The Berlin Film Festival unveiled the titles selected for its official competition as well as its sidebar Encounters competitive section this morning. Scroll down for the full lineup.
18 films have been selected for the international competition with highlights including Christian Petzold latest film Roter Himmel (Afire), Margarethe von Trotta directs Phantom Thread star Vicky Krieps in Ingeborg Bachmann — Journey into the Desert, and Philippe Garrel returns with a new feature titled The Plough.
Today the festival also revealed an extra special screening. Actor and filmmaker Sean Penn will debut a documentary titled Superpower. The film was shot in Ukraine last year at the outbreak of Russia’s invasion and follows president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The festival takes place February 16 to 26.
Organizers have already announced more than 100 titles across sidebars spanning Panorama, Forum, Berlinale Special, Berlinale Series, and the youth-focused Generation.
As previously announced, Kristen Stewart will lead this year’s International Jury, and Rebecca Miller’s latest film She Came to Me, starring Peter Dinklage, Marisa Tomei, Joanna Kulig, Brian d’Arcy James, and Anne Hathaway, will open the festival. The film will screen as a Berlinale Special Gala at the Berlinale Palast.
Other headline Berlin premieres include Israeli filmmaker Guy Nattiv’s latest pic Golda, starring Helen Mirren, Camille Cottin, and Liev Schreiber. The film follows the intensely dramatic and high-stakes responsibilities and decisions that Golda Meir, former Israeli prime minister, faced during the 1973 Yom Kippur War. Mirren stars as Meir. Jane Hooks and Michael Kuhn are producers on the pic. Embankment is handling sales.
Steven Spielberg will be this year’s headline guest as he heads to Berlin to be feted with the festival’s Honorary Golden Bear for lifetime achievement. He will also screen his latest awards contender, The Fabelmans.
Check out the full lineup below:
Special Screening
Superpower, Sean Penn and Aaron Kaufmann
International Competition
20.000 especies de abejas (20,000 Species of Bees)
by Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren | with Sofía Otero, Patricia López Arnaiz, Ane Gabarain, Itziar Lazkano, Sara Cózar
Spain 2023
Competition | World premiere
Bai Ta Zhi Guang (The Shadowless Tower / Der schattenlose Turm)
by Zhang Lu | with Xin Baiqing, Huang Yao, Tian Zhuangzhuang, Nan Ji, Wang Hongwei
People’s Republic of China 2022
Competition | World premiere
Bis ans Ende der Nacht (Till the End of the Night)
by Christoph Hochhäusler | with Timocin Ziegler, Thea Ehre, Michael Sideris
Germany 2023
Competition | World premiere
BlackBerry
by Matt Johnson | with Jay Baruchel, Glenn Howerton, Matt Johnson, Cary Elwes, Saul Rubinek
Canada 2023
Competition | World premiere
Disco Boy
by Giacomo Abbruzzese | with Franz Rogowski, Morr Ndiaye, Laëtitia Ky, Leon Lučev
France / Italy / Poland / Belgium 2023
Competition | World premiere | Debut film
Le grand chariot (The Plough)
by Philippe Garrel | with Louis Garrel, Damien Mongin, Esther Garrel, Lena Garrel, Francine Bergé
France / Switzerland 2022
Competition | World premiere
Ingeborg Bachmann – Reise in die Wüste (Ingeborg Bachmann – Journey into the Desert)
by Margarethe von Trotta | with Vicky Krieps, Ronald Zehrfeld, Tobias Resch, Basil Eidenbenz, Luna Wedler
Germany / Switzerland / Austria / Luxembourg 2023
Competition | World premiere
Irgendwann werden wir uns alles erzählen (Someday We’ll Tell Each Other Everything)
by Emily Atef | with Marlene Burow, Felix Kramer, Cedric Eich
Germany 2023
Competition | World premiere
Limbo
by Ivan Sen | with Simon Baker, Rob Collins, Natasha Wanganeen, Nicholas Hope, Mark Coe
Australia 2023
Competition | World premiere
Mal Viver (Bad Living)
by João Canijo | with Anabela Moreira, Rita Blanco, Madalena Almeida, Cleia Almeida, Vera Barreto
Portugal / France 2023
Competition | World premiere
Manodrome
by John Trengove | with Jesse Eisenberg, Adrien Brody, Odessa Young, Sallieu Sesay, Phil Ettinger
United Kingdom / USA 2022
Competition | World premiere
Music
by Angela Schanelec | with Aliocha Schneider, Agathe Bonitzer, Marisha Triantafyllidou, Agyris Xafis
Germany / France / Serbia 2023
Competition | World premiere
Past Lives
by Celine Song | with Greta Lee, Teo Yoo, John Magaro
USA 2022
Competition | International premiere | Debut film
Roter Himmel (Afire)
by Christian Petzold | with Thomas Schubert, Paula Beer, Langston Uibel, Enno Trebs, Matthias Brandt
Germany 2023
Competition | World premiere
Sur l’Adamant (On the Adamant)
by Nicolas Philibert
France / Japan 2022
Competition | World premiere | Documentary Form
The Survival of Kindness (Das Überleben der Freundlichkeit)
by Rolf de Heer | with Mwajemi Hussein, Deepthi Sharma, Darsan Sharma
Australia 2022
Competition | International premiere
Suzume
by Makoto Shinkai
Japan 2022
Competition | International premiere | Animation
Tótem
by Lila Avilés | with Naíma Sentíes, Monserrat Marañon, Marisol Gasé, Saori Gurza, Teresita Sánchez
Mexico / Denmark / France 2023
Competition | World premiere
Encounters
The Klezmer Project, Leandro Koch and Paloma Schachmann
The Adults, Dustin Guy Defa
The Echo, Tatiana Huezo
Here, Bas Devos
In The Blind Spot, Ayse Polat
The Cage is Looking for a Bird, Malika Musaeva
My Worst Enemy, Mehran Tamadon
White Plastic Sky, Tibor Banoczki and Sarolta Szabo
In Water, Hong Sangsoo
Family Time, Tia Kouvo
The Walls of Bergamo, Stefano Savona
Orlando, My Political Biography, Paul B. Preciado
Samsara, Lois Patino
Eastern Front, Vitaly Manisky, Yevhen Titarenko
Living Bad, Joao Canijo
Absence, Wu Lang
