Understanding the world with Berlinale Shorts 2021 A Love Song in Spanish by Ana Elena Tejera Due to the very nature of their production, short films can react with a creditable immediacy to current events. Yet – with a couple of notable exceptions – the 20 films that make up the selection of Berlinale Shorts 2021 don’t directly deal with the pandemic or the isolation of the past year. Indeed, the shorts that will be vying for the Golden Bear – going under the subtitle of “Tell Me About Yourself So That I Can Understand the World” – remind us that, despite the preoccupations of 2020, the world still continues to face many other issues which humanity is constantly struggling to make sense of. With a diverse range of genres, approaches – involving directors from cinema, theatre and fine-art backgrounds – and established talents and new voices, the 2021 iteration is a fascinating snapshot of both the state of the world and cinema on the cutting edge.