As we head into the new year, thoughts turn to the early festivals of the year and in February, the Berlinale, the first bunch of films for which, have just been announced by the organisers.
Films set to play in the Berlinale Special, Panorama, Generation, and Forum Expaned have been unveiled, and they are as follows.
Berlinale Special Gala
Against the Ice
Iceland / USA / Denmark
by Peter Flinth
with Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Joe Cole, Heida Reed, Charles Dance
World premiere
À propos de Joan (About Joan)
France / Germany / Ireland
by Laurent Larivière
with Isabelle Huppert, Lars Eidinger, Swann Arlaud
World premiere
Gangubai Kathiawadi
India
by Sanjay Leela Bhansali
with Alia Bhatt, Ajay Devgn
World premiere
Der Passfälscher (The Forger)
Germany / Luxembourg
by Maggie Peren
with Louis Hofmann, Jonathan Berlin, Luna Wedler
World premiere
Berlinale Special
Le chêne (Heart of Oak)
France
by Laurent Charbonnier, Michel Seydoux
International premiere / documentary form
1341 Framim Mehamatzlema Shel Micha Bar-Am (1341 Frames of Love and War)
Israel / United Kingdom / USA
by Ran Tal
World premiere / documentary form
Nothing Lasts Forever
USA
by Jason Kohn
World premiere / documentary form
Panorama
Alle reden übers Wetter (Talking About the Weather)
Germany
by Annika Pinske
with Anne Schäfer, Anne-Kathrin Gummich, Judith Hofmann, Marcel Kohler, Max Riemelt
World premiere / Debut film
Clara, 39, is taking a PhD in philosophy in Berlin. When she visits provincial Mecklenburg-Vorpommern for her mother’s birthday party, she realises how far she has moved away from her roots in her search for a self-determined life.
The Apartment with Two Women
Republic of Korea
by Kim Se-in
with Im Jee-ho, Yang Mal-bok
International premiere / Debut film
A family argument escalates and Su-kyung hits her daughter Yi-jung with her car. Just an accident, she claims. Malicious intent, contradicts her daughter. Her rebellion marks the beginning of an arduous process for both women to cut the cord.
Brainwashed: Sex-Camera-Power
USA
by Nina Menkes
with Julie Dash, Charlyne Yi, Joey Soloway, Rosanna Arquette, Eliza Hittman
International premiere / Panorama Dokumente
Using examples from over 120 years of film history, Nina Menkes explores the male gaze in cinema: to what extent is the objectification and sexualisation of the female body ingrained in film language? And what impact does this have on society?
Calcinculo (Swing Ride)
Italy / Switzerland
by Chiara Bellosi
with Gaia Di Pietro, Andrea Carpenzano
World premiere
When a fairground sets up outside her window, 15-year-old Benedetta meets Amanda who defies gender norms – and not just that. Fascinated, the two grow closer. A coming-of-age film about an unusual friendship and the experience of empowerment.
Dreaming Walls
Belgium / France / USA / Netherlands / Sweden
by Amélie van Elmbt, Maya Duverdier
World premiere / Panorama Dokumente
The end of an eight-year upmarket renovation of the legendary Chelsea Hotel is partly longed for and partly dreaded by the artists who still live there. The film grants us access to their apartments and interweaves the past with the present.
Klondike
Ukraine / Turkey
by Maryna Er Gorbach
with Oxana Cherkashyna, Sergiy Shadrin, Oleg Scherbina
It is July 2014. There is a wall missing in Irka and Tolik’s house – a casualty of the hostilities on the Russian-Ukrainian border. But even when the MH17 passenger jet is shot down nearby, pregnant Irka still wants to stay put in her home.
A Love Song
USA
by Max Walker-Silverman
with Dale Dickey, Wes Studi
International premiere / debut film
Faye is camping by a lake in the vast expanse of the American mountains in order to meet her childhood sweetheart Lito after decades apart. A musical and visually stunning film about remembering and the love for that which no longer exists.
Myanmar Diaries
Netherlands / Myanmar / Norway
by The Myanmar Film Collective
World premiere / Panorama Dokumente
How does it feel to be forgotten by the world? After the military coup in February 2021, these film diaries of young opposition activists in Myanmar use the cinema screen to communicate with the world in a different way than allowed TV news.
Nel mio nome (Into My Name)
Italy
by Nicolò Bassetti
World premiere / Panorama Dokumente
Nic, Leo, Andrea and Raff determine their own gender identities. Each of their gender biographies is different, but the societal barriers to their social, physical and legal changes are the same. Together they are strong.
