Be For Films to ride high in Berlin

by Fabien Lemercier

10/02/2026 - Sales prospects look strong for the sales agent, whose line-up boasts Golden Bear contenders Yellow Letters by Ilker Çatak and The Loneliest Man in Town by Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel

Yellow Letters by Ilker Çatak

Following the selection of Ari [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Léonor Serraille
film profile] last year, Belgian sales agent Be For Films (a subsidiary of the French group Playtime) led by Pamela Leu is returning to the competition section of the 76th Berlinale (12-22 February). But this time round it’s stepping things up a gear, with not one but two titles battling it out for the Golden Bear: Yellow Letters [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by German director Ilker Çatak and The Loneliest Man in Town by Italy’s Tizza Covi and Austria’s Rainer Frimmel. The sales agent also boasts Enjoy Your Stay in the Panorama section, a movie directed by Switzerland’s Dominik Locher and the Philippines’ Honeylyn Joy Alipio.

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Yellow Letters sees Ilker Çatak selected for the most prestigious showcase in a major festival for the very first time, riding the wave of success enjoyed by his previous film, The Teachers’ Lounge [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: İlker Çatak
interview: Leonie Benesch
film profile] (triumphant in the 2023 Berlinale’s Panorama line-up and nominated for 2024’s Best International Feature Film Oscar). This time round, the Berlin-born filmmaker has chosen to tell a story set in his parents’ homeland of Turkey. Co-written with Ayda Meryem Çatak and Enis Köstepen, the story centres on Derya (Özgü Namal) and Aziz (Tansu Biçer), a well-known artistic couple from Ankara leading a fulfilled life with their 13-year-old daughter, until an incident at the premiere of their new play changes everything. Suddenly targeted by the state and struggling to strike a balance between their ideals and the necessities of life, their marriage is pushed to breaking point… Production of this feature film falls to if… Productions (Germany) in co-production with Haut et Court (France) and Liman Film (Turkey).

The second jewel in Be For Films’ Berlinale line-up is The Loneliest Man in Town by Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel, which is the 8th feature film by the duo whose works have previously screened in Cannes (La Pivellina [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] in the 2009 Directors’ Fortnight), Venice (Vera [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Tizza Covi, Rainer Frimmel
film profile], which won Best Actress and Best Director in the Orizzonti section in 2022), Locarno (in competition in 2012 and 2016 by way of The Shine of Day [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Rainer Frimmel
film profile] and Mister Universo [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], winning Best Actor and a Special Mention, respectively) and Berlin (Babooska, selected in the 2005 Forum section, and Notes from the Underworld [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel
film profile], awarded a Special Mention in the 2020 Panorama line-up). Starring Alois Koch, Brigitte Meduna, Alfred Blechinger and Flurina Schneider, this new opus (penned by Tizza Covi) centres on blues musician Al Cook who lives in an apartment crammed with memories. Outside, the world carries on turning without him. But when his home is slated for demolition, a long-forgotten dream suddenly resurfaces amid the ruins of his existence… Production of this feature film falls to Austrian outfit Vento Film.

Be For Films will also be handling sales on Enjoy Your Stay by Swiss director Dominik Locher (in competition in Locarno in 2017 via Goliath [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Dominik Locher
film profile]), which will world-premiere in the Panorama section. The cast includes Mercedes Cabral, Alexis Manenti and Anna Luna. Written by the director together with the Philippines’ Honeylyn Joy Alipio (whose credits include writing three of Brillante Mendoza’s films), the story revolves around 35-year-old Luz. To avoid losing custody of her daughter in Manila, this undocumented Filipino housekeeper working in Verbier’s luxury chalets is forced to pay off her debt and scrape together money by any means necessary, even if it means betraying her community and overstepping her own moral boundaries… Production of this feature film falls to Close Up Films (Switzerland) in co-production with JBA Productions (France). Photography comes courtesy of Jeanne Lapoirie.

Last but not least, the European Film Market will see Be For Films kicking off pre-sales on L’incident by Victoria Musiedlak (who turned heads on Locarno’s Piazza Grande in 2023 with The Trial [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Victoria Musiedlak
film profile]), which will star Tahar Rahim, Alba Rohrwacher and Jean-Pierre Darroussin. The script for this Ligne 2 production, set to shoot in the spring, focuses on Harry and Appolonia, who are a very close couple and parents to two little girls, who return to France after 15 years abroad. While on holiday at Harry’s parents’ house, Appolonia tells her husband she was the victim of an inappropriate advance on the part of her father-in-law. A rift subsequently opens up between the couple...