The Berlinale announces its Competition and Encounters titles, plus Ukraine- and Iran-focused solidarity initiatives

by Davide Abbatescianni

23/01/2023 - The Berlinale Special section will host the world premiere of Superpower, Sean Penn and Aaron Kaufman’s documentary shot over the last year in Ukraine

The Berlinale announces its Competition and Encounters titles, plus Ukraine- and Iran-focused solidarity initiatives

Ingeborg Bachmann – Journey into the Desert by Margarethe von Trotta (© Wolfgang Ennenbach)

The Berlinale (16-26 February) has finally announced the full line-ups of its Competition and Encounters strands, along with several Iranian- and Ukrainian-focused solidarity initiatives.

According to the official press release, this year’s main competition “aims to be as open as possible to all cinematic forms”. The 18 titles from 19 countries competing for the Golden and Silver Bears include “animated films and documentary, comedy and melodrama, dramas and period films, movies that rely on great performances or are driven by ‘natural’ actors”.

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As usual, the line-up showcases a number of European titles. Margarethe von Trotta’s Ingeborg Bachmann – Journey into the Desert [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Margarethe von Trotta
film profile] (Germany/Switzerland/Austria/Luxembourg) focuses on the titular Austrian author (1926-1973), played by Vicky Krieps (Corsage [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Marie Kreutzer
interview: Marie Kreutzer
film profile]), and her turbulent life. Meanwhile, Christian Petzold will be making a return to the Berlinale with Afire [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Christian Petzold
film profile] (Germany). Starring Thomas Schubert, Paula Beer, Langston Uibel, Enno Trebs and Matthias Brandt, it takes place in a small holiday house by the Baltic Sea and centres on four young people coming together. As the parched forests around them begin to ignite, so too do their emotions.

With Music [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], Angela Schanelec has crafted a modern-day version of the Oedipus myth. The feature focuses on a young man who, at the age of 20, unwittingly murders his father, and who, while serving his sentence, falls in love and has a child with a woman who works in the prison. Schanelec returns to the festival after having won the Silver Bear for Best Director for her latest film, I Was at Home, but… [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Angela Schanelec
film profile].

In Someday We’ll Tell Each Other Everything [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Emily Atef
film profile] (Germany), Emily Atef will tell a story set in the countryside of Thuringia, East Germany, during the summer of 1990. In it, Maria is about to turn 19, lives with her boyfriend Johannes on his parents’ farm and would rather lose herself in books than focus on graduating. There is a sense of a new era dawning with the German reunification, when she bumps into Henner, the farmer next door. One touch is all it takes to ignite an all-consuming passion between Maria and the headstrong, charismatic man twice her age. The cast is led by Marlene Burow, Felix Kramer and Cedric Eich.

Other buzzy European productions include Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren’s 20,000 Species of Bees [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Estíbaliz Urresola
film profile] (Spain), Philippe Garrel’s The Plough [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (France/Switzerland) and Nicolas Philibert’s On the Adamant [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Nicolas Philibert
film profile] (France/Japan).

Speaking about this year’s Encounters line-up, artistic director Carlo Chatrian said: “Sixteen titles and as many ways to articulate a collective narrative that embraces the present, witnesses the past and imagines the future. Perhaps the political dimension is more present than usual, but it is less about reproducing a chronicle than about questioning the past through a multitude of viewpoints and posing questions, so that audiences can expand their own worldviews.” Among the most highly anticipated European productions are Bas Devos’s Here [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Bas Devos
film profile] (Belgium), Tia Kouvo’s Family Time [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Tia Kouvo
film profile] (Finland/Sweden) and Mehran Tamadon’s My Worst Enemy [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Mehran Tamadon
film profile] (France/Switzerland).

The Berlinale also reaffirmed its support for Ukraine and Iran. “Like numerous cultural institutions worldwide, the Berlinale has expressed its solidarity with Ukraine and Iran. This is evident within the 2023 Berlinale in the sections and initiatives in the film selection and with various events – in part with cooperation partners,” states the official press release. You can find out more here. Further initiatives will be announced on 7 February.

