ALFIE BARKER WINS BERLINALE’S “THE DREAM MAKERS” CONTEST WITH UPCOMING SHORT “THE ZEBRA”
words by FRANCESCO PIZZUTI
We have to admit, there’s something inherently cool about a film that dares to ask: what if you let a zebra live in your house? British filmmaker Alfie Barker has done exactly that with THE ZEBRA, the winning project of the second edition of “The Dream Makers”, a collaboration between the Berlin International Film Festival and CUPRA, that brings to life one short film with a production funding of a whopping 180K to 250K euros.
all images courtesy of CUPRA
Inspired by a true story, the film follows Andrew, a boy whose fixation on zebras escalates into a full-blown domestic reality when he convinces his mother to keep one inside their home. A truly bold and almost absurd premise with strong potential, which is precisely what the jury awarded.
What makes THE ZEBRA stand out is also its tone. In a landscape where emerging filmmakers often cautiously move between social doctrine and safe aesthetic choice, Barker leans into strangeness. The zebra here becomes a symbol of obsession, difference, and the chaoticness of childhood’s wants.
The panel, including Berlinale director Tricia Tuttle, director J. A. Bayona, actor Daniel Brühl, CUPRA’s Ignasi Prieto, and producer Marcus Loges of Studio Babelsberg Motion Pictures, selected Barker from a competitive international field. Loges described the project as bold, distinctive, and original. His daring and unusually humorous point of view struck the jury.
It’s thrilling to see how an initiative like “The Dream Makers” can represent a smart recalibration of what brand partnerships in cinema can look like. CUPRA has embedded itself in the creative process, platforming filmmakers from 15 countries. The Berlinale, long known for championing new voices, strengthens that mission through programs like Berlinale Talents. Together, it’s a true bet on imagination.
With Barker, they’ve backed a filmmaker who understands that emotional stories, about hope, ambition, art, and family dynamics, can still leverage and gain from the absurd, the bizarre, and the unexpected to convey powerful meanings. And honestly? Cinema could use a little more of that.
