Berlin is once again ready to roll out the red carpet for this year’s 75th International Film Festival.
Nineteen films will compete for the coveted Golden and Silver Bears under the creative direction of Tricia Tuttle. Among the hopefuls is one first feature and one documentary. Twenty six countries are represented. seventeen films are world premieres.
Main Competition
ARI – Léonor Serraille | France/Belgium
Andranic Manet, Pascal Rénéric, Théo Delezenne, Ryad Ferrad, Eva Lallier Juan
Andranic Manet is Ari, a young teacher who leaves his job and family home. Lost and alone, he reconnects with old friends, triggering a journey of self-discovery.
Blue Moon – Richard Linklater | USA Ireland
Ethan Hawke, Margaret Qualley, Bobby Cannavale, Andrew Scott star in this musical drama that looks at the turbulent times of legendary musical duo Rodgers and Hart. The film’s focus is the evening of March 31, 1943, when legendary lyricist Lorenz Hart is forced to confront his shattered self-confidence in Sardi’s bar as his former collaborator Richard Rodgers celebrates the opening night of his ground-breaking hit musical “Oklahoma!”.
La Cache – Lionel Baier | Switzerland / Luxembourg / France 2025
Michel Blanc gives his final performance alongside Dominique Reymond, William Lebghil, Aurélien Gabrielli and Liliane Rovère in this eccentric family portrait set during the May 1968 protests in Paris. A nine-year-old boy stays with his grandparents and uncles while his parents protest. When an illustrious guest seeks refuge in the apartment, the family’s dynamics change.
Dreams – Michel Franco | Mexico 2025
Believing his lover will support him, a young Mexican ballet dancer crosses the border to pursue his dreams in San Francisco. But as ambition and love clash with harsh realities, he must face the true nature of their relationship. Jessica Chastain, Isaac Hernández, Rupert Friend, Marshall Bell star in this follow-up to Memory
Drømmer (Dreams (Sex Love)) – Dag Johan Haugerud | Norway 2024
Johanne’s intimate writings about her crush on her teacher ignite both tension and self-reflection within her family, as her mother and grandmother confront their own unfulfilled dreams and desires. Ella Øverbye, Selome Emnetu, Ane Dahl Torp, Anne Marit Jacobsen
Geu jayeoni nege mworago hani (What Does that Nature Say to You) – Hong Sangsoo | South Korea 2025
Cast: Ha Seongguk, Kwon Haehyo, Cho Yunhee, Kang Soyi, Park Miso
Hong Sangsoo’s has made over forty films. His latest, a drole comedy centres on a poet who spends an amusing day with his girlfriend and her family, fueled by conversation, food and libations.
Hot Milk – Rebecca Lenkiewicz | UK 2025
An English film with a starry cast is finally in the main competiton at this year’s Berlinale. Hot Milk, a first feature for Rebecca Lenkiewic. Emma Mackey and Fiona Shaw play and mother and daughter on holiday in scorching Spain where they are overcome by a mesmerising healer (Vicky Krieps). Vincent Perez stars as a mysterious stranger
If I Had Legs I’d Kick You | Mary Bronstein | USA 2024
With her life crashing down around her, Lynda (Rose Byrne) attempts to navigate her child’s mysterious illness, her absent husband, a missing person, and an increasingly hostile relationship with her therapist.
Kontinental ’25 – Radu Jude | Romania 2025
Orsolya is a bailiff in Cluj, the main city in Transylvania. One day she has to evict a homeless man from a cellar, an action with tragic consequences that triggers a moral crisis which Orsolya must weather as best she can.
El mensaje (The Message | Die Nachricht) | Ivan Fund | Arg/Spain
In the Argentinian countryside, a child’s special gift gives her opportunistic guardians the idea of offering consultations with an animal medium in order to earn a living.
Mother’s Baby – Austria / Switzerland / Germany 2025
Claes Bang stars in this family drama about a woman failing to bond with her new born child
Reflet dans un diamant mort (Reflection in a Dead Diamond) | Belgium/Lux/Italy/France 2025
The wacky duo Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani are back eight years after their last feature Let the Corpses Tan. This one stars Fabio Testi, Yannick Renier, Koen De Bouw, Maria de Medeiros. Set on the French Riviera, once again it follows a 70-year-old ex-spy living in a luxury hotel on the Côte d’Azur who sets off in search of a mysterious woman in the room next door. He is soon confronted by the demons and darlings of a lurid past in which moviemaking, memories and madness collide.
Sheng xi zhi di (Living the Land) | Huo Meng | China, 2025
With both parents working far away, ten-year-old Chuang is being raised by extended family in his home village, where thousands of years of rural tradition collide with the socio-economic changes of China in the early 1990s.
Strichka chasu (Timestamp) – Kateryna Gornostai | Ukraine 2025
Despite the war, school life continues in Ukraine, with pupils and teachers striving to continue learning even under constant threat. This documentary pieces together the everyday lives of teachers and students from different corners of Ukraine.
La Tour de Glace (The Ice Tower) – Lucile Hadžihalilović | France/Germany
I last saw Lucile Hadžihalilović soaking up the sun during last year’s Cairo Film Festival. Her films are an acquired taste but always intriguing and visually stunning. This one stars her partner Gaspar Noe, Marion Cotillard, Clara Pacini, August Diehl and Gaspar Noé
“Colder than ice, her kiss pierces the heart … The 1970s. Jeanne, a young runaway, falls under the spell of Cristina, the enigmatic star of The Snow Queen, a film which is being shot in the studio where Jeanne has taken refuge”
O último azul (The Blue Trail) – Gabriel Mascaro | Brazil/Mexico/Chile/Neth | 2025
In the near future, the elderly must relocate to remote retirement colonies so that the younger generations can go about their work undisturbed. The 77-year-old Tereza refuses and instead embarks on a life-changing journey through the Amazon.
Was Marielle weiß (What Marielle Knows) – Frédéric Hambalek | Germany 2025
Julia and Tobias discover that their daughter Marielle has suddenly developed telepathic abilities and can see and hear everything they do. This leads to situations ranging from the awkward to the absurd as uncomfortable truths are revealed.
Girls on the Wire – Vivian Qu | China 2025
Tian Tian, the single mother of a five-year-old daughter, kills a drug dealer and is then pursued for vengeance. The only person she can turn to for help is her female cousin, Fang Di. Qu’a previous feature was Angels Wear White
Yunan – Ameer Fakher Eldin |
with Georges Khabbaz, Hanna Schygulla, Ali Suliman, Sibel Kekilli, Tom Wlaschiha
On a remote island, Munir seeks solitude to contemplate a final act, only to find unexpected solace in the quiet presence of Valeska
BERLINALE 13-23 FEBRUARY 2025