It is wonderful to be back at the Berlin International Film Festival, after three years of COVID. It is a special year for me, as it is my 25th year working with the Berlinale, now as India and South Asia Delegate, pre-selecting their films from India and South Asia since 1998. So it is time to celebrate and acknowledge the many guardian angels who have made the journey till here possible. It has been an honour and a pleasure helping the best of Indian and South Asian film talent shine on an A-list, international platform like Berlin. It has pole-vaulted filmmakers’ careers, and while we have showcased independent and mainstream films, documentaries, shorts, experimental films and series, it has given independent filmmakers in many regional languages throughout South Asia, the confidence to stick to their original voices and stories, and resist bullying by the constraints of mainstream cinema. I could do this only with tremendous support from the many teams at the Berlin film festival, and their faith in me, and my judgement and taste in films. These include Carlo Chatrian, Artistic Director, Sergio Fant on the Selection Committee, and Dorothee Wenner, Delegate, sub-Saharan Africa, my mentor and dear friend, the section programming teams, and a host of others over two-and-a-half decades.

It is a historic year for India and South Asia at the 73rd Berlinale. There are 21 official Indian selections by the festival—eight films, 11 Berlinale Talents and at least two film professionals—all selected from thousands of entries worldwide. For South Asia too, it is a gobsmacking year, with 30 official South Asian selections by the festival—eight Indian films and 22 Berlinale Talents. Surely, that is a record.