2025
4th Berlin x Chengdu: Sichuanationship
A curated summer encounter between two cities across the continents.
20 August 2025
📍ZK/U
For the fourth year in a row, the Berlin x Chengdu series returns as a beloved summer gathering that celebrates the creative energies, cultural echoes, and community warmth of two cities — this time with a wink, a pun, and a whole lot of heart.
Bridging the creative spirit of Berlin and the spicy soul of Chengdu, the curated program features independent short films, street food, music, community gathering, and more. We call it: A Sichuanationship.
The Berlin x Chengdu series curates and introduces captivating independent film works made in and/or about Chengdu/Sichuan by filmmakers based in the region, offering the Berlin audience a unique lens into its socio-political textures and cultural vibrancy.
Moving beyond the silver screen, we weave together music, intercultural dialogues, and various Chengdu’s iconic elements such as teahouse culture and street food, to create an engaging experience for hundreds of participants, inviting audiences in Berlin to experience the dynamic synergy and celebrate the creativity and resonances between the two cities and their communities.
Beyond its playful surface, this year’s Sichuanationship carries a deeper current. Humor, so deeply woven into Sichuan people’s character, reflects not only a resilient spirit forged through natural disasters and shifting social landscapes, but also an innate lightness toward life itself.
Sichuan people are, in many ways, less bound by material concerns, more at ease with life’s impermanence, and naturally inclined to seek joy. In Sichuan, playfulness is not a distraction—it is a value in itself, a way of living.
This humor, this spirited ease, shines through in the films we present, where laughter is inseparable from courage, and lightness walks hand in hand with strength.
What began as a personal, spontaneous spark has now grown into a tradition and, more importantly, a shared cultural practice, inviting diasporic communities to reconnect with their roots and reimagine long-distance belonging.
Through the ongoing Berlin x Chengdu series, we hope to transcend borders, fostering a continuous dialogue and expansive cultural exchange between people and places.
Lingering Grounds, Drifting Encounters
A Summer Pop-Up Teahouse Gathering on Slowness and Urban Space
2 August 2025
📍C*SPACE
What does it mean to linger and idle in a city that’s always moving?
In a fragmented, digitized world, why do we still crave tangible public spaces?
What does it mean to have belonged to a space that might have changed or is disappearing?
What kinds of places invite us to feel, to linger, to return?
In a city shaped by speed, disconnection, transitory lives, and the precarious transformation of public space, we invite you to drift, to idle, to gather as modern-day flâneurs, and to recall a place that holds special meaning in your heart.
Lingering Grounds, Drifting Encounters is a summer pop-up teahouse gathering that invites you to linger and reflect on how we live, remember, and connect through space.
Rooted in the evolving framework of Pop-Up Teahouse — a series that reimagines the traditional teahouse as a new social space especially for diasporic communities — this event will transform C*SPACE into a temporary urban living room and invite you to immerse yourself and connect with others through tea rituals, film screening, live ambient sound performance, Mahjong play, shared food, and intimate storytelling.
Asian Queers Reunited
3 July - 6 July, 2025
📍Sinema Transtopias
Launched in 2024, Asian Queers Reunited (AQR) is a Berlin-based cross-disciplinary initiative connecting audiences with queer narratives from Asia and its diaspora. Through cinema and community encounters, AQR presents the embodied experiences of Asian queers and explores the intersecting dimensions of identity, desire, intimacy, and resistance.
AQR 2025 dives into the evolving landscapes of queer life through films that traverse diasporic longing, erotic expression, chosen families, spiritual dissonance, and intergenerational dialogue — anchored in both personal intimacy and collective resistance.
Over four days, we will present three open-air short film programs, three documentary screenings, interactive community events and talks. Join us in this shared journey of emotional resonance, embodied presence, and the reimagination of queer futures.
AQR 2025 is funded by the Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion. Short film programs co-curated with the Beijing Queer Film Festival and Queer East, in collaboration with Sinema Transtopia.
2024
3rd Berlin X Chengdu: Faraway, So Close!
Mobile Berlin Teahouse
New Urban Living Rooms 2024 Vol.1
15th September, 2024
📍Z/KU
‘Berlin x Chengdu’ is a popular annual series by CiLENS e.V., dedicated to strengthening cultural connections between Berlin and Chengdu, and uniting communities through their shared diversity, inclusivity, and vibrancy.
The program curates and introduces captivating independent film works made in and/or about Chengdu by filmmakers based in the region, offering the Berlin audience a unique lens into its socio-political and cultural panorama. Moving beyond the silver screen, we weave together music, intercultural dialogues, and various of Chengdu’s unique cultural elements to create an immersive experience for hundreds of participants, inviting audiences in Berlin to experience the dynamic synergy and celebrate the resonances between the two cities and their people.
Through this engaging experience, we hope that 'Berlin x Chengdu' transcends borders, fostering a profound exchange of culture, art, and ideas on a universal level.
This year, being integrated into ZK/U’s exciting re-opening program and funded by Fonds Soziokultur, we aim to create a special edition titled “Faraway, So Close!”. This volume aspires to spark discussions about urban transformation and community cultivation, continuously engaging the local community and promoting constant cultural exchange between Berlin/Germany and Chengdu/China. With the reopening of ZK/U, a significant cultural landscape in the city of Berlin, we are presented with a unique opportunity to deepen the cultural dialogue and extend the reach of our initiative.
