Usina Berlin Festival Brings Ibero-American Voices to Berlin
The second edition of the Festival reaffirms its role as Germany’s first international program dedicated to Spanish-language short film writing
September 03rd, 2025
On Thursday, September 18, at 19:30, Kino Passage on Karl-Marx-Straße will host a special screening of Atardecer en América (Sunset in America), a celebrated short film by Chilean director Matías Rojas Valencia. Among the festival’s five featured works, all award-winning shorts from the 2024 Berlinale, Atardecer en América stands out for its powerful portrayal of migration across one of Latin America’s harshest landscapes.
The film follows Bárbara, a 15-year-old girl who undertakes a dangerous journey across the Andean plateau in search of a better life in Chile. At 4,000 meters above sea level, the plateau is one of the region’s most perilous migration routes. Through Bárbara’s recollections, the story evokes both the physical risks of the crossing and the haunting sense of being accompanied by a spiritual presence “that wanders like the wind.”
The Usina Berlin festival aims to amplify diverse Ibero-American perspectives, highlighting stories that traverse themes of displacement, identity, and cultural memory. By presenting films in their original languages with English subtitles, the program creates space for authenticity while ensuring accessibility to Berlin’s international audiences.
This year’s screenings offer more than cinematic artistry—they invite viewers to engage with pressing social realities through the lens of young and established filmmakers alike. For Berlin audiences, Atardecer en América and its companion films open a window onto contemporary Ibero-American storytelling, where personal narratives echo wider global concerns of migration, belonging, and resilience.
