The Berlin International Film Festival, orĀ Berlinale, which runs this year from February 12-22, opens with an Afghan drama titled “No Good Men.”
Award-winning director Shahrbanoo Sadat’s third featureĀ is set on the eve of the 2021 Taliban offensiveĀ andĀ tells the story of a TV newsroom camerawoman who is discouraged by the lack of interesting potential romantic partners in her country’s deeply patriarchal society.Ā
Combining political urgency and romantic comedy, the film embodiesĀ two of the Berlinale’sĀ distinctive facets: It is historicallyĀ the most political of the three major European film fests, alongside Cannes and Venice, yet it’sĀ also a crowd-pleaserĀ āĀ one of the world’sĀ largest audience film festivals.
Last year’sĀ Berlinale set an all-time ticket sales record, with 336,000 tickets sold to the public.
AsĀ festival director Tricia TuttleĀ tells DW, even though Berlin is “not afraid of championing and backing very political films ā films that might create difficult talking points,”Ā the more than 200Ā works in the program feature a diversity of genresĀ āĀ from horror to romantic comedies to experimental works.Ā
Tuttle feels that “every kind of cinema is political inĀ some ways ā even if it’s a more intimate and personal lens through which you see cultural and social issues in the world.”Ā Still, she emphasizes thatĀ the event also aims to support a struggling movie industry byĀ attracting a wider audience to the theaters, which is whyĀ many films in the program “are just escapist pleasures as well.”
Red carpet premieres
The opening film is part of a non-competitive section of the festival called Berlinale Special, which features works selected to spark discussions and add red-carpet glamour to the festival through various premieres.
In this section, French actress Isabelle Huppert ā who has confirmed she will be in Berlin ā plays the lead role inĀ Ulrike Ottinger’s horror-tinged comedy “The Blood Countess,” the screenplay of which she co-wrote with AustrianĀ Nobel laureateĀ Elfriede Jelinek.
John Turturro and Steve Buscemi starĀ in Noah Segan’s “The Only Living Pickpocket in New York,” which celebrates its international premiere at the festival.
Other anticipated European premieres include Padraic McKinleyās Sundance-acclaimed thriller “The Weight,” starring Ethan Hawke and Russell Crowe, and Gore Verbinski’s sci-fi comedy “Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die,” featuring Sam Rockwell, Juno Temple and Zazie Beetz.
Another hyped title is “The Moment,” a mockumentary on British pop star Charli xcx, which satirically portrays the singer in her attempts to extendĀ her “brat” fame era.
The films competing for the Golden Bear
There are 22 films competing for the festival’s top awards, the Golden and Silver Bears.
“Rosebush Pruning,” directed by Karim Ainouz, is among the buzziest titles in the run, starring Callum Turner, Riley Keough, Jamie Bell, Elle Fanning and Pamela Anderson. Tuttle described it as a “twisted thriller about a privileged family unraveling when dark secrets emerge.”
Six-time OscarĀ nominee, Amy Adams, stars in Kornel Mundruczo’s “At the Sea,” playing a former dancer who navigates sobriety and a new life after rehab.
In Beth de Araujo’s “Josephine” ā which won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance in January ā Channing Tatum and Gemma Chan portrayĀ the parents of an 8-year girl who has witnessed a sexual assault.
French actress Juliette BinocheĀ stars alongside Tom Courtenay, Anna Calder-MarshallĀ andĀ Florence Hunt in Lance Hammer’s “Queen at Sea,” an exploration of the impact of dementia on a family.
Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley in the “Harry Potter” films) and Finnish actress Seidi Haarla take on the role of new parents living in a ScandinavianĀ forest, in a horror fantasy feature titled “Nightborn.”
The competition entriesĀ stem from all over the world, with 28 countries contributing as co-producers.
Underscoring Africa’s booming film culture, the continent is well represented through titles co-produced by Guinea-Bissau, Senegal, Tunisia and Chad.
Germany is also well represented in the competition, contributing three entries as the main production country, and two more in a co-producing role.
Among Germany’s entries is Markus Schleinzer’s “Rose,” a historical drama set in the 17th century starring Sandra HĆ¼ller (“Anatomy of a Fall” and “The Zone of Interest”), who plays a mysterious soldier Rose, a woman disguised as a man, who lands in a secluded Protestant village.
Two-time Silver Bear winner, German director Angela Schanelec, returns to the competition with “My Wife Cries.”
Meanwhile, Ilker Catak, whose 2023 drama “The Teachers’ Lounge” was Germany’s submissionĀ for best international film at the Oscars, is in the run with “Yellow Letters,” which tackles Turkey’s repression of artistic freedom.
The competition also features diverse genres, including a biopic on renowned jazz pianist Bill Evans; an anime film, Yoshitoshi Shinomiya’s “A New Dawn”; and a documentary on friendship, grief and creativity portrayed through director Anna Fitch’s decade-long project, “YoĀ (Love Is a Rebellious Bird).” Ā
The international jury
The winners of the Golden and Silver Bears, to be revealed on February 21, will be selected by a jury led by acclaimed German filmmaker Wim Wenders.
On opening night, the festival will also award anĀ Honorary Golden Bear to Academy Award-winning Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh, in recognition of her outstanding achievements in cinema, which includeĀ her roles inĀ “Crouching Tiger,Ā Hidden Dragon”Ā (2000) and “Everything Everywhere All at Once” (2022).
Beyond the main competition, the festival recognizes talent through various other awards.
The Teddy Award, for example, honors works exploring LGBTQ+ topics; a pioneering accolade in this category, itĀ is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year.
Meanwhile, the Perspectives section brings together 14 feature film debuts. This “first feature competition” was created last year, as part of changes introduced by Tricia Tuttle in her first year as the director of the Berlinale. Ā
“Festivals have a hugely important role to play in enabling the discovery of the next generation of major talents,” said Tuttle. Noting how audiences and professional guests embraced the new competition last year, she announced that this year’s line-up once again features “dazzling talent, and films full of heart and breathtaking creativity” ā a reason, she added, to be “excited by the future.”
Edited by: Brenda Haas