The Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale), running this year from February 12–22, opens with Shahrbanoo Sadat’s Afghan drama No Good Men. Sadat’s third feature, set on the eve of the 2021 Taliban offensive, follows a TV newsroom camerawoman disheartened by the lack of romantic prospects in a patriarchal society. Combining political urgency with romantic comedy, the film reflects two of the Berlinale’s hallmarks: it is among Europe’s most political major festivals, yet also one of the world’s largest audience festivals.
Last year the Berlinale set an all-time ticket record with 336,000 public tickets sold. Festival director Tricia Tuttle, in her second year, says the program of more than 200 works spans genres from horror to rom-coms to experimental films. She argues every kind of cinema can be political, even intimate stories, while noting the festival also aims to support a struggling film industry by showcasing crowd-pleasers alongside more challenging works.
The opening film plays in Berlinale Special, a non-competitive strand designed to spark discussion and add red-carpet glamour. Berlinale Special includes Isabelle Huppert in Ulrike Ottinger’s horror-tinged comedy The Blood Countess, co-written with Nobel laureate Elfriede Jelinek, and Noah Segan’s The Only Living Pickpocket in New York starring John Turturro and Steve Buscemi. Other European premieres include Padraic McKinley’s Sundance hit The Weight (Ethan Hawke, Russell Crowe) and Gore Verbinski’s sci-fi comedy Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die (Sam Rockwell, Juno Temple, Zazie Beetz). The mockumentary The Moment, about British pop star Charli XCX, lampoons fame and industry pressures.
Twenty-two films compete for the Golden and Silver Bears. Among the buzziest is Karim Ainouz’s Rosebush Pruning, a twisted thriller about a privileged family unravelling, featuring Callum Turner, Riley Keough, Jamie Bell, Elle Fanning and Pamela Anderson. Amy Adams stars in Kornél Mundruczó’s At the Sea as a former dancer rebuilding life after rehab. Beth de Araujo’s Josephine, Grand Jury Prize winner at Sundance, stars Channing Tatum and Gemma Chan as parents of a child who witnessed sexual assault. Lance Hammer’s Queen at Sea explores dementia with Juliette Binoche in the cast. Rupert Grint and Seidi Haarla star in the horror-fantasy Nightborn about new parents isolated in a Scandinavian forest.
Competition entries come from around the globe, with 28 countries as co-producers. Africa is strongly represented with co-productions from Guinea-Bissau, Senegal, Tunisia and Chad. Germany is well represented as main producer on three entries and co-producer on two more, including Markus Schleinzer’s 17th-century drama Rose starring Sandra Hüller and Angela Schanelec’s return with My Wife Cries. Ilker Çatak’s Yellow Letters, addressing Turkey’s repression of artistic freedom, is also in the running.
The lineup includes diverse forms: a Bill Evans biopic, Yoshitoshi Shinomiya’s anime A New Dawn, and Anna Fitch’s decade-spanning documentary Yo (Love Is a Rebellious Bird) on friendship, grief and creativity.
An international jury led by German filmmaker Wim Wenders will name winners on February 21. On opening night the festival will present an Honorary Golden Bear to Michelle Yeoh for her career achievements, accompanied by a tribute screening of Everything Everywhere All at Once.
Beyond the main prizes, the Berlinale awards the Teddy Award for LGBTQ+ cinema, celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. The Perspectives section highlights 14 feature debuts in a “first feature competition” introduced last year by Tuttle to spotlight emerging talent. Tuttle says festivals play a crucial role in discovering the next generation of major filmmakers and that this year’s line-up offers “dazzling talent, and films full of heart and breathtaking creativity.”
Edited by: Brenda Haas