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BERLINALE 2025

The Berlinale unveils the titles playing in its Competition and its Perspectives and Berlinale Special strands

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- Titles vying for the Golden Bear include European (co-)productions helmed by the likes of Lucile Hadzihalilovic, Léonor Serraille, Dag Johan Haugerud, Radu Jude and Richard Linklater

The Berlinale unveils the titles playing in its Competition and its Perspectives and Berlinale Special strands
The Ice Tower by Lucile Hadžihalilović

Today, the 19 films vying for the Golden and Silver Bears at the 75th Berlin International Film Festival were unveiled, along with the full line-ups of the festival’s Perspectives and Berlinale Special sections.

On 13 February, the festival will kick off at the Berlinale Palast with the world premiere of Tom Tykwer’s The Light. During the opening gala, the international jury (chaired by Todd Haynes) will be introduced, and the Honorary Lifetime Achievement Golden Bear will be awarded to celebrated Scottish actor Tilda Swinton. The gala, hosted by renowned Luxembourg actor, presenter, director, and producer Désirée Nosbusch, will also be transmitted live to seven cities across Germany in co-operation with X Verleih, allowing audiences in Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Cologne, Leipzig, Munich, and Stuttgart to join in the celebration.

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The main competition includes one debut feature as well as one documentary, and 17 world premieres. Eight films are directed or co-directed by women. Nine of the filmmakers have screened films at the Berlinale previously.

The lineup offers a rich tapestry of European stories, starting with two films by renowned French female filmmakers: the 1970s-set The Ice Tower, by Lucile Hadžihalilović (Innocence, Evolution [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, Earwig [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Lucile Hadzihalilovic
film profile
]
), zooms in on Jeanne, a young runaway, who falls under the spell of Cristina, the enigmatic star of The Snow Queen; and Ari [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
, the new film by Léonor Serraille (Cannes Caméra d’Or winner with Montparnasse Bienvenüe [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Léonor Serraille
film profile
]
), which follows a young teacher on a journey of self-discovery after losing his job and home (read news).

After Sex [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Dag Johan Haugerud
film profile
]
and Love [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Dag Johan Haugerud
film profile
]
, Norway’s Dag Johan Haugerud delivers his third instalment in the Dreams, Sex, Love trilogy. Already released in Norway, Dreams explores how Johanne’s intimate writings about her crush on her teacher ignite both tension and self-reflection within her family, as her mother and grandmother confront their own unfulfilled dreams and desires.

Kontinental '25, the latest effort by Romania’s Radu Jude (winner of the 2021 Golden Bear with Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Radu Jude
film profile
]
), grapples with the moral crisis of a bailiff in Transylvania following a tragic eviction, whilst The Safe House, the new title by Switzerland’s Lionel Baier (Stupid Boy [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
, Continental Drift (South) [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Lionel Baier
film profile
]
) paints a nostalgic portrait of a family during the May 1968 Paris protests, disrupted by an unexpected guest.

Next, the new film by Belgian duo Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani (Amer [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
, The Strange Colour of Your Body's Tears [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
), Reflection in a Dead Diamond, is a thrilling plunge into the past of a former spy living on the Côte d’Azur, and Crystal Bear winner Kateryna Gornostai (Stop-Zemlia [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Kateryna Gornostai
film profile
]
) returns with Timestamp, which documents the resilience of Ukrainian teachers and students persevering through the war. Hot Milk, the debut feature by British screenwriter Rebecca Lenkiewicz (Ida [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Pawel Pawlikowski
interview: Pawel Pawlikowski
film profile
]
, Disobedience [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
), explores the fragile bond between a mother and daughter visiting a mysterious Spanish healer.

Finally, Mother’s Baby by Austria’s Johanna Moder (High Performance [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
) delves into a mother’s emotional struggle to connect with her newborn, What Marielle Knows by Germany’s Frédéric Hambalek (Model Olimpia [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
) reveals uncomfortable truths as a family confronts their daughter’s sudden telepathic abilities, and Yunan by Germany-based, Ukrainian-born Ameer Fakher Eldin (The Stranger [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ameer Fakher Eldin
film profile
]
) reflects on solitude and compassion through the bond formed between a despondent man and a caring stranger on a remote island.

Other productions with European involvement include Richard Linklater’s Blue Moon, which shifts to 1943 New York, where lyricist Lorenz Hart wrestles with insecurities as his former collaborator Richard Rodgers celebrates the hit musical Oklahoma!, The Message by Argentina's Iván Fund and The Blue Trail by Brazil's Gabriel Mascaro. The selection is rounded off by the new films by USA's Mary Bronstein, Mexico's Michel Franco and China's Huo Meng and Vivian Qu.

“We’re fiercely proud of the films in this year’s Competition; they showcase the breadth of cinema and offer fascinating glimpses into different lives and places. There are intimate dramas that ask us to understand our human fragilities and strengths; there is gentle comedy but also the sharpest, blackest satire; there are films that pay homage to cinematic greats and ones that use the art form’s fullest canvas,” said first-time Berlinale artistic director Tricia Tuttle.