The event is part of the 2024 project “Pop-up Teahouse”, Supported by the Sociocultural Fund with funds from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media.
2nd Open-Air Chinese Film Nights
The Feuerle Collection x CiLENS
05 - 06 July, 2024
📍The Feuerle Collection
We’re thrilled to invite you to the second edition of Open-air Chinese Film Nights on July 5 and 6, set in the stunning roof garden of The Feuerle Collection.
After the fantastic response to last year’s event, we're returning with more captivating films and our signature tea experience. Curated by Désiré Feuerle, each night will feature a short film followed by a feature-length movie.
Throughout the evenings, indulge in a selection of exquisite Mariage Tea, specially crafted by tea practitioner Lin Wang. These refined and experimental teas will enhance your film-watching experience, engaging all your senses.
Join us for an enchanting evening of films and tea under the stars! 🍃🎥✨
Asian Queers Reunited
05 - 09 June, 2024
📍 @sinematranstopia
Curated by CiLENS e.V., co-curated by Beijing Queer Film Festival and Queer East
Asian Queers Reunited is an interdisciplinary film program that invites audiences to delve into the world of Asian queers and to embark on an intellectually and emotionally stimulating journey that explores the intersectionality of queer identity and sexuality, love and desire, both past and present.
Supported by Projekt ComE In and Sinema Transtopia,the program provides an in-depth and nuanced exploration into the wide spectrum of Asian queer cinema and the communities behind it.
We will be presenting two open-air short film programs curated by Beijing Queer Film Festival and QueerEast Film Festival, as well as five compelling feature films from across Asia, accompanied by two in-person director Q&A sessions.
Chinese Feeling Elsewhere
12 - 21 April, 2024
📍 @sinematranstopia
Endorsed and sponsored by SİNEMA TRANSTOPIA, this innovative interdisciplinary program delves into the concept of diaspora within the Sinophone context. Spanning two immersive weekends, we presented a carefully curated selection of 7 screenings, complemented by an exhilarating karaoke party and a multilingual poetry reading.
Through the powerful mediums of cinema, music, and poetry, we facilitated profound cultural transpositions between languages, continents, and emotions, inviting audiences to engage deeply with the complexities of human mobility.
2023
Open-Air Chinese Film Nights
The Feuerle Collection x CiLENS
September 2023
📍The Feuerle Collection
In collaboration with The Feuerle Collection, CiLENS presented an extraordinary open-air film screening featuring captivating works from the Chinese-speaking world, curated by Désiré Feuerle, during the Berlin Art Week 2023, from September 14-16.
In order to conceptually round up his Gesamtkunstwerk characterized by the guiding theme of sensuality and beauty, Désiré Feuerle has chosen a series of cinematic creations that artfully explore the subject of visceral desire in human life, encapsulating complex emotions and connections that resonate deeply with the human experience.
During the 3-day event, Open-air Chinese Film Nights showcased 11 incredibly diverse and imaginative films, including 2 feature-length films and 9 shorts, with the highlight being the finale film, Wong Kar-wai’s Happy Together. This cinematic journey, enriched by Lin Wang's curated tea experience, blended the richness of Chinese tea culture with the art of cinema for a unique sensory journey.
Berlin x Chengdu: A Second Date
June 29, 2023
📍ZK/U
This special open-air event stands as one of CiLENS’ signature cultural initiatives. With Chengdu as its focal point, cinema as its conduit, and food and culture as its connectors, this event graces Berlin’s stage. Beyond acquainting a wider Berlin audience with Chengdu, its purpose extends to constructing a link between two cities, two cultures, and their denizens. Notably, it stands out as CiLENS’ most engaging and diverse audi- ence-engaging endeavor.
Pop-up Teahouse 2023
The Chengdu Pop-Up Teahouse transported us all to the heart of Chengdu through tea sessions, a mahjong workshop, delicious homemade Sichuanese food and dessert. It was a true celebration of Chengdu’s unique charm- its cozy atmosphere, its slow and comfy lifestyle, and its positive attitude toward life.
2022
Berlin x Chengdu: an Encounter
July 14, 2022
📍ZK/U
The July event collaborates with ZK/U and is a special version of the Speisekino program. On 14th July, the Berlin x Chengdu Speisekino will be hosted at the open space of ZK/U with Chengdu street food, presentation, curated music, screening of short films by Chengdu emerging filmmakers and more.
I look forward to taking this opportunity to introduce my hometown Chengdu to the European audience and draw a connection between Berlin and Chengdu. I also hope to use the format of Speisekino to reach a wider community.
New Woman, New Narrative
April - June 2022
📍 @sinematranstopia
This film series explores the tension between China's pervasive patriarchy and women undergoing a feminist awakening. From a transgender teen to a rural poet, university students to lesbian activists, these women, while facing distinct challenges, create extraordinary narratives of resistance.
In April, we premiered with a documentary about Yu Xiuhua, an overnight sensation as China's best-known poet. The film delves into her literary journey, real-life experiences, and inner expressions. We also showcased a small exhibition of her poetry in Chinese and English.
