be complimentary tasting of Chinese tea (included in ticket price). Please arrive at…

19/08/2026

𝗕𝗲𝗿𝗹𝗶𝗻 × 𝗖𝗵𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗱𝘂 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲: 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲, 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲, 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀
𝗦𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗙𝗶𝗹𝗺

FALSE MEMORY / 《记忆管理局》
🎬 18‘ | 2020 | International Premiere
🗣️ Chinese | English Subtitles

Unwilling to accept the passing of his friend Shi Yan, the protagonist materializes him from his memories into the physical form of a ”Bug Man.“ He continues to play with this memory-turned-reality to escape the depressing truth of his life.

However, this anomaly catches the attention of the False Memory Bureau, which dispatches collectors Fang Tang and Bai Chong to retrieve the ”Bug.“ As the surreal retrieval process unfolds, the Bug Man Shi Yan ultimately alters the protagonist’s reality, giving him the courage to finally let go and face the future.

👤 Through the directors‘ lens — LIU Wenyu and LI Shuyu. Through this striking animated short, the co-directors craft an imaginative and emotionally resonant world that explores the depths of grief, the weight of memories, and the difficult journey toward acceptance.

—
📍 ZK/U Berlin— come share an evening of cinema and community
🗓️ August 26 | 18:30–22:40

—
Please RSVP to help us better prepare the food and avoid waste!
LINK IN BIO

—
In collaboration with .berlin

22/07/2026

𝘼𝙌𝙍 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲 | 𝙎𝙝𝙤𝙧𝙩 𝙁𝙞𝙡𝙢 𝙋𝙧𝙤𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙢 𝙄𝙄: 𝙊𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙒𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙𝙨, 𝙊𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙎𝙚𝙡𝙫𝙚𝙨
𝙎𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙬𝙗𝙚𝙧𝙧𝙮 𝙎𝙝𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙘𝙖𝙠𝙚

Directed by Deborah Devyn CHUANG

Taiwan 2024 | 21 min | Chinese with English subtitles |

⏰ 21:30 | Open Air Screening
📍 Berlin | July 24 | 🎥

Fantasy bleeds into reality when 16-year-old Lolo becomes entangled in a Freudian loop circling a strawberry shortcake and her mother, Norma. The deeper Lolo sinks, the thinner the membrane between the room and the dreamscape grows until it becomes impossible to say where the mother ends and the daughter begins.

Deborah “Devyn” CHUANG .devyn is a Taiwanese-American filmmaker working as a director, screenwriter, and producer. Their debut short, Mom, if I Were a Vampire, premiered at NewFest in New York City before screening at festivals including the Taipei Film Festival. It later became an online cult hit within the q***r community, drawing thousands of reviews and comments on Letterboxd. In 2023, they were named a semi-finalist for the New Voices Filmmaker Grant by NewFest and Netflix.

-
A surreal, sweet-toothed study of mothers, daughters, and the loops we inherit.
Join us under the open sky for the evening.

-
🎟️ LINK IN BIO
✨ Stay tuned

-
Visual Design by Mandy GOU

22/07/2026

𝘼𝙌𝙍 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲 | 𝙎𝙝𝙤𝙧𝙩 𝙁𝙞𝙡𝙢 𝙋𝙧𝙤𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙢 𝙄𝙄: 𝙊𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙒𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙𝙨, 𝙊𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙎𝙚𝙡𝙫𝙚𝙨
𝙒𝙖𝙝 𝙔𝙚𝙣

Directed by Wei ZHANG

UK 2024 | 29 min | Chinese and English with English subtitles | German Premiere

⏰ 21:30 | Open Air Screening
📍 Berlin | July 24 | 🎥

Set in 1970s Glasgow, Wah Yen follows Chen, a young q***r and neurodivergent Chinese immigrant whose inner world begins to unfold through an unexpected kinship with James, a Scottish shipbuilder. Moving between intimacy, displacement, and the desire to belong, the film explores how marginalised people create forms of home within unfamiliar places and through one another.

Wei ZHANG is a filmmaker and visual artist from China, now based in Glasgow. Working across moving image, collage, experimental sound, and hybrid media, their practice explores migration, gender, bodily transformation, and the limits of language. In “Wah Yen “Wei brings together 3D animation, archival footage, and drag performance to construct a non-linear visual language shaped by Chinese cultural heritage, q***r experience, and collective memory.

