After Sundance comes our second big film festival of the year, the Berlin International Film Festival, aka Berlinale. Jury head Todd Haynes (May December) and his fellow judges will be watching an eclectic selection under the guidance of first-year artistic director Tricia Tuttle. Last year, Golden Bear winner Dahomey, A Different Man, Oscar-nominated doc No Other Land, and I Saw The TV Glow were all shown here and are now still being awarded in this Oscar season. Here are a few films that will play in this year’s Berlinale.
Blue Moon – Dir. Richard Linklater (USA)
With two films out this year (the other being Nouvelle Vague), Linklater goes into entertainment history by telling the story of the making of the musical, Oklahoma! Ethan Hawke and Andrew Scott play Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II, respectively, and follow their struggle to get to opening night on what would be a groundbreaking Broadway show. Margaret Qualley and Bobby Cannavale also star in this next biopic wherein Linklater reteams with writer Robert Kaplow, who also wrote the director’s Me and Orson Welles.
Kontinental ’25 – Dir. Radu Jude (Romania)
Coming off back-to-back successful films with Bad Luck Banging or Looney Porn (which won the Golden Bear) and Do Not Expect Too Much From The End of The World, Jude has another black comedy for us. With a title inspired by Roberto Rossellini’s Europa ‘51, the story follows a local bailiff trying to throw out a homeless man from a building who suddenly has a crisis when the man commits suicide. As she looks back on how to get past it, those social absurdities pop out in her way.
The Light – Dir. Tom Twyker (Germany)
The visionary director behind Run Lola Run and Cloud Atlas (with the Wachowskis) opens the festival with a drama about a family whose life is turned upside down with the arrival of their new housekeeper. The world is in a state of disrepair, and the family, strong in keeping up appearances, suddenly has their true feelings exposed. This is the third film by Twyker to open the festival and his movie since A Hologram For The King; he’s been busy with his German noir TV show Babylon Berlin and worked with the Wachowskis again on directing episodes for their show Sense8.
Mickey 17 – Dir. Bong Joon-ho (USA/South Korea)
It may not compete for the Golden Bear, but it may be the most highly anticipated film of the festival. Bong’s long-awaited follow-up to his Oscar-winning Parasite finally arrives after delays and the trailer brings the hype. Robert Patterson plays the titular character who signs up for a job where he dies multiple times for human exploration and gets regenerated for more experiments. With Naomi Ackie, Steven Yeun, Toni Collette, and Mark Ruffalo, this looks like it will be one hell of a ride.
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