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BERLINALE 2020 Competition

The Berlinale turns to the dark side with its main competition

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- Usual suspects Christian Petzold, Sally Potter and Philippe Garrel are scheduled to show their new films at the German festival

The Berlinale turns to the dark side with its main competition
Undine by Christian Petzold

Artistic director of the Berlin International Film Festival Carlo Chatrian and its executive director, Mariette Rissenbeek, have announced the 18 films that will be competing for the Golden Bear in the main competition. “We don’t make films; we receive them, and we don’t start a selection with an idea in mind. But we were happy when we saw films that paid homage to the different faces of Berlin, for example,” observed Chatrian during the press conference, answering questions about Burhan Qurbani’s Berlin Alexanderplatz [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Burhan Qurbani
film profile
]
.

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That being said, this year’s line-up is bound to shake some viewers up. “A good number of films decided to look at the dark side of the human being. Not without hope, but to face what is happening around us and talk about fear,” said Chatrian, mentioning Abel Ferrara’s Siberia [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
as a title that “deals with something that’s bigger than us”. DAU. Natasha [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ilya Khrzhanovskiy
film profile
]
by Ilya Khrzhanovskiy and Jekaterina Oertel, devoted to an experiment already raising some ethical questions, or Caetano Gotardo and Marco Dutra’s All the Dead Ones [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
are likely to follow in a similar direction. Or, rather, directions. “Our goal is not to give one direction, as hopefully there will be more than one story,” he added. Some of these are to be delivered by filmmakers who are no strangers to the Berlinale, including Sally Potter, coming back with The Roads Not Taken [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, Hong Sangsoo and Christian Petzold, with Undine [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Christian Petzold
film profile
]
.

Battling some comparisons to the initiatives of previous director Dieter Kosslick, who signed the 50/50 by 2020 gender parity pledge, Chatrian said: “The most important thing is to create awareness of all the differences that still exist, not just in cinema, but in life. It’s not just about male-female. Film is always a collective process, and focusing just on a director is a bit tricky. [Our selection] is not 50/50, but we are on the right path. It’s a process,” he said of an assortment that includes the latest works by Kelly Reichardt, Eliza Hittman and Natalia Meta, but also those of many directorial duos – fittingly, perhaps, given this year’s Berlinale Talents focus on collectives. “If you need a motto, tell me: we will find you one!” joked Chatrian to a journalist. “Before introducing the line-up, I said that it’s important not just to choose, but also to support. I encourage you all to be curious and find your own topics or trends. With Twitter, it’s all about 'mottos'. But I believe we need more than that.”

The line-up of Berlinale Special has been completed as well, with Dan Scanlon’s animation Onward, Johannes Naber’s Curveball [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Johannes Naber
film profile
]
 and the documentaries DAU. Degeneration [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
and Speer Goes to Hollywood all rounding off the section.

The 70th edition of the Berlinale will run from 20 February-1 March 2020. The list of guests and jury members will be unveiled over the next few weeks.

Here is the complete list of titles in the Competition and Berlinale Special sections:

Competition

Berlin Alexanderplatz [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Burhan Qurbani
film profile
]
- Burhan Qurbani (Germany/Netherlands)
DAU. Natasha [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ilya Khrzhanovskiy
film profile
]
- Ilya Khrzhanovskiy, Jekaterina Oertel (Germany/Ukraine/UK/Russia)
The Woman Who Ran - Hong Sangsoo (South Korea)
Delete History [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
- Benoît Delépine, Gustave Kervern (France/Belgium)
The Intruder - Natalia Meta (Argentina/Mexico)
Bad Tales [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Fabio and Damiano D’Innocenzo
film profile
]
- Damiano D'Innocenzo, Fabio D'Innocenzo (Italy/Switzerland)
First Cow - Kelly Reichardt (USA)
Irradiated [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Rithy Panh
film profile
]
- Rithy Panh (France/Cambodia)
The Salt of Tears [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Souheila Yacoub
film profile
]
- Philippe Garrel (France/Switzerland)
Never Rarely Sometimes Always [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
- Eliza Hittman (USA/UK)
Days - Tsai Ming-Liang (Taiwan)
The Roads Not Taken [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
- Sally Potter (UK)
My Little Sister [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Stéphanie Chuat and Véroniq…
film profile
]
- Stéphanie Chuat, Véronique Reymond (Switzerland)
There Is No Evil [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
- Mohammad Rasoulof (Germany/Czech Republic/Iran)
Siberia [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
- Abel Ferrara (Italy/Germany/Mexico)
All the Dead Ones [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
- Caetano Gotardo, Marco Dutra (Brazil/France)
Undine [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Christian Petzold
film profile
]
- Christian Petzold (Germany/France)
Hidden Away [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Giorgio Diritti
film profile
]
- Giorgio Diritti (Italy)

Berlinale Special

My Salinger Year [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
- Philippe Falardeau (Canada/Ireland) (opening film)
The American SectorCourtney Stephens, Pacho Velez (USA)
Charlatan [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Agnieszka Holland
film profile
]
- Agnieszka Holland (Czech Republic/Ireland/Poland/Slovakia)
Curveball [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Johannes Naber
film profile
]
- Johannes Naber (Germany)
DAU. Degeneration [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
- Ilya Khrzhanovskiy, Ilya Permyakov (Germany/Ukraine/UK/Russia)
Golda Maria [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Patrick Sobelman and Hugo S…
film profile
]
Patrick Sobelman, Hugo Sobelman (France)
High GroundStephen Maxwell Johnson (Australia)
Hillary - Nanette Burstein (USA)
Last and First Men [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
- Jóhann Jóhannsson (Iceland)
Numbers [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Oleg Sentsov
film profile
]
Oleh Sentsov in collaboration with Akhtem Seitablaiev (Ukraine/Poland/Czech Republic/France)
The Nutty Professor - Jerry Lewis (USA) (1963)
Onward - Dan Scanlon (USA)
Paris Calligramme [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ulrike Ottinger
film profile
]
- Ulrike Ottinger (Germany/France)
Persian Lessons [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Leonie Benesch
film profile
]
- Vadim Perelman (Russia/Germany/Belarus)
Night Shift [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Anne Fontaine
film profile
]
- Anne Fontaine (France)
Time to HuntYoon Sung-hyun (South Korea)
Minamata [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
- Andrew Levitas (UK)
Pinocchio [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Matteo Garrone
film profile
]
- Matteo Garrone (Italy/France)
Speer Goes to Hollywood - Vanessa Lapa (Israel)
Swimming Out Till The Sea Turns Blue (Yi Zhi You Dao Hai Shui Bian Lan) - Jia Zhang-ke (China)

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