Berlinale Sets 2027 Retrospective as 'Rage Against the Machine'
The Berlinale will turn its 2027 retrospective into a revolt. The Berlin International Film Festival has named the programme “Rage Against the Machine”, devoted to cinematic visions of the future and of rebellion, as reported by Deadline.
The theme takes its cue from 100 years of Fritz Lang’s Metropolis. Lang’s silent film from 1927, set in a sharply divided city, reaches its centenary in 2027.
The retrospective is organised in partnership with the Deutsche Kinemathek, Berlin’s film archive and museum. Heleen Gerritsen will lead it for a second year as artistic director of the retrospective.
The programme will look at tomorrow through four lenses: urbanism, artificial intelligence, feminism and capitalism. In plain terms, that means films about cities, thinking machines, women’s resistance and the power of money.
Early titles are already earmarked. They include Paul Verhoeven’s RoboCop from 1987, about a policeman rebuilt as a cyborg enforcer. Expect robots. Expect revolts.
The list also includes Decoder from 1984, directed by Muscha and inspired by the writing of William S. Burroughs, and Metoroporisu from 2001, the anime feature directed by Rintaro that reworks the Metropolis story. Helma Sanders-Brahms’s The Last Days of Gomorrah from 1974 is also set for the lineup.
Ngozi Onwurah’s Welcome II the Terrordome from 1995 will screen in a new restoration. It was the first feature-length British film directed by a Black woman.
What makes this stand out is the spread. The selection moves from Hollywood science fiction to West German underground film, Japanese animation and Black British cinema, all under one idea.
Separately, listings for a centenary event, Metropolis LIVE with Babylon Orchester Berlin, give performances on Sunday, 10 January 2027 at 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., according to VisitBerlin.