Nelly & Nadine
Sweden
by Magnus Gertten
World premiere / Panorama Dokumente
Nelly and Nadine meet in Ravensbrück concentration camp. They spend the rest of their lives together. Decades later, Nelly’s granddaughter goes in search of clues. A poignant film about a love story and the need for individual and collective remembrance.
Nous, étudiants ! (We, Students!)
Central African Republic / France / Democratic Republic of the Congo / Saudi Arabia
by Rafiki Fariala
World premiere / debut film / Panorama Dokumente
The filmmaker turns the camera on himself and his friends, capturing their everyday life as students of Bangui University. At once clear-eyed and poetic, they share their thoughts about their future in the Central African Republic.
Ta farda (Until Tomorrow)
Iran / France / Qatar
by Ali Asgari
with Sadaf Asgari, Ghazal Shojaei, Babak Karimi, Amirreza Ranjbaran, Nahal Dashti, Mohammad Heidari
World premiere
Student Fereshteh has to hide her illegitimate baby for one night from her parents who turn up for a surprise visit. Her friend Atefeh helps her. They embark on an odyssey through Tehran during which they must carefully weigh up who their allies are.
Taurus
USA
by Tim Sutton
with Colson Baker, Megan Fox, Maddie Hasson, Scoot McNairy, Ruby Rose, Demetrius “Lil Meech” Flenory Jr., Lil Tjay
World premiere
Self-destructive rap musician Cole meanders through a toxic mix of numbness, narcissism and alienation. This radical portrait of a broken man eschews clichés and psychological interpretations.
Generation
Afterwater
Germany / Spain / Republic of Korea (South Korea) / Serbia
by Dane Komljen
with Jonasz Hapka, Signe Westberg, Boban Kaludjer
World premiere
Akyn (Poet)
Kazakhstan
by Darezhan Omirbayev
with Yerdos Kanayev, Serik Salkinbayev, Klara Kabylgazina
European premiere
La edad media (The Middle Ages)
Argentina
by Alejo Moguillansky, Luciana Acuña
with Cleo Moguillansky, Luciana Acuña, Alejo Moguillansky
World premiere
Europe
Germany / France
by Philip Scheffner
with Rhim Ibrir, Thierry Cantin, Didier Cuillierier
World premiere
Une Fleur à la bouche (A Flower in the Mouth)
France / Germany / Republic of Korea (South Korea)
by Éric Baudelaire
with Oxmo Puccino, Dali Benssalah
World premiere
Mi?n ký ?c (Memoryland)
Vietnam / Germany
by Kim Quy Bui
with Mong Giao Vu, Thi Thu Trang Nguyen, Van Thai Nguyen
European premiere
Mis dos voces (My Two Voices)
Canada
by Lina Rodriguez
with Ana Garay Kostic, Marinela Piedrahita, Claudia Montoya
World premiere / documentary form
Nuclear Family
USA / Singapore
by Erin Wilkerson, Travis Wilkerson
with Travis Wilkerson, Erin Wilkerson, Matilda Wilkerson
European premiere / documentary form
Super Natural
Portugal
by Jorge Jácome
with Alexis Fernandes, Bárbara Matos, Celestine Ngantonga Ndzana
World premiere
The United States of America
USA
by James Benning
World premiere
The films of the Forum Expanded programme:
O Dente do Dragão (Dragon Tooth)
Brazil
by Rafael Castanheira Parrode
World premiere
Home When You Return
USA
by Carl Elsaesser
International premiere
Jail Bird in a Peacock Chair
Germany / USA
by James Gregory Atkinson
International premiere
Sol in the Dark
France
by Mawena Yehouessi
World premiere
vs
Austria
by Lydia Nsiah
World premiere
Installations
All of Your Stars are But Dust on My Shoes
Lebanon
by Haig Aivazian
Black Beauty: For a Shamanic Cinema
United Kingdom / Belgium / Spain
by Grace Ndiritu
Jole Dobe Na (Those Who Do Not Drown)
India / USA / Japan / Sweden
by Naeem Mohaiemen
Medicine and Magic
Canada
by Thirza Cuthand
International premiere
Onder het witte masker: de film die Haesaerts had kunnen maken (Under the White Mask: The Film That Haesaerts Could Have Made)
Belgium
by Matthias De Groof
Se Hace Camino al Andar (The Path is Made by Walking)
Brazil
by Paula Gaitán
International premiere
The Song of the Shirt
Germany
by Kerstin Schroedinger
World premiere
Voices and Shells
Germany
by Maya Schweizer
The Wake
Haiti / France / United Kingdom
by The Living and the Dead Ensemble
The Zama Zama Project
USA / South Africa / Canada
by Rosalind Morris
World premiere
