Screen profiles the Competition line-up for this year’s Berlin film festival (February 15-25) which includes new films from Mati Diop, Bruno Dumont, Claire Burger, Gustav Möller, Olivier Assayas and Hong Sangsoo.
Another End (It)
Dir. Piero Messina
Italian filmmaker Messina’s second feature marks his return to the festival circuit, nine years after Juliette Binoche-led debut The Wait competed at Venice in 2015. Another End boasts an international ensemble including Gael Garcia Bernal and The Worst Person In The World breakout Renate Reinsve. Bernal stars as a grieving widower who finds solace in a new partner implanted with his dead wife’s memories. Another End is produced by Indigo Film with Rai Cinema, in association with France’s TF1 Studio and UK outfits Anton and Number 9 Films.
Contact: Newen Connect
Architecton (Ger-Fr)
Dir. Victor Kossakovsky
Russian filmmaker and renowned documentarist Kossakovsky brings his architecture-centred documentary, which focuses on the material that makes up our habitat (be it concrete or previously stone) and asks how we inhabit the world of tomorrow. It is Kossakovsky’s first feature since 2020’s Gunda, which was selected for the Berlinale’s Encounters section. Architecton is produced by Germany’s ma.ja.de Filmproduktion in co-production with France’s Les Films du Balibari and Point du Jour International. A24 helped finance and has US rights.
Contact: The Match Factory
Black Tea (Fr-Mauritania-Lux-Tai-Ivory Coast)
Dir. Abderrahmane Sissako
Black Tea is veteran Mauritania-born filmmaker Sissako’s first feature since Timbuktu, which premiered in Cannes’ Competition in 2014 where it won the prize of the ecumenical jury and went on to be Oscar- and Bafta-nominated. His new film follows a woman who flees Ivory Coast on her wedding day for a new life in Guangzhou, China. There she discovers the ancient art of the ritual of tea. Set between China, the Ivory Coast and Cape Verde, Black Tea is produced by Cinefrance Studios, Archipel 35 and Dune Vision.
Contact: Alexis Cassanet, Gaumont
Dahomey (Fr-Senegal-Benin)
Dir. Mati Diop
French-Senegalese director Diop burst onto the international scene with her debut feature Atlantics, which won the grand prix at Cannes in 2019. Now she reteams with Atlantics producer Les Films du Bal alongside Senegal’s Fanta Sy for documentary Dahomey, about the French colonisation of Africa. The film follows the story of royal artefacts stolen by French colonial troops in 1892, which were sent back to what is now the Republic of Benin in 2021.
Contact: Alice Lesort, Les Films du Losange
The Devil’s Bath (Austria-Ger)
Dirs. Veronika Franz, Severin Fiala
Period psychological thriller The Devil’s Bath is directed by the filmmaking duo behind 2014 Venice title Goodnight Mommy, which was remade in English in 2022 with Naomi Watts starring. The pair made their own English-language debut with 2019 Sundance title The Lodge. Their latest is set in rural Austria in 1750 and stars Anja Plaschg as an oppressed, newly married woman who commits a shocking act of violence. The film reteams Franz and Fiala with Ulrich Seidl, who also produced Goodnight Mommy.
Contact: Playtime
A Different Man (US)
Dir. Aaron Schimberg
One of the most acclaimed films to come out of Sundance last month, A Different Man stars Sebastian Stan as a struggling actor with neurofibromatosis who undergoes a startling physical transformation thanks to a radical treatment, only to find life has not necessarily become any easier. Another End’s Renate Reinsve and UK actor and activist Adam Pearson also star in Schimberg’s third feature, which has its international premiere at the Berlinale. He previously directed Pearson in 2018 drama Chained For Life, which played Fantasia Film Festival.
Contact: A24 Films
Dying (Ger)
Dir. Matthias Glasner
Glasner’s previous films Gnade (2012) and The Free Will (2006) played in Competition at the Berlinale, and his latest has an ensemble cast that includes leading German actor Lars Eidinger alongside Corinna Harfouch, Lilith Stangenberg and Ronald Zehrfeld. Dying revolves around an estranged family: the father is in a care home and the mother is ill. Their son, played by Eidinger, is a conductor working on a composition called ‘Dying’, while his sister is an alcoholic. When Death turns up on the doorstep, the family members finally meet again.
