Berlin Film Festival unveils competition lineup for 76th edition

The Berlin International Film Festival has announced the competition lineup for its 76th edition, revealing a programme that blends politically charged cinema, intimate character studies and star-driven features from across the world.

Among the most talked-about titles is “Rosebush Pruning”, directed by Karim Aïnouz and starring Riley Keough, Callum Turner, Elle Fanning and Pamela Anderson. The contemporary satire follows a privileged family forced to confront dark secrets surrounding their mother’s death. Another major entry is “Josephine”, Beth de Araújo’s psychological thriller featuring Channing Tatum and Gemma Chan as parents grappling with trauma after their daughter witnesses a crime.

This year’s competition marks the second edition under artistic director Tricia Tuttle, who said the selection reflects diversity in form, geography and storytelling. Opening titles include Kornél Mundruczó’s “At the Sea”, led by Amy Adams, while European auteurs such as Juliette Binoche, Sandra Hüller and Angela Schanelec also return to the Berlinale with new works.

The lineup features films from Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas, including Mahamat-Saleh Haroun’s “Soumsoum, la nuit des astres”, Alain Gomis’s “Dao”, and İlker Çatak’s “Gelbe Briefe”. Animation also finds a place in competition with Yoshitoshi Shinomiya’s debut feature “A New Dawn”.

The festival’s Perspectives section, dedicated to debut features, will showcase 13 films, including Ashley Walters’s “Animol” and Dara Van Dusen’s “A Prayer for the Dying”. Several high-profile gala and special screenings are also planned, with films starring Ethan Hawke, Russell Crowe and Isabelle Huppert.

The 76th Berlin International Film Festival will run from February 12 to 22.

Berlin Film Festival 76: Full lineup

Competition

“At the Sea” – Kornél Mundruczó

“Dao” – Alain Gomis

“Dust” – Anke Blondé

“Etwas ganz Besonderes (Home Stories)” – Eva Trobisch

“Everybody Digs Bill Evans” – Grant Gee

“Gelbe Briefe (Yellow Letters)” – İlker Çatak

“Josephine” – Beth de Araújo

“Kurtuluş (Salvation)” – Emin Alper

“The Loneliest Man in Town” – Tizza Covi, Rainer Frimmel

“Meine Frau weint (My Wife Cries)” – Angela Schanelec

“Moscas (Flies)” – Fernando Eimbcke

“A New Dawn” – Yoshitoshi Shinomiya

“Nina Roza” – Genevieve Dulude-de Celles

“Queen at Sea” – Lance Hammer

“Rosebush Pruning” – Karim Aïnouz

“Rose” – Markus Schleinzer

“Soumsoum, la nuit des astres (The Night of the Stars)” – Mahamat-Saleh Haroun

“À voix basse (In a Whisper)” – Leyla Bouzid

“Wo Men Bu Shi Mo Sheng Ren (We Are All Strangers)” – Anthony Chen

“Wolfram” – Warwick Thornton

“YO Love Is a Rebellious Bird” – Anna Fitch, Banker White

“Yön Lapsi (Nightborn)” – Hanna Bergholm

Perspectives (debut features)

“17” – Kosara Mitic

“Animol” – Ashley Walters

“Chronicles From the Siege” – Abdallah Alkhatib

“El Tren Fluvial (The River Train)” – Lorenzo Ferro, Lucas A. Vignale

“Filipiñana” – Rafael Manuel

“Forêt Ivre (Forest High)” – Manon Coubia

“Hangar rojo (The Red Hangar)” – Juan Pablo Sallato

“Der Heimatlose (Trial of Hein)” – Kai Stänicke

“Nosso segredo (Our Secret)” – Grace Passô

“A Prayer for the Dying” – Dara Van Dusen

“Take Me Home” – Liz Sargent

“Truly Naked” – Muriel d’Ansembourg

“Where To?” – Assaf Machnes