This year’s competition titles have been announced for the 2023 Berlin Film Festival, the Berlinale.
More than ever, according to the official press release, this year’s selection aims to be as open as possible to all cinematic forms. Animated films and documentary, comedy and melodrama, dramas and period films, films that rely on great performances or are driven by ‘natural’ actors, in each of the 18 titles one can hear a unique voice. And behind these important stories – even if tinged with a note of blue – the beauty of the world still resonates.
Here are the titles in full.
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 Lu?ev
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
