Wild Combination Festival returns for its second edition, taking over 90mil for a two-day celebration of Berlin’s vibrant art scene. Featuring an all-local lineup of the city's most inspiring artists, collectives, and creators, we're coming together to create meaningful acts of joy through music, film, and community. Every moment is in support of essential local and international causes, including 3ezwa, Mutual Aid for Refugees, Lilipadlibrary, Refugeworldwide, Sudanese American Physicians

Schedule

6 September - Scattered Seeds

7:30 P.m - 9:30 P.m 

short films program

'Scattered Seeds: Shorts from the Diaspora' is a vital program that explores the journeys of those who have found themselves in new lands, navigating the complex spaces between where they were and where they are now. These films offer a multifaceted look at the search for belonging, the reclamation of identity, and the enduring power of art and community.

The program delves into deeply personal stories of self-expression and survival. In Sultana's Reign, we meet a Palestinian drag queen who uses performance to reflect on her journey from the Arab World to New York, bravely fighting for her right to exist and celebrate herself. This resilience is echoed in Rain Roses, a lyrical film following a young Syrian refugee in Berlin who uses poetry to find a way to heal and piece together a new life amidst the weight of trauma.The program also explores the liminal spaces of the diaspora. Hamza captures the quiet struggles of an Egyptian DJ in France balancing a corporate career with his artistic passions, while Hijra takes an experimental approach to reflect on the fragmented, in-between spaces of new beginnings. Finally, the collection broadens its lens to the wider social and political landscape. Bitter Coffee uses the intimate setting of a family conversation to unravel cultural and political divides, while What Are They Talking About? serves as a powerful, multilingual counter-narrative to Germany’s heated migration debate, celebrating friendship as an act of resistance and a call for vigilance and solidarity.

(Rain Roses) أمطري ورداً

Youssuf AlKassry, Egypt/Germany, 2025, 9 mins. Experimental, German & Arabic with English subtitles 

(Sultana's Reign) سلطانة زمانها

Hadi Moussally, Jordan/France/Lebanon, 2023, 10 mins. Documentary, English with English subtitles 

(Hamza) حمزة

Karim Alcharkawy, Egypt 2023, 14 mins. Documentary, Arabic with English subtitles

(What are they talking about?) Wovon reden die da eigentlich?

Yara Abdullah & Lisa Klein, Germany 2025, 7 mins. Documentary, Arabic, Turkish, & German with English subtitles

(Hijra) هجرة

Belal Kalash, Palestine/Germany  2024, 11 mins. Experimental, Arabic with English subtitles

(Bitter Coffee) قهوة مرة

Yara Shana Chbib, Sweden 2024, 15 min. Fiction, Arabic and Swedish with English subtitles

10:00 P.m - 11:30 P.m 

feature Documentary

We Never Left

Loulwa Khoury, United States/Lebanon 2024, 83 mins. Documentary, English & Arabic with English subtitles 

The feature-length documentary by Loulwa Khoury is set during the Lebanese revolution and portrays a heart-wrenching duality between Beirut and New York, an impassioned testament to the Lebanese diaspora’s unrequited but irrepressible love for their homeland.

Loulwa Khoury is a New York based filmmaker, film editor born and raised in Beirut. She edited Paradise Without People (2019), Dusty and Stones (2022), Joy Dancer (2024) and Traces of Home. She also directed her first award-winning feature documentary, We Never Left (2024).

7 September - From The River to the screen

17:30 P.m - 19:30 P.m 

feature Documentary

Followed by Q&A with director Nahed Awwad

(Gaza Calling) غزة تنادي

Nahed Awwady, Palestine/Switzerland/UAE 2012, 64 mins. Documentary, English & Arabic with English subtitles 

Living just an hour away in the West Bank, two men in the West Bank find their lives consumed by a single fight: the right to reunite. Samer and Mustafa have been separated from their families in Gaza for six and seven years, respectively. This film follows their heart-wrenching journeys, revealing how a single detail—a Gaza address on their identity cards—has turned their lives into a permanent struggle. Forced to maintain connections through phone calls and the internet, their stories are a powerful testament to two families torn apart and their unwavering fight to be together at last.

Nahed Awwad is a Berlin-based Palestinian film director and curator with extensive experience in film and television since 1997. A graduate of the European Film College, she has directed eight meticulously researched films, including Gaza Calling, known for offering intimate access to her characters. Awwad co-founded the POC Art Collective in 2020, and her work focuses on advancing the Palestinian narrative through storytelling, particularly in relation to archives.

20:00 P.m - 21:30 P.m 

short films program

'From the River to the Screen' is a carefully curated short films program that offers a multifaceted and deeply personal look at the Palestinian experience. Through a collection of diverse narratives, this program explores the profound connections between memory, identity, and the enduring fight for a place to call home.

The program delves into the past to confront a painful history, with Where Does The Picture Start? sharing the testimonies of massacre survivors and revealing the long-term impact of these devastating events. This historical reflection is beautifully complemented by Don't Be Long, Little Bird, a poignant story of a young woman's accidental journey to 1930s Palestine, a moment of reconnection with her history and a past she never knew.

These historical explorations are woven into stories of the present-day struggle. An Orange from Jaffa is an unflinching look at the daily realities of life under occupation, capturing the tension and profound personal cost of a simple act like crossing a checkpoint. The program also looks toward the future, through the eyes of a new generation. In the allegorical tale Khaled and Nema, a young boy and his goat embark on a mission where a grandfather’s memory is the only power that can save their village from demolition. In a poetic and moving reflection, Young Hearts captures a young nephew's profound questions about the war in Gaza, revealing how a new generation is finding its voice and deepening its solidarity with the Palestinian cause.

Together, these films form a powerful tapestry of resilience, celebrating the rich and complex tapestry of Palestinian life, from the past to the present, from the river to the screen.

(Don't Be Long, Little Bird) العصفورة الصغيرة

Reem Jubran, USA/Palestine 2025, 23m mins. Fiction, English & Arabic with English subtitles 

(An Orange from Jaffa) برتقالة من يافا

Mohammed Almughanni, Palestine/Poland/France 2024, 27m mins. Fiction, English, Hebrew & Arabic with English subtitles 

(Young Hearts) قلوب صغيرة

Marwa El Sharkawy, Egypt 2024, 4m mins. Documentary, Arabic with English subtitles 

(Khaled and Nema) خالد و نعمة

Sohail Dahdal, Palestine 2024, 18 mins. Fiction, Arabic with English subtitles 

(Where Does The Picture Start?) من أين تبدأ الصورة؟

Yousef Menesy, Egypt 2024, 9 mins. Documentary, Arabic with English subtitles