20/01/2026 - Among the titles vying for the Golden Bear are the latest works by Karim Aïnouz, Angela Schanelec, Kornél Mundruczó, İlker Çatak and Alain Gomis

UPDATE (29 January 2026): The Perspectives section is completed by Chinese title Light Pillar, an animated feature is set in the future directed by Xu Zao.

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The Berlin International Film Festival has announced the titles selected for the Competition and Perspectives sections of its 76th edition, running from 12-22 February. After the unveiling of the selections in Berlinale Special (read news), Panorama and Generation (read news) and Forum (read news), the festival unveils the twenty-two films which will be vying for the Golden and Silver Bears in the Competition, alongside the 13 debut features selected in Perspectives, the section dedicated to emerging filmmakers. This will be the festival’s second year under the artistic direction of Tricia Tuttle.

The Competition line-up includes one debut feature, one animated film and one documentary, with 20 world premieres on the cards. Nine of the movies are directed or co-directed by women, while 14 filmmakers are returning to the festival, six of them having previously competed for the Golden Bear.

Brazilian-born filmmaker Karim Aïnouz, winner of Cannes’ Un Certain Regard Prize for The Invisible Life of Eurídice Gusmão [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Karim Aïnouz
film profile], returns to Berlin with Rosebush Pruning [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], set in a secluded Spanish villa where four American siblings are forced to confront family secrets and emotional isolation; the feature stars Elle Fanning and Pamela Anderson. Austrian director Markus Schleinzer, whose debut, Michael [+see also:
trailer
film profile], screened in Competition at Cannes, presents Rose [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], a 17th-century parable about suspicion and belonging in a Protestant village, led by Sandra Hüller.

Germany features prominently in the line-up, with Eva Trobisch’s Home Stories [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Eva Trobisch
film profile], a contemporary identity drama unfolding around a reality talent show, and Silver Bear winner Angela Schanelec’s My Wife Cries [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], where once again she distils emotional fracture into a rigorously pared-down narrative. İlker Çatak (The Teachers’ Lounge [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: İlker Çatak
interview: Leonie Benesch
film profile] – Silver Bear for Best Screenplay) returns with Yellow Letters [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ilker Çatak
film profile], examining political pressure and artistic compromise through a celebrated Turkish theatre couple.

France remains a key creative hub within the Competition. Alain Gomis, (Félicité [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Alain Gomis
film profile] – Silver Bear – Grand Jury Prize), presents Dao [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Alain Gomis
film profile], a film structured around parallel ceremonies in France and Guinea-Bissau. Mahamat-Saleh Haroun (Cannes Jury Prize for A Screaming Man [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]) returns with Soumsoum, The Night of the Stars [+see also:
film review
interview: Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
film profile], blending mysticism and coming-of-age elements. Leyla Bouzid’s In a Whisper [+see also:
film review
interview: Leyla Bouzid
film profile] follows a young woman returning from Paris to Tunisia, where mourning becomes a catalyst for uncovering long-buried family truths.

Belgian-based filmmaker Anke Blondé’s Dust [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Anke Blondé
film profile] revisits the late-1990s tech boom through the collapse of a fraudulent empire, while Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel’s The Loneliest Man in Town [+see also:
film review
interview: Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel
film profile] offers an intimate portrait of blues musician Al Cook. Music also takes centre stage in Everybody Digs Bill Evans [+see also:
film review
interview: Grant Gee
film profile] by Grant Gee, which delves into the inner life of the titular legendary jazz pianist, starring Anders Danielsen Lie and Bill Pullman.

Kornél Mundruczó (White God [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Kornél Mundruczó
film profile] – Un Certain Regard Prize at Cannes in 2014) presents At the Sea [+see also:
film review
interview: Kornél Mundruczó
film profile], starring Amy Adams as a woman returning from rehab and confronting a loss of identity tied to her dancing career. Geneviève Dulude-de Celles (Crystal Bear for A Colony) returns with Nina Roza [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Geneviève Dulude-de Celles
film profile], exploring artistic authenticity in rural Bulgaria. Lance Hammer (Best Director at Sundance for Ballast) presents Queen at Sea [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Lance Hammer
film profile], a family drama centred on dementia and autonomy, toplined by Juliette Binoche and Tom Courtenay.

The Competition also includes Yoshitoshi Shinomiya’s animated debut, A New Dawn [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], unfolding around a fireworks factory facing closure and a mythical creation, and Nightborn [+see also:
film review
interview: Hanna Bergholm
film profile] by Finnish filmmaker Hanna Bergholm, whose debut, Hatching [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Hanna Bergholm
film profile], won a Special Jury Award at Sundance. Emin Alper, winner of the Venice Special Jury Prize for Frenzy [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Emin Alper
film profile], returns with Salvation [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Emin Alper
film profile], revisiting faith, power and territorial conflict in a remote village.

