Berlinale Competition and Berlinale Special

Another 11 films have now been invited to the Competition of the 69th edition of the Berlin International Film Festival. Six more have also been selected for the programme of the Berlinale Special.

(c) Netflix - Natalia de Molina and Greta Fernández in Elisa y Marcela

Joining the seven Competition films and three Berlinale Special titles are 17 productions and co-productions from Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Croatia, Denmark, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Macedonia, Mongolia, Norway, People’s Republic of China, Poland, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine, United Kingdom, and the USA.

Competition

Di jiu tian chang (So Long, My Son)
 People’s Republic of China
 by Wang Xiaoshuai (In Love We Trust, Beijing Bicycle, Chinese Portrait)
 with Wang Jingchun, Yong Mei, Qi Xi, Wang Yuan, Du Jiang, Ai Liya, Xu Cheng, Li Jingjing, Zhao Yanguozhang
 World premiere

Elisa y Marcela (Elisa & Marcela)
 Spain
 by Isabel Coixet (Elegy, The Bookshop, The Secret Life of Words)
 with Natalia de Molina, Greta Fernández, Sara Casasnovas, Tamar Novas, Maria Pujalte
 World premiere

Gospod postoi, imeto i' e Petrunija (God Exists, Her Name is Petrunija)
 Macedonia / Belgium / Slovenia / Croatia / France
 by Teona Strugar Mitevska (When the Day Had No Name, The Women Who Brushed Off Her Tears, I Am From Titov Veles)
 with Zorica Nusheva, Labina Mitevska, Simeon Moni Damevski, Suad Begovski, Violeta Shapkovska, Stefan Vujisic, Xhevdet Jahari, Andrijana Kolevska
 World premiere

Marighella
 Brazil
 by Wagner Moura
 with Seu Jorge, Adriana Esteves, Bruno Gagliasso, Jorge Paz, Luiz Carlos Vasconcelos, Humberto Carrão, Bella Camero, Ana Paula Bouzas
 World premiere – First Feature
 Out of competition

Mr. Jones
 Poland / United Kingdom / Ukraine
 by Agnieszka Holland (Spoor, Europa Europa, Angry Harvest)
 with James Norton, Vanessa Kirby, Peter Sarsgaard
 World premiere

Öndög
 Mongolia
 by Wang Quan'an (White Deer Plain, Apart Together, Tuya‘ s Marriage)
 with Dulamjav Enkhtaivan, Aorigeletu, Norovsambuu Batmunkh
 World premiere

The Operative
 Germany / Israel / France / USA
 by Yuval Adler (Bethlehem)
 with Diane Kruger, Martin Freeman, Cas Anvar
 World premiere – Out of competition

La paranza dei bambini (Piranhas)
 Italy
 by Claudio Giovannesi (Fiore, Alì Blue Eyes)
 with Francesco Di Napoli, Ar Tem, Viviana Aprea, Pasquale Marotta
 World premiere

Systemsprenger (System Crasher)
 Germany
 by Nora Fingscheidt (Without this World)
 with Helena Zengel, Albrecht Schuch, Gabriela Maria Schmeide, Lisa Hagmeister
 Wold premiere – First Feature

Ut og stjæle hester (Out Stealing Horses)
 Norway / Sweden / Denmark
 by Hans Petter Moland (The Beautiful Country, A Somewhat Gentle Man, In Order of Disappearance)
 with Stellan Skarsgård, Tobias Santelmann, Bjørn Floberg, Danica Curcic
 World premiere

Varda par Agnès (Varda by Agnès) - Documentary
 France
 by Agnès Varda (Cléo from 5 to 7, The Gleaners and I, The Beaches of Agnès, Faces Places)
 World premiere – Out of competition

Berlinale Special at the Haus der Berliner Festspiele

ANTHROPOCENE: The Human Epoch - Documentary
 Canada
 by Jennifer Baichwal (Long Time Running, Watermark, Manufactured Landscapes), Nicholas de Pencier (Long Time Running, Black Code, Four Wings and a Prayer), Edward Burtynsky (Watermark)
 European premiere

Es hätte schlimmer kommen können - Mario Adorf (It Could Have Been Worse - Mario Adorf) - Documentary
 Germany
 by Dominik Wessely (Reverse Angle: Rebellion of the Filmmakers, Nelly’s Adventure, The Housewife’s Flower)
 with Mario Adorf, Senta Berger, Margarethe von Trotta
 World premiere

El Norte (The North)
 USA (1984)
 by Gregory Nava (Bordertown, My Family, Selena)
 with Zaide Silvia Gutiérrez, David Villalpando, Ernesto Gómez Cruz, Lupe Ontiveros
 

El Norte was restored in 2017 by the Academy Film Archive, supported in part by the Getty Foundation.
 European premiere of the restored version
 In cooperation with NATIVe

Berlinale Special Gala at the Friedrichstadt-Palast

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
 United Kingdom
 by Chiwetel Ejiofor
 with Chiwetel Ejiofor, Maxwell Simba, Lily Banda, Noma Dumezweni, Aïssa Maïga, Joseph Marcell, Lemogang Tsipa European premiere – First Feature

Lampenfieber (Kids in the Spotlight) - Documentary
 Germany
 by Alice Agneskirchner (On Hunting – Who Owns Nature?, 20xBrandenburg, Dear Mum, I Hardly Knew You…)
 World premiere

Berlinale Special Gala at the Zoo Palast

Celle que vous croyez (Who You Think I Am)
 France
 by Safy Nebbou (Angel of Mine, Dumas, In the Forests of Siberia)
 with Juliette Binoche, François Civil, Nicole Garcia
 World premiere