Created in collaboration with Clarinda Yung Tse, Katherine Ka Yi Liu, Siyao Li, Wei Zhou, and Xuan Gao, the film embraces the collective intelligence of q***r Asians.

-
A tender and visually layered film about migration, kinship, and finding other possibilities of being.
Join us under the open sky for the evening.

-
🎟️ LINK IN BIO
✨ Stay tuned

-
Visual Design by Mandy GOU

19/07/2026

𝘼𝙌𝙍 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲 | 𝙎𝙝𝙤𝙧𝙩 𝙁𝙞𝙡𝙢 𝙋𝙧𝙤𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙢 𝙄: 𝙃𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙒𝙚 𝙇𝙚𝙖𝙫𝙚, 𝙃𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙒𝙚 𝙈𝙖𝙠𝙚
𝙇𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙤 𝙔𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙇𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙈𝙚

Directed by Kai XU

France 2025 | 23 min | French with English subtitles

⏰ 21:30 | Open Air Screening
📍 Berlin | July 23 | 🎥

LU and Christophe are a young gay couple in Paris. During the election, LU ,a foreigner in the country he lives in finds out that Christophe means to vote for a candidate who has no place for someone like him. It‘s never argued out loud, but it settles between them and changes how LU understands where he stands, both at home and in the relationship.

Kai XU was born in China and has been based in Paris since 2017, working across film, sound, and writing. His films follow people and places in the middle of change , displacement, transformation, the way a life slowly finds its footing. Writing this one, he wanted to sit with the Asian q***r experience of immigration and desire, and with the fact that politics reaches all the way into how two people imagine a future together.

-
A short, unhurried film about love and difference.
Join us under the open sky for the evening.

-
🎟️ LINK IN BIO
✨ Stay tuned

-
Visual Design by Mandy GOU

18/07/2026

𝘼𝙌𝙍 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲 | 𝙎𝙝𝙤𝙧𝙩 𝙁𝙞𝙡𝙢 𝙋𝙧𝙤𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙢 𝙄: 𝙃𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙒𝙚 𝙇𝙚𝙖𝙫𝙚, 𝙃𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙒𝙚 𝙈𝙖𝙠𝙚
𝘼𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝘽𝙚𝙞𝙧𝙪𝙩

Directed by Raghed (Ray) Charabaty

Canada, Lebanon 2025 | 17 min | Docufiction /Experimental | English, Arabic with English subtitles

⏰ 21:30 | Open Air Screening
📍 Berlin | July 23 | 🎥

Home is rarely a fixed place. Across departures, returns, and detours, how do q***r lives make home? Sometimes, it is found where alienation and desire
intersect.

Step into a mesmerizing visual experiment that blurs the lines between truth and fiction. Returning to Beirut from Toronto in a desperate search for his roots, filmmaker and lead actor Raghed Charabaty reimagines the days leading up to the fateful 2020 Beirut Port Explosion. Amidst a city of unrest, his character Amir
falls in love with a stranger by the sea, finding unexpected q***r intimacy. When the tragic explosion occurs, it cares for nobody yet leaves behind
undeniable traces of desire that even destruction cannot erase.

-
Driven by scripted improv and New Wave wildlife esque cinematography,Lebanese-Canadian director Charabaty .ch crafts a deeply intimate narrative of exile
and memory. This stunning work has already captivated audiences globally, earning a spot in TIFF’s Canada’s Top Ten and winning the Grand Jury Prize at
Écrans Mixtes.

-
Don’t miss this powerful screening! Watch the official trailer now and join us to share a night exploring q***r intimacy amid social instability and displacement.

-
🎟️ LINK IN BIO
✨ Stay tuned

-
Visual Design by Mandy GOU

17/07/2026

𝘼𝙌𝙍 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲 𝙊𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙉𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩| 𝙎𝙝𝙤𝙧𝙩 𝙁𝙞𝙡𝙢 𝙋𝙧𝙤𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙢 𝙄: 𝙃𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙒𝙚 𝙇𝙚𝙖𝙫𝙚, 𝙃𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙒𝙚 𝙈𝙖𝙠𝙚
𝙈𝙮 𝘿𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝘿𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙃𝙤𝙢𝙚 《回乡偶记》

Directed by Yue RAN

Switzerland, China 2026 | 20 min | Documentary | Chinese with English and Chinese subtitles

✨𝘽𝙚𝙧𝙡𝙞𝙣 𝙋𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙞𝙚𝙧𝙚
⏰ 21:30 | Open Air Screening

📍 Berlin | July 23 | 📽️

Home is rarely a fixed place. For many q***r people, it exists between memory and movement, inheritance and reinvention.

