Indigenous-made ‘Land Invaders’ becomes Forum Expanded’s first video game at Berlinale 2026

Land Invaders, an experimental 8‑bit video game created by Anishinaabe‑Algonquin filmmaker and curator Cassandra Gardiner and co-creator Juan Mateo Menendez, will feature in the Forum Expanded exhibition at the Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale) in February 2026 — the first time a video game has been included in that exhibition.

Forum Expanded and the parallel Forum film programme are curated and organised by Arsenal – Institute for Film and Video Art as part of the Berlinale, and are designed to test the boundaries of cinema through formats that include installation art and performance.

This year’s Forum Expanded is titled Unauthorised Versions. Arsenal says the programme brings together 33 films, installations and performances from 31 countries, with a focus on gaps and omissions in official histories and on the voices that are often left out of established narratives.

The group exhibition runs at silent green Kulturquartier (Gerichtstraße 35), with opening hours listed as 7–10pm on 13 February and 12–10pm daily from 14–22 February. Admission is free.

Land Invaders reworks the visual language of the arcade classic Space Invaders into an alternative-history game. Instead of holding back aliens, players are tasked with stopping Christopher Columbus’ ships (the Niña, the Pinta and the Santa Maria) before they reach the shores of Turtle Island. Arsenal’s project listing says the game became unexpectedly cathartic during production for Gardiner and explores how interactive media can be used for reflection and healing.

Arsenal describes Gardiner as a filmmaker, curator and writer from Kebaowek First Nation. It says Menendez grew up in Mexico City, worked for three years as a content director at the Tribeca Film Institute, and later founded the motion‑graphics studio Bird X Bird.

Two public sessions connected to the exhibition are listed. An artist talk for Unauthorised Versions is scheduled for 10am on 14 February at silent green. A separate event (Augmenting Histories: Indigenous Approaches to XR Media Art) is listed for 3pm on 16 February at the Embassy of Canada in Berlin, with Gardiner and Menendez in discussion with Isabelle Ruiz from the Indigenous Screen Office; registration is required.

Arsenal’s Forum Expanded briefing states Land Invaders is presented with the support of the Indigenous Screen Office (ISO). The ISO describes itself as an independent national advocacy and funding organisation serving First Nations, Inuit and Métis creators of screen content in Canada, and says it supports storytelling across “all screen platforms”, including gaming and emerging technologies.

The announcement also sits within a broader network of Indigenous screen initiatives. The Indigenous Cinema Alliance (which says it began as a market stand at the European Film Market alongside Berlinale’s NATIVe programme) describes itself as a coalition of international Indigenous partners working to promote Indigenous cinema globally and build culturally safe industry pathways.