223 films are being screened at this year's Berlinale: you can choose between high-quality art-house productions, bold experiments, classics of film history, children's films, comedies and tragedies, assessments of our reality or cinematic poetry.
We have already taken a look at the programme for you and selected eleven promising films – even we found it difficult to decide. Among them are some classics of film history that are worth rediscovering or discovering for the first time.
Enjoy the cinema.
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Tip 1: No Good Men
This year's opening film comes from Germany: No Good Men is Shahrbanoo Sadat's third feature film. The Afghan director's first two films have already been screened at Cannes, where they caused quite a stir. In the romantic comedy No Good Men , Shahrbanoo Sadat also plays the lead role of a young woman who believes that there are no good men in Afghanistan.
The film is set shortly before the return of the Taliban and thus before the total disenfranchisement of women in Afghanistan, which gives the comedy a serious political undertone.
Tip 2: At the Sea
"We found so much to love in this year's exceptionally strong competition programme. And we are so convinced of the charm of these 22 films that we can say without hesitation: if you don't find something to love here, you don't love cinema!" said festival director Tricia Tuttle.
And so, a colourful bouquet of exciting competition films awaits us, including the Bear contender At the Sea. The film, starring the wonderful Amy Adams, tells the story of a woman who has to cope with her life again after rehab. The last two films by acclaimed Hungarian director Kornél Mundruczó (Pieces of a Woman and Evolution) were screened at Cannes, and now he is represented in the Berlinale competition with the US-Hungarian co-production At the Sea .
Tip 3: Rosebrush Pruning
We can expect a large array of stars in the competition entry Rosebrush Pruning, as the cast includes Callum Turner, who is hotly tipped to be the next James Bond, as well as Riley Keough, Jamie Bell, Pamela Anderson and Elle Fanning, who has just been nominated for Sentimental Value. Karim Aïnouz directed the family drama.
Tip 4: Good luck, have fun, don't die
The science fiction action comedy Good luck, have fun, Don't die by Gore Verbinski, who already entertained audiences with the first three Pirates of the Caribbean films, promises to be great fun.
A man from the future (played by Sam Rockwell) enters a diner and has to find the right people to help destroy an artificial intelligence before it destroys humanity. Michael Peña and Juno Temple also star.
Tip 5: Árru
The Berlinale is a festival for the public, and the audience naturally also awards a prize. In the Panorama section, 37 films from 36 countries are vying for the audience's favour and hoping to follow in the footsteps of audience favourites such as The Broken Circle Breakdown and Parada.
Among them is the Norwegian film Árru about a Sami reindeer herder who fights against a construction project and has to deal with old traumas. Set in the Arctic landscape, director Elle Sofe Sara's film promises to be a special discovery, as it is the first to feature yoik music from the Sami people with .
Tip 6: Berlinale Special Midnight
The midnight series at the Delphi cinema, where Hong Kong cinema came to Berlin years ago and caused sold-out screenings and bright enthusiasm, is unforgettable. Now there is finally another midnight series with two horror films and an entertaining documentary about the heavy metal band Judas Priest. And if the films in the Berlinale Special Midnightcreate even half the atmosphere that the films did back then, we can look forward to some short nights.
Tip 7: Run Lola Run
This year's retrospective is dedicated to films from the 1990s, when the world was changing dramatically. American independent films such as Bamboozled, Boyz in the Hood and Slacker will be shown , as well as films about the fall of the Berlin Wall and the upheavals of that time , and works that are now considered classics, such as La double vie de Véronique.
And like no other German film, Run Lola Run captured the zeitgeist of that era – and of the city of Berlin. Fresh and original in its storytelling and bursting with ideas, Run Lola Run made cinema history – and still seems as young today as it did in 1998.
Tip 8: Secrets of a Soul
The Berlinale Classics series features restored masterpieces of film history, ranging this year from the silent film Secrets of a Soul to Leaving Las Vegas from 1995.
Georg Wilhelm Pabst's Secrets of a Soul is an early portrayal of Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic theories. The film will be shown in a restored 4K version, accompanied by live music, with the viola player's brain activity being translated into electronic sounds and a light installation in the auditorium. This is sure to be a very special highlight.
Tip 9: A Prayer for the Dying
Launched last year, the Perspectives section showcases debut works by young filmmakers from around the world. So let yourself be surprised by new perspectives and fresh voices. Last year, for example, the enchanting, summery film Le rendez-vous de l'été was screened here. And there are sure to be more great films to discover this year.
The film A Prayer for the Dying by Dara Van Dusen has already won over two renowned actors, Johnny Flynn and John C. Reilly. Johnny Flynn, by the way, plays the role of Lucius Malfoy in the upcoming Harry Potter series.
Tip 10: Lord of the Flies
And we meet another Harry Potter actor from the new series: Lox Pratt plays Draco Malfoy, Johnny Flynn's son. But at the Berlinale, he can first be seen in the series Lord of the Flies, a new film adaptation of William Golding's classic about a group of boys who have to create their own rules on a remote island.
Tip 11: 40 Years of the TEDDY AWARD – Tomboy
It's time to celebrate: the TEDDY AWARD is turning 40. For all that time, the TEDDY AWARD has been honouring queer films from all sections of the Berlinale. To mark the anniversary, the special series TEDDY 40 is showing six short films and eight feature films from the history of the TEDDY AWARD. Among them is the film Tomboy about a girl who feels like a boy. It was directed by Céline Sciamma, who has since made a great career with Portrait de la jeune fille en feu and Petite Maman .
