While many of us may be concentrating on the awards announcements, the Berlin Film Festival reminds us where it all starts from, and why these worldwide events are so important. Dare I say, more than the awards…

At the start of the complete press dossier of this year’s Berlinale, featured before any of the films, galas and stars is the following statement:

“Film festivals provide a space for artistic expression and enable peaceful dialogue. They are places of encounter and exchange and contribute to international understanding. We believe that through the power of films and open discussions, we can help foster empathy, awareness, understanding - even and especially in painful times like these.

Our sympathy goes out to all the victims of the humanitarian crises in the Middle East and elsewhere. We want everyone's suffering to be recognised and for our programme to be open to discussing different perspectives on the complexity of the world. We are also concerned to see that anti Semitism, anti-Muslim resentment and hate speech are spreading in Germany and around the world. As a cultural institution, we take a firm stand against all forms of discrimination and are committed to intercultural understanding.”

It is important to remember, as the Berlinale bosses have done once again with such class, that the world at large depends on culture. Not because film, art, music etc can change politics hellbent on war and destruction, but because art does often promote a dialogue. And that’s where all good things start, in the simple meeting of minds of those who aren’t warmongers.

In their main Competition section, the Berlinale features 20 films this year. These will compete for the Golden and Silver Bears. Among them, two first features as well as two documentaries. Productions from 30 countries are represented. 19 films are world premieres. Six films were directed or co-directed by women. Nine filmmakers have been at the festival before, six in Competition. The debut features include Meryam Joobeur’s highly anticipated Who Do I Belong To, previously titled Motherhood. The film is the follow up and feature length work by the Tunisian/American Oscar nominated filmmaker of the short live action film Brotherhood. It is a film I’m super excited about, after watching a twenty minute clip of it as part of last year’s DFI Qumra — the industry incubator. There, I met with the producers of the project, which include Sarra Ben Hassen and Nadim Cheikhrouha — the latter must be celebrating at the moment, as the producer of Kaouther Ben Hania’s Four Daughters, which just received an Oscar nom in the Best Documentary category.

 “We are particularly proud of this year’s selection which achieves the best possible balance between auteurs we cherish and admire and powerful new voices in the independent cinema landscape. What drives the selection is of course the variety of the stories and their storytellers, but also and even more so the plurality of styles with the goal of showing the extensive possibilities of cinema language," said Carlo Chatrian, the Berlinale’s Artistic Director in the press release.

Other titles in Competition this year in Berlin include Another End by Piero Messina, with Gael García Bernal, Renate Reinsve, Bérénice Bejo, Olivia Williams and Pal Aron; Black Tea by Abderrahmane Sissako with Nina Mélo, Chang Han, Wu Ke-Xi and Michael Chang; La Cocina by Alonso Ruizpalacios, with Raúl Briones Carmona, Rooney Mara, Anna Diaz, Motell Foster and Oded Fehr; the doc Dahomey by Mati Diop; the lockdown film Hors du temps (Suspended Time) by Olivier Assayas, with Vincent Macaigne, Micha Lescot, Nine D'Urso and Nora Hamzawi; as well as a futuristic take by Bruno Dumont titled L’Empire (The Empire), starring Brandon Vlieghe, Lyna Khoudri, Anamaria Vartolomei, Camille Cottin and Fabrice Luchini.

For the full list of titles in Competition at this year’s Berlinale, click here.

The competitive section Encounters 2024 is made up of 15 films, all of which are world premieres. There are two first features plus one documentary debut film. 17 countries are represented. Six films were directed by women. Encounters is a bit like Un Certain Regard in Cannes.  

“Each film selected in Encounters challenges the predetermined categories with which we evaluate cinema. Surreal detections, ironic tales, sentimental comedies, observational documentaries, parables and therapeutic exercises are just some of the genres at play here. At the same time, all fifteen titles together offer an incredibly rich picture of the world of the 21st century, with all its beauty and tragedies,” pointed out Chatrian in his statement. 

The section includes films from Greece, Senegal, Iran, Brazil, India, Germany of course, and China. See the full Encounters line up here.

Edit: More titles were then added on Thursday, with the great Palestinian Egyptian actress Yasmine Al Massri starring in The Strangers’ Case by Brandt Andersen which is a Berlinale Special Gala. The film also stars Omar Sy and Jason Beghe, among others, in a tale of when tragedy strikes a Syrian family in Aleppo — which then triggers a chain reaction of events involving five different families in four different countries.

Two mid-length Japanese films were added to the Berlinale Special line up and they include Chime by Kiyoshi Kurosawa and August My Heaven by Riho Kudo. In the first, a student at a culinary school, hears voices in his head. His teacher, Matsuoka, remains unconcerned. But then Tashiro claims that half of his brain has been replaced by a machine. In August My Heaven, Joe earns a living as a professional stand-in actor for hire to play a relative, lover or friend for her clients and attend ceremonies. After an encounter at a funeral, her professional and private live begin to merge.

The Berlinale will run from February 15th to the 25th, 2024.