Contact: The Match Factory
The Empire (Fr-It-Ger-Belg-Port)
Dir. Bruno Dumont
Set in a fishing village on the Opal Coast in northern France, Dumont’s 11th fiction feature tells the story of a unique and peculiar child who unleashes a secret war between extraterrestrial forces of good and evil. The film’s cast includes Anamaria Vartolomei (Happening), Lyna Khoudri, Camille Cottin, Fabrice Luchini and Brandon Vlieghe. The Empire is produced by Tessalit Productions in co-production with Germany’s Red Balloon Film, Italy’s Ascent Film, Belgium’s Novak Prod, Portugal’s Rosa Filmes and France’s Furyo Films.
Contact: Memento International
From Hilde, With Love (Ger)
Dir. Andreas Dresen
Babylon Berlin star Liv Lisa Fries takes the lead in Dresen’s latest, based on the true story of married couple Hilde and Hans Coppi, executed in Berlin for their involvement in the anti-Nazi resistance. The film focuses on Hilde, who gave birth in prison and spent only a few months with her son before her death in 1943. Dresen’s films include Cannes’ Un Certain Regard titles Stopped On Track (2011) and Cloud 9 (2008), and four previous Berlinale Competition films: Nightshapes, Grill Point, As We Were Dreaming and Rabiye Kurnaz Vs. George W. Bush.
Contact: Beta Cinema
Gloria! (It-Switz)
Dir. Margherita Vicario
The directing debut of Italian actress and singer Vicario recreates 18th-century Venice, as musically gifted girls in a boarding school reject archaic notions of the art for a more rebellious and contemporary sound. Vicario wrote the screenplay with Anita Rivaroli and co-produced the score with fellow musician Dade. French actress Galatéa Bellugi leads the cast, which also includes real-life musicians from Italian bands. Gloria! is a joint production between Italy’s tempesta and Rai Cinema along with Swiss production company Tellfilm.
Contact: Fulvio Fritto, Rai Cinema
La Cocina (Mex-US)
Dir. Alonso Ruizpalacios
Mexican filmmaker Ruizpalacios returns to Berlin after earning global attention at the festival with previous selections Gueros (2014, winner of best first feature), Museo (2018, Silver Bear for best screenplay) and A Cop Movie (2021). His latest interweaves stories of the staff at a New York restaurant, and stars Rooney Mara, Raul Briones and Oded Fehr. The story is based on Arnold Wesker’s stageplay The Kitchen, which was set in the 1950s London restaurant scene.
Contact: HanWay Films
Langue Étrangère (Fr-Ger-Belg)
Dir. Claire Burger
Burger, a winner of the Caméra d’Or at Cannes for 2014 feature debut Party Girl and Venice Days’ best film prize with 2018’s Real Love (C’est Ça L’amour), returns with the coming-of-age story of a teenage girl who visits her pen pal in Germany. Langue Étrangère stars Chiara Mastroianni, Nina Hoss and Lilith Grasmug (Thunder) and is produced by Anatomy Of A Fall producer Marie-Ange Luciani’s Les Films de Pierre with Belgium’s Les Films du Fleuve and Germany’s Razor Film Produktion. Burger wrote Langue Étrangère in collaboration with The Five Devils director Léa Mysius.
Contact: Flavien Eripret, Goodfellas
My Favourite Cake (Iran-Fr-Swe-Ger)
Dirs. Maryam Moghaddam, Behtash Sanaeeha
Iranian duo Moghaddam and Sanaeeha return to Competition three years after Ballad Of A White Cowdebuted at the Berlinale, selling to more than 40 territories worldwide. Their latest follows a 70-year-old woman who breaks out of her solitary routine by trying to invigorate her love life; newcomer Lili Farhadpour stars opposite established Iranian actor Esmaeel Mehrabi. The film has backing from the Swedish Film Institute, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg and the World Cinema Fund. It won the Eurimages Co-Production Development award at the 2022 Berlinale Co-Production Market.
Contact: Margot Hervée, Totem Films
Pepe (Dom Rep-Namibia-Ger-Fr)
Dir. Nelson Carlos de los Santos Arias
Dominican filmmaker Arias’s revenge drama Cocote was his country’s Oscar submission in 2019 and won prizes at Locarno, Mar del Plata, Istanbul and Cartagena film festivals. The director arrives in Berlin with this story of a young hippopotamus slain in the Colombian jungle that returns as a ghost. Pepe was selected for the DAAD Berlin, Arché Lisbon and Márgenes Madrid residencies, won support from the Hubert Bals scriptwriting fund and was selected for the Proyecta showcase at Ventana Sur 2019, returning to the Buenos Aires market last December as a post-production selection in Copia Final.
