“Our love of cinema and all types of film is reflected in the diversity of our program selection. We share this passion and joy for cinema with our audience. In the future, we want to inspire new audiences and open up to a younger audience in order to welcome a new generation of film fans to Berlin.” Tricia Tuttle made this statement in the run-up to the line-up announcement as the new director of the Berlinale. It is important that the festival remains a place of encounters, exchange and networking and that it is strengthened in this respect. To this end, Potsdamer Platz will once again take center stage as the festival center.
After several films from different sections have already been announced in recent weeks, the organizers presented the official line-up at today's press conference. Over 240 films will be screened in 15 venues in Berlin over the ten days, with the Berlinale Palast once again being the heart of the festival with the Competition and Berlinale Special Gala films.
From a German perspective, the line-up with 66 productions and co-productions is more numerous and diverse than ever before.
The world premiere of Tom Tykwer's latest feature film THE LIGHT will open the 75th Berlin International Film Festival on February 13, 2025. The German-French production will be presented as a Berlinale Special Gala at the Berlinale Palast. Starring the internationally acclaimed German star Lars Eidinger and the renowned actress Nicolette Krebitz, the drama tells the story of the Engels family, who have become rather estranged until the housekeeper Farrah (Tala Al-Deen) enters their lives and changes the family structure in a special way. In cooperation with X Verleih, the Berlinale will present a live broadcast of the opening gala and the opening film in seven cities across Germany to mark its 75th anniversary. The opening on February 13 at 7 pm in the Berlinale Palast will be broadcast in the following cinemas: Düsseldorf (Cinema Filmkunstkino), Frankfurt (Main) CINÉMA Arthouse Kino), Hamburg (Zeise Kinos), Cologne (CINENOVA), Leipzig (Passage Kinos), Munich (City Kinos) and Stuttgart (Atelier Am Bollwerk).
In the Competition, two German films will compete with 17 others for the favor of the International Jury, chaired by US director and screenwriter Todd Haynes, and the Golden Bear. WHAT MARIELLE KNOWS by Frédéric Hambalek is about Julia, Tobias and their daughter Marielle, who lead a quiet and comfortable life in apparent harmony. But the idyll is shattered when Marielle suddenly and inexplicably can see and hear everything her parents do - always and everywhere. A biting film about the loss of privacy and the question: would children still love their parents if they knew everything about them?
Ameer Fakher Eldin's YUNAN is about a well-known Syrian author who is unable to return to his home country after being granted asylum in Germany. In his existential crisis, he searches for a place where he can kill himself. But when he ends up on a remote Hallig in the North Sea, an elderly woman inspires the young man to give life a second chance.
PUNCHING THE WORLD by Constanze Klaue will be shown in the Perspectives, the new first fiction feature competition section. The drama revolves around the brothers Philipp and Tobi, who grow up in provincial Saxony. Their childhood is marked by the disintegration of their own family and the lack of prospects for an entire region. Years later, when a refugee home is to be built, the situation escalates. While one brother withdraws, the other finds an outlet for his anger.
In addition to the film screenings in the various sections, the European Film Market (EFM) will once again open its doors at the Gropius Bau on seven market days from February 13 to 19, 2025. Under the new management of Tanja Meissner, the EFM will once again be a meeting place for international industry representatives, including producers, global sales agents and distributors as well as cinema operators, high-tech companies and investors from all over the world.
German Films will also be represented with a booth (#18) at the Gropius Bau.
This year, 35 film projects from 27 countries have been selected for the 22nd Berlinale Co-Production Market (February 15 to 19). As a central meeting point, it is geared towards the specific needs of internationally experienced producers and financiers and also offers an interesting information program. German Films has selected the following five producers for this year's event: Paola Alvarez (Paola A. Filmproduktion), Daniel Tenné (70 Steps), Stephan Bernardes (arkanum pictures), Janina Sara Hennemann and Anna Werner (Seven Elephants).