Dive into a profoundly intimate documentary that captures the awkwardness, searching, and vulnerability of family ties. After marrying her wife in Switzerland, director Yue RAN returns to China, using the camera as a bridge to face the “elephant in the room” with her mother. When an unexpected event prompts the mother to reflect on her own marriage, an estranged duo is finally forced to start a long-overdue, honest conversation.

Drawing from her rich cross-cultural background, director Yue RAN crafts a courageous female narrative that has already captured hearts at Cinema du Reel, Q***r East, and Clermont-Ferrand.

-
Don’t miss this Berlin Premiere! Watch the official trailer now and join us to share a night of q***r resilience, diaspora stories, and chosen family.

-
🎟️ LINK IN BIO
✨ Stay tuned

-
Visual design by Mandy GOU

27/02/2026

UNSEEN HISTORIES, UNSETTLED MEMORIES
Suppressed Films from China’s New Documentary Movement

March 12–14, 2026
Sinema Transtopia, Berlin

-

This three-day program revisits a largely censored and long-overlooked chapter of China’s New Documentary Movement. Works made in the late 1980s and early 1990s — many suppressed after 1989 — return to the screen in their first unified presentation.

The series includes two world premieres and three German premieres.

On the final day, March 14, three of the directors will be joined by invited scholars and guests for a public panel discussion. Together, they will reflect on the political and ethical stakes of documentary practice at that historical moment, the conditions of censorship, and the ongoing urgency of reclaiming suppressed cinematic memory.

We warmly invite you to join the screenings and stay for the dialogue.

-

Presented by China Unofficial Archives, CiLENS and Berlin Contemporary China Network (BCCN).

29/12/2025

✨ 𝗖𝗶𝗟𝗘𝗡𝗦 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱 — 𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗶𝗻 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 ✨

As 2025 comes to a close, we look back on a year shaped by continuity, resonance, and collective presence.

Throughout the year, all CiLENS programs were made possible with the generous support of the 𝗕𝗲𝗿𝗹𝗶𝗻 𝗦𝗲𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗗𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗖𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗦𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗖𝗼𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 . Their funding enabled a full year of screenings, festivals, and community-based cultural work — and we are deeply grateful.

✨ 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓 𝐇𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬
We opened the year with a 𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺 in collaboration with , combining film screenings, Mahjong, karaoke, and shared meals across five days.
In April, 𝗣𝗹𝘂𝗺 𝗥𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗠𝘂𝗿𝗺𝘂𝗿𝘀 returned to with a poetic revisit of classic films, with multiple screenings reaching full capacity.
June marked a high point with 𝗧𝗙𝗖 𝘅 𝗖𝗶𝗟𝗘𝗡𝗦: 𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗻-𝗔𝗶𝗿 𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝗙𝗶𝗹𝗺 𝗡𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 in collaboration with , bringing together cinema, live performances, curated tea, and a late-night party with across two sold-out nights.
In July, the 2nd edition of 𝗔𝘀𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗤𝘂𝗲𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗥𝗲𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗱, co-presented with , welcomed over 𝟓𝟎𝟎 participants across screenings, workshops, and conversations.
August unfolded through an intimate 𝗦𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝗣𝗼𝗽-𝗨𝗽 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗲 with and the 𝟰𝘁𝗵 𝗕𝗲𝗿𝗹𝗶𝗻 𝘅 𝗖𝗵𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗱𝘂 · 𝗦𝗶𝗰𝗵𝘂𝗮𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 with .berlin , welcoming over 300 audience members to a fully booked cinema.
We closed the year with the 𝟰𝘁𝗵 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗲 𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝗖𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗺𝗮 𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸 (𝗜𝗖𝗖𝗪) at , welcoming more than 𝟳𝟬𝟬 audience members over four days of sold-out screenings and conversations.

💫 𝐋𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝
As our funding landscape evolves, CiLENS continues as an independent, collaborative platform rooted in care, openness, and long-term relationships.

Thank you to everyone who made this year what it was.
See you in 2026 with CiLENS.