The Berlin International Film Festival has announced the initial selection of titles for its 75th edition, revealing films across the Berlinale Special, Panorama, Generation, and Retrospective sections.
In Berlinale Special, Jan-Ole Gerster returns with “Islands,” a neo-noir thriller starring Sam Riley and Stacy Martin, while Canadian filmmakers Madeleine Sims-Fewer and Dusty Mancinelli present “Honey Bunch.” Both will screen as Late-Night Specials. Ido Fluk’s “Köln 75,” featuring Mala Emde, John Magaro and Alexander Scheer, is the first confirmed Berlinale Special Gala.
Panorama will feature 12 films from 18 countries, with eight world premieres and three directorial debuts. Highlights include Ato noturno (“Night Stage”) by Marcio Reolon and Filipe Matzembacher (Brazil), “The Ugly Stepsister” by Emilie Blichfeldt (Norway), “Peter Hujar’s Day” by Ira Sachs (USA/Germany), and “Lesbian Space Princess,” an animated debut from Australia by Emma Hough Hobbs and Leela Varghese.
Documentary entries include “No Other Land” (Palestine/Norway), “The Moelln Letters” (Germany) by Martina Priessner, “Paul” (Canada) by Denis Côté, and “Khartoum” (Sudan/UK), co-directed by five filmmakers including Anas Saeed and Rawia Alhag.
The Generation section, encompassing Kplus and 14plus competitions, includes 15 features and shorts from 16 countries. Ten titles will premiere globally. Notable selections include “Our Wildest Days” by Vasilis Kekatos (Greece), “The Nature of Invisible Things” by Rafaela Camelo (Brazil/Chile), “Michel Gondry’s animated “Maya, Give Me a Title” (France), and “Village Rockstars 2” by Rima Das (India/Singapore). Canadian DJ and composer Kid Koala (Eric San) debuts “Space Cadet” in Generation Kplus.
This year’s Retrospective spotlights 1970s genre films from East and West Germany. The lineup features Roland Klick’s “Deadlock” (1970), Wolfgang Petersen’s “One or the Other of Us” (1974), Rolf Olsen’s “Bloody Friday” (1972), and Ulli Lommel’s “Tenderness of the Wolves” (1973).
The 75th Berlin International Film Festival runs February 13–23, 2025. The festival will open with the world premiere of Tom Tykwer’s “Das Licht,” screening out of competition.
The complete list of confirmed titles is as follows:
Panorama
- “Ato noturno” (“Night Stage”)
Director: Marcio Reolon and Filipe Matzembacher
Brazil - “Bajo las banderas, el sol” (“Under the Flags, the Sun”)
Director: Juanjo Pereira
Paraguay/Argentina/USA/France/Germany - “Den stygge stesøsteren” (“The Ugly Stepsister”)
Director: Emilie Blichfeldt
Norway/Poland/Sweden/Denmark - “Dreams in Nightmares”
Director: Shatara Michelle Ford
USA/Taiwan/UK - “Hjem kaere hjem” (“Home Sweet Home”)
Director: Frelle Petersen
Denmark - “Khartoum”
Director: Anas Saeed, Rawia Alhag, Ibrahim Snoopy, Timeea M Ahmed, Phil Cox
Sudan/UK/Germany/Qatar - “Lesbian Space Princess”
Director: Emma Hough Hobbs, Leela Varghese
Australia - “Die Möllner Briefe” (“The Moelln Letters”)
Director: Martina Priessner
Germany - “Paul”
Director: Denis Côté
Canada - “Peter Hujar's Day”
Director: Ira Sachs
USA, Germany - “Sorda” (“Deaf”)
Director: Eva Libertad
Spain - “Welcome Home Baby”
Director: Andreas Prochaska
Austria, Germany
Generation
- “A natureza das coisas invisíveis” (“The Nature of Invisible Things”)
Director: Rafaela Camelo
Generation Kplus
Brazil, Chile - “Anngeerdardardor” (“The Thief”)
Director: Christoffer Rizvanovic Stenbakken
Generation, Short Film.
Denmark - “Autokar”
Director: Sylwia Szkiłądź
Generation Kplus, Short Film
Belgium/France - “Beneath Which Rivers Flow” Director: Ali Yahya
Generation 14plus, Short Film
Iraq - “Daye: Seret Ahl El Daye” (“The Tale of Daye’s Family”)
Director: Karim El Shenawy
Generation 14plus
Egypt - “Fantas”
Director: Halima Elkhatabi
Generation 14plus, Short Film
Canada - “I Agries Meres Mas” (“Our Wildest Days”)
Director: Vasilis Kekatos
Generation 14plus
Greece/France - “Maya, donne-moi un titre” (“Maya, Give Me a Title”)
Director: Michel Gondry
Generation Kplus
France - “Ne réveillez pas l'enfant qui dort” (“Don't Wake the Sleeping Child”)
Director: Kevin Aubert
Generation 14plus, Short Film
Senegal/France/Morocco - “On a Sunday at Eleven” Director: Alicia K. Harris
Generation Kplus, Short Film
Canada - “Ornmol” (“White Ochre”)
Director: Marlikka Perdrisat
Generation Kplus, Short Film
Australia - “Space Cadet” Director: Eric (aka Kid Koala) San
Generation Kplus
Canada - “Hotheads” Director: Maja Ajmia Yde Zellama
Generation 14plus
Belgium - “Têtes Brûlées” Director: Maja Ajmia Yde Zellama
Generation 14plus
Belgium - “Village Rockstars 2” Director: Rima Das
Generation 14plus
India/Singapore - “Zečji nasip” (“Sandbag Dam”)
Director: Čejen Černić Čanak
Generation 14plus
Croatia, Lithuania, Slovenia
Retrospective:
- “Blutiger Freitag” (“Bloody Friday”) (1972)
Director: Rolf Olsen
Federal Republic of Germany/Italy - “Deadlock” (1970)
Director: Roland Klick
Federal Republic of Germany - “Einer von uns beiden” (“One or the Other of Us”) (1974)
Director: Wolfgang Petersen
Federal Republic of Germany - “Fleisch” (“Spare Parts”) (1979)
Director: Rainer Erler
Federal Republic of Germany - “Fremde Stadt” (“Strange City”) (1972)
Director: Rudolf Thome
Federal Republic of Germany - “Hut ab, wenn du küsst!” (“Hat Off When You Kiss”) (1971)
Director: Rolf Losansky
German Democratic Republic - “Jonathan” (1970)
Director: Hans W. Geißendörfer
Federal Republic of Germany - “Lady Dracula” (1978)
Director: Franz Josef Gottlieb
Federal Republic of Germany - “Männer sind zum Lieben da” (“The Girls from Atlantis”) (1970)
Director: Eckhart Schmidt
Federal Republic of Germany - “Nelken in Aspik” (“Carnations in Aspic”) (1976)
Director: Günter Reisch
German Democratic Republic - “Nicht schummeln, Liebling!” (“Don’t Cheat, Darling!”) (1973)
Director: Joachim Hasler
German Democratic Republic - “Orpheus in der Unterwelt” (“Orpheus in the Underworld”) (1973)
Director: Horst Bonnet
German Democratic Republic - “Output” (1974)
Director: Michael Fengler
Federal Republic of Germany - “Rocker” (1972)
Director: Klaus Lemke
Federal Republic of Germany - “Die Zärtlichkeit der Wölfe” (“Tenderness of the Wolves”) (1973)
Director: Ulli Lommel
Federal Republic of Germany