Meanwhile, the Perspectives section returns for its second edition, boasting 13 feature debuts, 11 of them world premieres. Six films are directed by women, and European productions and co-productions again play a central role.

Among the European debuts are 17 [+see also:
film review
interview: Kosara Mitić
film profile] by Kosara Mitic, a coming-of-age drama shaped by secrecy and solidarity; Trial of Hein [+see also:
film review
interview: Kai Stänicke
film profile] by Kai Stänicke, which turns a homecoming into a collective act of suspicion; and Forest High [+see also:
film review
interview: Manon Coubia
film profile] by Manon Coubia, a seasonal meditation on solitude and nature in the Alps.

The selection also includes Dara Van Dusen’s A Prayer for the Dying [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Dara Van Dusen
film profile], reimagining the American Civil War as a moral and spiritual reckoning; Animol, Ashley Walters’ prison drama unfolding inside a young-offender institution; and Truly Naked [+see also:
film review
interview: Muriel d’Ansembourg
film profile] by Muriel d’Ansembourg, which explores intimacy, vulnerability and consent through the perspective of an adolescent forced to confront life beyond the lens.

Here is the complete line-up:

Competition

Rosebush Pruning [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] – Karim Aïnouz (Italy/Germany/Spain/UK)
Salvation [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Emin Alper
film profile] – Emin Alper (Turkey/France/Netherlands/Greece/Sweden/Saudi Arabia)
Nightborn [+see also:
film review
interview: Hanna Bergholm
film profile] – Hanna Bergholm (Finland/Lithuania/France/UK)
Dust [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Anke Blondé
film profile] – Anke Blondé (Belgium/Poland/Greece/UK)
In a Whisper [+see also:
film review
interview: Leyla Bouzid
film profile] – Leyla Bouzid (France/Tunisia)
Yellow Letters [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ilker Çatak
film profile] – İlker Çatak (Germany/France/Turkey)
We Are All Strangers – Anthony Chen (Singapore)
The Loneliest Man in Town [+see also:
film review
interview: Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel
film profile] – Tizza Covi, Rainer Frimmel (Austria)
Josephine – Beth de Araújo (USA)
Nina Roza [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Geneviève Dulude-de Celles
film profile] – Genevieve Dulude-de Celles (Canada/Italy/Bulgaria/Belgium)
Flies – Fernando Eimbcke (Mexico)
Yo (Love Is a Rebellious Bird) – Anna Fitch, Banker White (USA)
Everybody Digs Bill Evans [+see also:
film review
interview: Grant Gee
film profile] – Grant Gee (Ireland/UK)
Dao [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Alain Gomis
film profile] – Alain Gomis (France/Senegal/Guinea-Bissau)
Queen at Sea [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Lance Hammer
film profile] – Lance Hammer (UK/USA)
Soumsoum, The Night of the Stars [+see also:
film review
interview: Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
film profile] – Mahamat-Saleh Haroun (France/Chad)
At the Sea [+see also:
film review
interview: Kornél Mundruczó
film profile] – Kornél Mundruczó (USA/Hungary)
My Wife Cries [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] – Angela Schanelec (Germany/France)
Rose [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] – Markus Schleinzer (Austria/Germany)
A New Dawn [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] – Yoshitoshi Shinomiya (Japan/France)
Wolfram – Warwick Thornton (Australia)
Home Stories [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Eva Trobisch
film profile] – Eva Trobisch (Germany)

Perspectives

Chronicles from the Siege [+see also:
film review
interview: Abdallah Al-Khatib
film profile] – Abdallah Alkhatib (Algeria/France/Palestine)
Forest High [+see also:
film review
interview: Manon Coubia
film profile] – Manon Coubia (Belgium/France)
Truly Naked [+see also:
film review
interview: Muriel d’Ansembourg
film profile] – Muriel d’Ansembourg (Netherlands/Belgium/France)
The River Train – Lorenzo Ferro, Lucas A Vignale (Argentina)
Where To? – Assaf Machnes (Israel/Germany)
Filipiñana [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Rafael Manuel
film profile] – Rafael Manuel (Singapore/UK/Philippines/France/Netherlands)
17 [+see also:
film review
interview: Kosara Mitić
film profile] – Kosara Mitic (North Macedonia/Serbia/Slovenia)
Our Secret [+see also:
film review
interview: Grace Passô
film profile] – Grace Passô (Brazil/Portugal)
The Red Hangar [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] – Juan Pablo Sallato (Chile/Argentina/Italy)
Take Me Home – Liz Sargent (USA)
Trial of Hein [+see also:
film review
interview: Kai Stänicke
film profile] – Kai Stänicke (Germany)
A Prayer for the Dying [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Dara Van Dusen
film profile] – Dara Van Dusen (Norway/Greece/UK/Sweden)
Animol – Ashley Walters (UK)
Light Pillar - Xu Zao (China)