All of the German productions and co-productions in Berlin at a glance:
Competition
WHAT MARIELLE KNOWS (WAS MARIELLE WEISS) by Frédéric Hambalek (Walker+Worm, Frédéric Hambalek Produktion)
YUNAN by Ameer Fakher Eldin (DE/CA/PS/IT/QA/JO, Red Balloon Film)
MOTHER’S BABY by Johanna Moder (AT/CH/DE, Match Factory Productions)
THE ICE TOWER by Lucile Hadžihalilović (FR/DE, Sutor Kolonko)
Perspectives
PUNCHING THE WORLD (MIT DER FAUST IN DIE WELT SCHLAGEN) by Constanze Klaue (Chromosom Film, Flare Film)
THE SETTLEMENT by Mohamed Rashad (EG/FR/DE/QA/SA)
Berlinale Special Gala
ISLANDS by Jan-Ole Gerster (Augenschein Filmproduktion)
KÖLN 75 by Ido Fluk (DE/PL/BL, One Two Films)
THE LIGHT (DAS LICHT) by Tom Tykwer (DE/FR, X Filme Creative Pool, Gretchenfilm, B.A. Filmproduktion) – OPENING FILM
LATE SHIFT (HELDIN) by Petra Volpe (CH/DE)
Berlinale Special
ANCESTRAL VISIONS OF THE FUTURE by Lemohang Jeremiah Moses (FR/LS/DE/SA/QA, Seera Films)
DAS DEUTSCHE VOLK by Marcin Wierzchowski (milk&water, Strandfilm)
NO BEAST. SO FIERCE (KEIN TIER. SO WILD) by Burhan Qurbani (DE/FR/PL, Sommerhaus Filmproduktion)
LEIBNIZ by Edgar Reitz (if…productions, Edgar Reitz Filmproduktion)
Panorama
DELICIOUS by Nele Mueller-Stöfen (Komplizen Film)
HYSTERIA by Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay (filmfaust)
ICH WILL ALLES. HILDEGARD KNEF. by Luzia Schmid (zero one film)
LETTERS FROM WOLF STREET (LISTY Z WILCZEJ) by Arjun Talwar (PL/DE, inselfilm production)
OTHER PEOPLE’S MONEY (DIE AFFÄRE CUM-EX) by Jan Schomburg, Dustin Loose, Kaspar Munk (DE/DN/AT, X Filme Creative Pool)
PETER HUJAR’S DAY by Ira Sachs (US/DE, One Two Films)
THE GOOD SISTER (SCHWESTERHERZ) by Sarah Miro Fischer (DE/ES, DFFB, Arkanum Pictures)
WELCOME HOME BABY by Andreas Prochaska (AT/DE, Senator Film Produktion)
ZIKADEN by Ina Weisse (DE/FR, Lupa Film)
Panorama Dokumente
BAJOS LAS BANDERAS, EL SOL (UNDER THE FLAGS, THE SUN) by Juanjo Pereira (PY/AR/US/FR/DE)
KHARTOUM by Anas Saeed, Rawia Alhag, Ibrahim Snoopy, Timeea M Ahmed, Phil Cox (SD/UK/DE/QA)
THE MOELLN LETTERS (DIE MÖLLNER BRIEFE) by Martina Priessner (inselfilm produktion)
LETTERS FROM WOLF STREET (LISTY Z WILCZEJ) by Arjun Talwar (PL/DE)
MONK IN PIECES by Billy Shebar (US/DE/FR)
Generation Kplus
ZIRKUSKIND by Anna Koch, Julia Lemke (Flare Film)
Generation 14plus
PATERNAL LEAVE by Alissa Jung (DE/IT, MFP)
Berlinale Shorts
IN RETROSPECT (RÜCKBLICKEND BETRACHTET) by Daniel Asadi Faezi, Mila Zhluktenko
PREKID VATRE (CEASEFIRE) by Jakob Krese (DE/IT/SI, Majmun Films)
Berlinale Shorts Sonderprogramm
THREE STONES FOR JEAN GENET by Frieder Schlaich (Filmgalerie 451)
Forum
BATIM by Veronica Nicole Tetelbaum (IL/DE, Zwillingfilm)
MINIMALS IN A TITANIC WOLRD by Mbabazi Sharangabo Philbert Aimé (RW/DE/CM, Chromosom Film)
PALLIATIVE CARE UNIT (PALLIATIVSTATION) by Philipp Döring
SIRENS CALL by Miri Ian Gossing, Lina Sieckmann (DE/NL, filmfaust)
THE KISS OF THE GRASSHOPPER (DER KUSS DES GRASHÜPFERS) by Elmar Imanov (DE/LX/IT, Color of May)
2024 (2023) by Stefan Hayn
JANINE ZIEHT AUFS LAND by Jan Eilhardt (Eilhardt Productions)
WHEN LIGHTNING FLASHES OVER THE SEA by EVA Neymann (DE/UA, Blue Monticola Film)
Forum Special
FRUIT FARM (GUOCHANG) by Nana Xu (DE/CN)
IRACEMA (IRACEMA, UMA TRANSA AMAZÔNICA) by Jorge Bodanzky, Orlando Senna (BR/DE)
THE LIE (DAS FALSCHE WORT) by Katrin Seibold (Karin Seybold Film)
Forum Expanded
ALTERNATIVE MONUMENT FOR GERMANY (ALTERNATIVES DENKMAL FÜR DEUTSCHLAND) by Alternative Monument
J-N-N by Ginan Seidl
MIRACULOUS ACCIDENT by Assaf Gruber (DE/AT, CaSk Films)
RAPTURE by Alisa Berger (FR/DE, FORTIS FEM FILM)
SINKING SUNS by Neda Saeedi (AT/DE)
STARS by STARS Collective (UK/DE)
Retroperspektive
BLOODY FRIDAY (BLUTIGER FREITAG) by Ralf Olsen (DE/IT)
CARNATIONS IN ASPIC (NELKEN IN ASPIK) by Günter Reisch
DEADLOCK by Roland Klick
DON’T CHEAT, DARLING! (NICHT SCHUMMELN, LIEBLING!) by Joachim Hasler
HAT OFF, WHEN YOU KISS! (HUT AB, WENN DU KÜSST!) by Rolf Losansky
JONATHAN by Hans W. Geißendörfer
LADY DRACULA by Franz Josef Gottlieb
ONE OR THE OTHER OF US (EINER VON UNS BEIDEN) by Wolfgang Petersen
ORPHEUS IN THE UNDERWORLD (ORPHEUS IN DER UNTERWELT) by Horst Bonnet
OUTPUT by Michael Fengler
ROCKER by Klaus Lemke
SPARE PARTS (FLEISCH) by Rainer Erler
STRANGE CITY (FREMDE STADT) by Rudolf Thome
TENDERNESS OF THE WOLVES (ZÄRTLICHKEIT DER WÖLFE) by Ulli Lommel
THE GIRLS FROM ATLANTIS (MÄNNER SIND ZUM LIEBEN DA) by Eckhart Schmidt
Berlinale Classics
SOLO SUNNY by Konrad Wolf (DEFA-Studio für Spielf
