14/01/2026 - The section varies from red-carpet galas with Isabelle Huppert, Ethan Hawke and Russell Crowe to politically charged documentaries, ambitious series and midnight genre highlights

The 76th Berlin International Film Festival (12 – 22 February) has unveiled the line-up for its Berlinale Special section, which comprises of a total of 19 works from 15 countries, including six documentary films and a strong series programme. Designed as a bridge between glamour, genre, politics and public debate, Berlinale Special continues to function as a meeting point between filmmakers and audiences, with space for dialogue and discovery. An opening film announcement is still to come.

Among the Berlinale Special Galas are several high-profile premieres. Seasoned German filmmaker Ulrike Ottinger (Ticket of No Return) returns with The Blood Countess, a horror-tinged, playful take on vampiric mythologies and led by Isabelle Huppert (see the news). Belgian-Romanian filmmaker Teodora Ana Mihai (winner of the Grand Prize at the Warsaw Film Festival with Traffic [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Teodora Ana Mihai
film profile] and winner of the Courage Prize in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard with La Civil [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Teodora Ana Mihai
film profile]), presents Heysel 85, a dramatic reconstruction of the tragic events surrounding the 1985 European Cup Final in Brussels (see the news), while Padraic McKinley makes his feature debut with The Weight, starring Ethan Hawke and Russell Crowe. Genre pleasures are also firmly on the menu, with Gore Verbinski bringing his sci-fi comedy Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die to Berlin, and actor-director Noah Segan delivering the New York-set crime tale The Only Living Pickpocket in New York. Additionally, a gala will see the German premiere of last year's Venice entry The Testament of Ann Lee [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Mona Fastvold.

The series strand is particularly rich this year, ranging from literary adaptations to original genre concepts. Highlights include Marc Munden’s first television adaptation of William Golding’s dystopian classic Lord of the Flies; a reimagining of Isabel Allende’s The House of the Spirits by Chile’s Francisca Alegría; and House of Yang, a six-part German horror mystery created by Stefanie Ren. The programme also welcomes new chapters of Mark Cousins’ ongoing exploration of non-fiction cinema with The Story of Documentary Film.

Late-night screenings promise visceral thrills and pop-cultural energy. Indonesian filmmaker Edwin and Australian director Natalie Erika James both contribute body-horror-inflected works, while metal icons take centre stage in The Ballad of Judas Priest, directed by Canadian filmmaker Sam Dunn and American guitarist Tom Morello former member of Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave.

Documentary filmmaking remains a central pillar of Berlinale Special, with new works from Maite Alberdi (The Mole Agent [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Maite Alberdi
film profile]), Ruth Beckermann (Mutzenbacher [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ruth Beckermann
film profile]) and Sam Pollard, as well as the investigative Who Killed Alex Odeh? by Jason Osder and William Lafi Youmans, which revisits a decades-long quest for justice in the United States.

The list of selected titles:

Berlinale Special

A Child of My Own – Maite Alberdi (Mexico)
The House of the Spirits – Francisca Alegría (Chile, series)
WAX & GOLD – Ruth Beckermann (Austria)
The Story of Documentary Film – Mark Cousins (UK, series)
The Ballad of Judas Priest – Sam Dunn, Tom Morello (USA)
Sleep No More – Edwin (Indonesia/Singapore/Japan/Germany/France)
The Testament of Ann Lee [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] – Mona Fastvold (USA/UK/Hungary)
Saccharine – Natalie Erika James (Australia)
The Weight – Padraic McKinley (Germany/USA)
Heysel 85 – Teodora Ana Mihai (Belgium/Netherlands/Germany)
Lord of the Flies – Marc Munden (UK, series)
The Blood Countess – Ulrike Ottinger (Austria/Luxembourg/Germany)
Who Killed Alex Odeh? – Jason Osder, William Lafi Youmans (USA)
TUTU – Sam Pollard (UK)
Mint – Charlotte Regan (UK, series)
House of Yang – Stefanie Ren (Germany, series)
Ravalear: Not For Sale – Pol Rodríguez (Spain, series)
The Only Living Pickpocket in New York – Noah Segan (USA)
Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die – Gore Verbinski (Germany)