Berlin in February carries a particular intensity — not only in its winter air, but within the global film landscape. The city compresses premieres, press, and professional exchange into a charged ecosystem where artistic vision and strategic momentum intersect. For Belgian filmmaker Hugo Teugels, the path toward Berlinale 2026 is not a single destination but the continuation of a carefully unfolding narrative: the international evolution of Cassandra Venice.
Born from Venice and shaped by sustained festival presence, Cassandra Venice has developed into a cinematic universe defined by continuity rather than one-off appearances. Its journey through 2025 — and into early 2026 — reflects a deliberate rhythm of visibility, recognition, and artistic progression.
Working under TVP Services – Video Art Productions, Teugels occupies the full creative spectrum as writer, director, producer, cinematographer, and editor. This hands-on approach ensures visual precision and tonal cohesion, hallmarks of a filmmaking language rooted in atmosphere and symbolism. Image and rhythm function as narrative drivers, allowing meaning to emerge through mood as much as through structure. That signature has become the connective tissue across Teugels’ work, and the reason Cassandra Venice continues to resonate beyond a single screening or season.
A mythic universe with contemporary urgency
At its core, Cassandra Venice fuses mythic archetypes with present-day relevance, drawing on the enduring “Cassandra dilemma”: a truth articulated clearly, yet dismissed until its consequences are unavoidable. Venice is more than a setting — it is a metaphor. Its fragile beauty mirrors the tension between splendor and vulnerability, offering a visual reflection on climate consciousness without didacticism.
Crucially, the project is not conceived as static. Cassandra Venice is designed to evolve — across formats, technologies, and audiences — while remaining recognizably itself.
The 2025 arc: a year of milestones
Throughout 2025, Teugels’ trajectory formed a clear sequence of international landmarks, each contributing a different layer of meaning and momentum.
Los Angeles (February 2025) marked a moment of Hollywood visibility, with a screening and award at the TCL Chinese Theatre followed by promotion during an Oscar viewing event. The visit also carried a craft-driven dimension: time spent at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, studying Oscar-nominated short films and engaging with short-form cinema as a discipline defined by precision and global ambition.
In May 2025, the journey moved to Cannes Film Festival, where red-carpet presence and industry networking reinforced Cassandra Venice’s position within a global ecosystem that values continuity and long-term vision.
September 2025 brought the story back to Venice itself — symbolically and literally. Teugels received the Premio Speciale — “Venice in the World” award, a recognition that directly mirrors the project’s identity: Venice-rooted, internationally oriented, and built to travel.
The pivotal shift arrived in October 2025 in Marbella. Here, Cassandra Venice demonstrated its capacity to evolve its form while preserving its mythic atmosphere and climate-reflective core. The project’s hybrid, A.I.-enhanced direction stepped decisively forward, validated by major recognition, including the Best A.I.-Generated Film award. Marbella was not simply another festival stop; it was the moment the evolution became unmistakable.
In December 2025, Milan introduced a live-event dimension through the FilmmakerLife gala. On-stage recognition, audience presence, and professional visibility converged, complementing the festival circuit with a tangible sense of community and momentum.
Closing the circle — and opening the next
The arc came full circle in January 2026, returning to Los Angeles with two nominations at the World Entertainment Awards — Best Director and Best Cinematography — for the Cassandra Venice universe. These nominations echoed the Hollywood chapter of early 2025 while connecting every milestone that followed: Cannes’ prestige, Venice’s symbolic affirmation, Marbella’s evolution, and Milan’s live visibility.
Why Berlin, why now
Berlin aligns naturally with Teugels’ artistic sensibility — cinema with edge, culture informed by conscience, and an international framework that balances creativity with pragmatism. With the Berlinale and its surrounding industry concentration, the city offers an ideal environment for positioning not just a single film, but an expanding cinematic universe.
For Cassandra Venice, Berlin represents the next phase: a context where the work is not only seen, but situated — as an evolving, internationally recognized body of cinema that merges mythic symbolism with contemporary relevance. It also marks a human moment within the journey: a reunion in Berlin, where Hugo Teugels and lead actress Polli Cannabis are united again — aligning the creative partnership at the heart of the universe with the next stage of its international path.
From Los Angeles to Cannes to Venice, through Marbella and Milan — and back to Los Angeles with new nominations — the next frame is Berlin.