The festival has also announced that the Berlinale Special section will host the world premiere of Superpower (USA), Sean Penn and Aaron Kaufman’s documentary shot over the last year in Ukraine.

As previously announced (see the news), the gathering will be opened by Rebecca Miller’s She Came to Me (USA). The feature will screen out of competition as a Berlinale Special Gala at the Berlinale Palast.

Here is the full list of the selected titles, including those announced today:

Competition

20,000 Species of Bees [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Estíbaliz Urresola
film profile] – Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren (Spain)
The Shadowless Tower – Zhang Lu (China)
Till the End of the Night [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Christoph Hochhäusler
film profile] – Christoph Hochhäusler (Germany)
BlackBerry – Matt Johnson (Canada)
Disco Boy [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Giacomo Abbruzzese
film profile] – Giacomo Abbruzzese (France/Italy/Poland/Belgium)
The Plough [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] – Philippe Garrel (France/Switzerland)
Ingeborg Bachmann – Journey into the Desert [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Margarethe von Trotta
film profile] – Margarethe von Trotta (Germany/Switzerland/Austria/Luxembourg)
Someday We’ll Tell Each Other Everything [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Emily Atef
film profile] – Emily Atef (Germany)
Limbo – Ivan Sen (Australia)
Bad Living [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: João Canijo
film profile] – João Canijo (Portugal/France)
Manodrome [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] – John Trengove (UK/USA)
Music [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] – Angela Schanelec (Germany/France/Serbia)
Past Lives – Celine Song (USA)
Afire [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Christian Petzold
film profile] – Christian Petzold (Germany)
On the Adamant [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Nicolas Philibert
film profile] – Nicolas Philibert (France/Japan)
The Survival of Kindness – Rolf de Heer (Australia)
Suzume – Makoto Shinkai (Japan)
Tótem [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Lila Avilés
film profile] – Lila Avilés (Mexico/Denmark/France)
Art College 1994 - Liu Jian (China)

Encounters

Berlinale Special

Superpower – Sean Penn, Aaron Kaufman (USA)
Love to Love You, Donna Summer - Roger Ross Williams, Brooklyn Sudano (USA)
100 Years of Disney Animation – a Shorts Celebration - Walt Disney, Dave Hand, Ben Sharpsteen, Lauren Jackson, Wilfred Jackson, Jack Hannah, Jon Kahrs, Brian Menz, Jacob Frey, Hillary Bradfield (USA) (1922 - 2022)
Kiss the Future [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Nenad Cicin-Sain and Bill C…
film profile] – Nenad Cicin-Sain (USA/Ireland)
Golda [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] – Guy Nattiv (UK)
Kill Boksoon – Byun Sung-hyun (South Korea)
Massimo Troisi: Somebody Down There Likes Me [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Mario Martone
film profile] – Mario Martone (Italy)
Last Night of Amore [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Andrea Di Stefano
film profile] – Andrea Di Stefano (Italy)
Mad Fate – Soi Cheang (Hong Kong/China)
Sun and Concrete [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] – David Wnendt (Germany)
Talk to Me – Danny and Michael Philippou (Australia)
Measures of Men [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Lars Kraume
film profile] – Lars Kraume (Germany)
Infinity Pool [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] – Brandon Cronenberg (Canada/Hungary/Croatia/France)
Loriot's Great Cartoon Revue [+see also:
trailer
film profile] – Loriot and Peter Geyer (Germany)
#Manhole – Kazuyoshi Kumakiri (Japan)
Seneca – On the Creation of Earthquakes [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Robert Schwentke
film profile] – Robert Schwentke (Germany/Morocco)
TÁR – Todd Field (USA)
Boom! Boom! The World vs. Boris Becker [+see also:
trailer
film profile] – Alex Gibney (UK/USA)