Contact: Monte y Culebra
Shambhala (Nepal-Fr-Nor-HK-China-Turkey-Tai-US-Qat)
Dir. Min Bahadur Bham
Director Bham’s latest film is set to be the first ever from Nepal and the first from South Asia in over three decades playing in Berlin’s Competition. Previously known as A Year Of Cold, the film is set in a high-altitude Himalayan polyandrous village where an expectant mother ventures on a long journey to look for one of her husbands, accompanied by a monk. This multi-territory co‑production is produced by Bham’s Shooney Films, with Catherine Dussart, Verona Meier, Chong Shuk Fong and Zeynep Koray among the co-producers. Bham’s feature debut The Black Hen premiered in Critics’ Week at Venice in 2015, where it won the Fedeora best film award. His 2012 short The Flute was the first from Nepal selected for Venice.
Contact: Martin Gondre, Best Friend Forever
Small Things Like These (Ire-Belg)
Dir. Tim Mielants
The Berlinale’s opening film unfurls over Christmas 1985 and stars Cillian Murphy as a coal merchant who uncovers dark secrets about a local convent, against the backdrop of Ireland’s Magdalene laundries. It is adapted from a book by Claire Keegan, who also wrote Foster, the source material for Berlinale 2022 title The Quiet Girl. Murphy and Alan Moloney produce along with Catherine Magee, with financing from Artists Equity and Screen Ireland, and Wilder Content as the Belgian co-producer. Belgian Mielants’ debut feature Patrickpremiered at Karlovy Vary, with TV series The Responder among his credits.
Contact: FilmNation Entertainment
Sons (Den-Swe)
Dir. Gustav Möller
Swedish director Möller’s 2018 feature debut The Guilty won an audience award at Sundance, grossed more than $4.5m worldwide and was Denmark’s shortlisted Oscar entry. It was also remade in the US starring Jake Gyllenhaal. Möller’s second directing effort is a psychological thriller starring Sidse Babett Knudsen as an idealistic prison officer faced with a challenge when a man from her past is transferred to her workplace. Lina Flint produced for Nordisk Film, uniting a Scandi dream team with the Danish and Swedish film institutes and Nordisk Film & TV Fond.
Contact: Alice Lesort, Les Films du Losange
Suspended Time (Fr)
Dir. Olivier Assayas
The always experimenting Assayas returns to features following his latest small-screen detour with HBO series Irma Vep, this time with an autobiographical story that stars French actor Vincent Macaigne as the filmmaker’s alter ago. The meta tale also stars Micha Lescot and Nora Hamzawi and is produced by festival-feeding Curiosa Films, which was behind Cannes 2023 selections The Taste Of Things and All To Play For.
Contact: Playtime
A Traveler’s Needs (S Kor)
Dir. Hong Sangsoo
Berlinale regular Hong returns with his seventh film to compete for the Golden Bear. The Korean filmmaker’s latest is a lighthearted drama starring Isabelle Huppert as a woman who becomes a French teacher for two Korean women after finding herself with no money or means of support. It marks the third collaboration between Huppert and Hong after 2012’s In Another Country and 2017’s Claire’s Camera, both of which were selected for Cannes. It is produced by Jeonwonsa Film Co.
Contact: Finecut (international); Les Films du Camelia (French-speaking territories, Germany and Romania)
Who Do I Belong To (Tunisia-Fr-Can-Nor-Qat-Saudi)
Dir. Meryam Joobeur
Hopes are high for Joobeur’s debut feature (previously Motherhood) which has been through Doha Film Institute’s Qumra and Marrakech Film Festival’s Atlas labs, winning a post-production prize at the latter. The Tunisian-Canadian director also attended Sundance’s 2021 screenwriter lab with the drama, which follows a mother searching for the truth when her son returns from fighting for Islamic State. Joobeur’s Brotherhood was Oscar-nominated for best live-action short in 2018. Producers on Who Do I Belong To include her compatriot Nadim Cheikhrouha (Four Daughters, Benda Bilili!).
Contact: Luxbox Films
Profiles by Ellie Calnan, Ben Dalton, Tim Dams, Elaine Guerini, Jeremy Kay, Rebecca Leffler, Michael Rosser, Mona Tabbara, Shaurya Thapa, Silvia Wong
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