16/01/2025 - Featuring new works by Bong Joon-ho, Justin Kurzel and Dylan Southern, this year’s section brings together high-profile stars and gripping international stories

The 75th Berlin International Film Festival has unveiled eight more titles for its Berlinale Special section, which join the three works announced initially (see the news), which also included the festival's opening film, Tom Tykwer's The Light. With films ranging from star-studded red-carpet galas to late-night genre flicks and thought-provoking documentaries, this year’s Berlinale Special is shaping up to be one of the festival’s most eclectic and exciting selections.

Among the most highly anticipated additions is Mickey 17, the latest cinematic offering from the director of Parasite, Bong Joon-ho. The film stars Robert Pattinson alongside a cast that includes Naomi Ackie, Steven Yeun, Anamaria Vartolomei, Toni Collette and Mark Ruffalo. Set to be presented as a Berlinale Special Gala, Mickey 17 brings a new layer of complexity to science fiction, reaffirming Bong’s mastery in tackling larger-than-life narratives.

Another standout in the Berlinale Special Galas is The Thing with Feathers, directed by Dylan Southern. This poignant adaptation of Max Porter’s novel stars Benedict Cumberbatch as a grieving father who, in the wake of his wife’s sudden death, must balance the complexities of mourning with raising young children.

The section will also introduce The Narrow Road to the Deep North, an adaptation of Richard Flanagan’s Booker Prize-winning novel, directed by Justin Kurzel. This Australian drama series, premiering as a Berlinale Special Series Gala, follows the troubled journey of a World War II hero, played by Jacob Elordi, as he grapples with haunting memories of his past. Late-night thrills are guaranteed with the addition of The Old Woman with the Knife, a South Korean vengeance thriller directed by Min Kyu-dong.

From Lesotho comes Ancestral Visions of the Future, a poetic documentary helmed by Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese (This Is Not a Burial, It's a Resurrection [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]). This deeply reflective work explores themes of exile and cinema, adding a rich cultural perspective to the Berlinale Special line-up. Brazilian filmmaker Anna Muylaert (The Second Mother) returns to the Berlinale with The Best Mother in the World.

Marking the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, Berlinale Special will honour this historical moment with two seminal works. Claude Lanzmann’s Shoah, first presented in the Berlinale Forum in 1986, will be shown in its entirety. The nine-hour masterpiece, a profound exploration of the Holocaust without relying on archival footage, will be shown at the Akademie der Künste. Accompanying it is the new documentary All I Had Was Nothingness, directed by Guillaume Ribot. Drawing on over 220 hours of previously unpublished footage captured by Lanzmann, Ribot’s film provides a deeper reflection on the original Shoah, with Dominique Lanzmann serving as co-producer.

Here is the list of titles selected:

Berlinale Special

The Light - Tom Tykwer (Germany) (opening film)
Köln 75 - Ido Fluk (Germany/Poland/Belgium)
Islands - Jan-Ole Gerster (Germany)
Mickey 17 - Bong Joon-ho (USA/South Korea/UK)
The Narrow Road to the Deep North - Justin Kurzel (Australia) (series)
The Old Woman With the Knife - Min Kyu-dong (South Korea)
Shoah - Claude Lanzmann (France) (documentary) (1986)
Ancestral Visions of the Future - Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese (France/Lesotho/Germany/Saudi Arabia) (documentary)
The Best Mother in the World - Anna Muylaert (Brazil/Argentina)
All I Had Was Nothingness - Guillaume Ribot (France)
Honey Bunch - Madeleine Sims-Fewer, Dusty Mancinelli (Canada)
The Thing with Feathers - Dylan Southern (UK)