Replacing the previous Encounters section, the Perspectives competition comprises 14 feature film debuts, of which five films were directed or co-directed by women, and two were directed by non-binary filmmakers. Several European productions or co-productions stand out, such as Liryc Dela Cruz’s Where the Night Stands Still, which explores the tensions between three Filipino siblings navigating inherited family dynamics in Italy; Paula Tomás MarquesTwo Times João Liberada, a compelling biopic about gender-nonconformity against the backdrop of the Inquisition; Arnaud Dufeys and Charlotte Devillers' We Believe You, which follows a mother trying to protect her children from their father; Florian Pochlatko’s How to Be Normal and the Oddness of the Other World and Urška Djukić’s Little Trouble Girls (read news), which delve into deeply personal journeys of self-discovery and transformation; as well as Valentine Cadic's That Summer in Paris, Bálint Dániel Sós' Growing Down and Constanze Klaue's Punching the World.

Lastly, late additions to the Berlinale Special sidebar (read news) include Edgar Reitz and Anatol Schuster’s Leibniz – Chronicle of a Lost Painting, which delves into German thinker Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz; Burhan Qurbani’s No Beast. So Fierce., which reimagines Richard III as a gripping tale of a Berlin underworld matriarch; Marcin Wierzchowski’s Das Deutsche Volk, a deeply moving documentary on the aftermath of the 2020 Hanau attacks; and Petra Volpe’s Late Shift, a portrait of the emotional strain suffered by a hospital nurse during a chaotic shift.

The films selected:

Competition

The Safe House - Lionel Baier (Switzerland/Luxembourg/France)
If I Had Legs I'd Kick You - Mary Bronstein (USA)
Reflection in a Dead Diamond - Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani (Belgium/Luxembourg/Italy/France)
Yunan - Ameer Fakher Eldin (Germany/Canada/Italy/Palestine/Qatar/Jordan/Saudi Arabia)
Dreams - Michel Franco (Mexico)
The Message - Iván Fund (Argentina/Spain)
Timestamp - Kateryna Gornostai (Ukraine/Luxembourg/Netherlands/France)
The Ice Tower - Lucile Hadžihalilović (France/Germany)
What Marielle Knows - Frédéric Hambalek (Germany)
Dreams - Dag Johan Haugerud (Norway)
What Does that Nature Say to You - Hong Sang-soo (South Korea)
Kontinental '25 - Radu Jude (Romania)
Hot Milk - Rebecca Lenkiewicz (UK)
Blue Moon - Richard Linklater (USA/Ireland)
The Blue Trail - Gabriel Mascaro (Brazil/Mexico/Chile/Netherlands)
Living the Land - Huo Meng (China)
Mother's Baby - Johanna Moder (Austria/Switzerland/Germany)
Girls on Wire - Vivian Qu (China)
Ari
 [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
- Léonor Serraille (France/Belgium)

Perspectives

That Summer in Paris - Valentine Cadic (France)
Where the Night Stands Still - Liryc Dela Cruz (Italy/Philippines)
Eel - Chu Chun-Teng (Taiwan)
Shadowbox
- Tanushree Das and Saumyananda Sahi (India/France/USA/Spain)
We Believe You - Arnaud Dufeys and Charlotte Devillers (Belgium)
Little Trouble Girls - Urška Djukić (Slovenia/Italy/Croatia/Serbia)
BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions - Kahlil Joseph (USA)
Punching the World - Constanze Klaue (Germany)
Two Times João Liberada - Paula Tomás Marques (Portugal)
The Devil Smokes (and Saves the Burnt Matches in the Same Box) - Ernesto Martínez Bucio (Mexico)
How to Be Normal and the Oddness of the Other World - Florian Pochlatko (Austria)
The Settlement - Mohamed Rashad (Egypt/France/Germany/Qatar/Saudi Arabia)
Growing Down - Bálint Dániel Sós (Hungary)
Mad Bills to Pay (or Destiny, dile que no soy malo) - Joel Alfonso Vargas (USA)

Berlinale Special

The Light - Tom Tykwer (Germany) (opening film)
After this Death - Lucio Castro (USA)
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)
My Undesirable Friends: Part I - Last Air in Moscow - Julia Loktev (USA)
A Complete Unknown - James Mangold (USA)
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)
No Beast. So Fierce. - Burhan Qurbani (Germany/France/Poland)
Leibniz - Chronicle of a Lost Painting - Edgar Reitz, Anatol Schuster (Germany)
All I Had Was Nothingness
- Guillaume Ribot (France)
Lurker - Alex Russell (USA/Italy)
A Letter to David - Tom Shoval (Israel/USA)
Honey Bunch - Madeleine Sims-Fewer, Dusty Mancinelli (Canada)
The Thing with Feathers - Dylan Southern (UK)
Late Shift - Petra Volpe (Switzerland/Germany)
Das Deutsche Volk - Marcin Wierzchowski (Germany)

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