Land Invaders Makes Berlin International Film Festival History as Forum Expanded’s First-Ever Video Game Selection

Land Invaders, a groundbreaking experimental 8-bit video game by Anishinaabe Algonquin creator Cass Gardiner and designer Juan Mateo Menendez, will make its world premiere as an Official Selection of Berlinale Forum Expanded 2026—marking a historic first as the only video game ever programmed and presented within the Forum Expanded exhibition.

Presented within the Berlin International Film Festival’s most boundary-pushing section for art, cinema, and expanded media, Land Invaders challenges conventional definitions of screen storytelling by reclaiming retro arcade aesthetics to confront colonial history, intergenerational trauma, and collective memory—through play.

The project reimagines the legacy of “first contact” by proposing an alternate history in which Columbus’ ships—the Niña, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria—never reached the shores of Turtle Island. Using the instantly recognizable visual language of classic 8-bit arcade games, players symbolically confront colonial forces through reflex-based gameplay. What begins as a nostalgic arcade experience transforms into a cathartic act of resistance, reflection, and healing.

For Gardiner, the work is both deeply personal and political—using interactive media to process historical harm while imagining new pathways forward. Through its mechanics, Land Invaders explores how gameplay itself can engage intergenerational trauma and subtly “reprogram” patterns of thought toward understanding, empowerment, and agency.

The game was developed by BIRD X BIRD, the Indigenous-led experimental studio founded by Gardiner and Menendez, dedicated to innovative work across film, design, and emerging media.

The project is presented with the kind support of the Indigenous Screen Office and with additional support from the Indigenous Cinema Alliance. Gardiner was also a 2025 Indigenous Cinema Alliance Fellow, underscoring the project’s place within a growing international ecosystem of Indigenous innovation across screens, platforms, and disciplines.

Berlinale Forum Expanded is renowned for showcasing works that challenge and redefine what cinema and media art can be, making it an ideal home for a project that sits at the intersection of gaming, installation art, political history, and Indigenous futurism – a lineage of innovation continued by this year’s selection of Land Invaders. Just last year, Forum Expanded hosted the premiere of Wilfred Buck’s Star Stories, an XR work by Anishinaabeg filmmaker Lisa Jackson and the multidisciplinary collective Les Macronautes, which featured in the ICA’s EFM 2025 line-up. Guided by the wisdom of Ininew astronomer Wilfred Buck, this immersive experience shares four Cree star stories that explore the cosmos to teach us how to live a good life with future generations in mind. Since its debut, the work has achieved significant global reach across both traditional and immersive platforms. Its sales and distribution are handled by HUBBLO (dome and planetariums) and Moving Images Distribution (non-dome festivals and educational markets).

Exhibition Details

Forum Expanded 2026 – “Unauthorized Versions”
Betonhalle @ Silent Green

Opening: February 13 | 19:00–22:00
Exhibition: February 14–22 | Daily 12:00–22:00
Admission: Free
https://www.berlinale.de/de/2026/programm/202616491.html

Public Programs & Talks

Forum Expanded Artist Talk
Saturday, February 14 | 10:00
Betonhalle Cinema, Silent Green
Admission: Free

Augmenting Histories: Indigenous Approaches to XR Media Art
Hosted in collaboration with the Indigenous Screen Office
Monday, February 16 | 15:00
Embassy of Canada, Berlin

https://www.berlinale.de/en/2026/programme/202617072.html

Led by Isabelle Ruiz (Indigenous Screen Office), this conversation features Cass Gardiner and Juan Mateo Menendez and uses their practice as a springboard to explore broader innovations in Indigenous immersive and augmented media. The discussion examines how Indigenous artists are reframing dominant narratives within cultural institutions by “augmenting” exhibitions and embedding Indigenous perspectives into emerging technologies.