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 Species of Bees, Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren
The Shadowless Tower, Zhang Lu
Till the End of the Night, Christoph Hochhausler
BlackBerry, Matt Johnson
Disco Boy, Giacomo Abbruzzese
The Plough, Philippe Garrel
Ingeborg Bachmann — Journey into the Desert, Margarethe von Trotta
Someday We’ll Tell Each Other Everything, Emily Atef
Limbo, Ivan Sen
Bad Living, Joao Canijo
Manodrome, John Trengove
Music, Angela Schanelec
Past Lives, Celine Song
Roter Himmel (Afire), Christian Petzold
On the Adamant, Nicolas Philibert
The Survival of Kindness, Rolf de Heer
Suzume, Makoto Shinkai
Totem, Lilia Ayiles
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