Berlin Film Festival Lineup: Richard Linklater, Jessica Chastain, A$AP Rocky & Marion Cotillard Movies Among Vibrant Selection

Zac Ntim

21 January 2025 at 4:50 am·7-min read

The Berlin Film Festival on Tuesday unveiled the full list of titles set for its official competition alongside perspective and specials sidebars.

A total of 19 films have been selected for the international competition. It’s a buzzy selection with multiple titles that have been highly anticipated and boast high-profile names. Highlights include Richard Linklater’s latest feature Blue Moon, starring Ethan Hawke, Margaret Qualley, Bobby Cannavale, and Andrew Scott. Mexican filmmaker Michel Franco launches his latest title Dreams in competition. The film stars Jessica Chastain, Isaac Hernández, and Rupert Friend. Franco last worked with Chastain on the Venice competition title Memory.

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Elsewhere, Romanian filmmaker Radu Jude lands in competition with Kontinental ’25, Rebecca Lenkiewicz’s Hot Milk starring Emma Mackey, Fiona Shaw, and Vicky Krieps also lands in comp alongside Hong Sangsoo’s latest What Does that Nature Say to You and Mumblecore veteran Mary Bronstein returns as a director with If I Had Legs I’d Kick You starring A$AP Rocky and Rose Byrne. Scroll down for the full lineup.

In the sidebars, standout titles include BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions by Kahlil Joseph, which arrives from Sundance, and Little Trouble Girls by debut filmmaker Urška Djukić. The Berlin Specials programme has been rounded out with the German premiere of Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown, Lucio Castro’s latest After This Death starring Rupert Friend and Gwendoline Christie, and Tilda Swinton will screen her 1987 flick Friendship’s Death directed by Peter Wollen as part of her Honorary Golden Bear celebrations.

The Berlin Film Festival takes place February 13-23. This year the festival secured an additional $2 million (€1.9 million) in funding from the German government. The extra cash was announced Monday by German Culture Minister Claudia Roth. The cash injection takes the festival’s overall budget to just over $12 million.

Full line up below:

Competition Films

Ari by Léonor Serraille | with Andranic Manet, Pascal Rénéric, Théo Delezenne, Ryad Ferrad, Eva Lallier Juan France / Belgium 2025 World premiere

Blue Moon by Richard Linklater | with Ethan Hawke, Margaret Qualley, Bobby Cannavale, Andrew Scott USA / Ireland 2025 World premiere

La cache (The Safe House) by Lionel Baier | with Dominique Reymond, Michel Blanc, William Lebghil, Aurélien Gabrielli, Liliane Rovère Switzerland / Luxembourg / France 2025 World premiere

Dreams by Michel Franco | with Jessica Chastain, Isaac Hernández, Rupert Friend, Marshall Bell Mexico 2025 World premiere

Drømmer (Dreams (Sex Love)) by Dag Johan Haugerud | with Ella Øverbye, Selome Emnetu, Ane Dahl Torp, Anne Marit Jacobsen Norway 2024 International premiere

Geu jayeoni nege mworago hani (What Does that Nature Say to You) by Hong Sangsoo | with Ha Seongguk, Kwon Haehyo, Cho Yunhee, Kang Soyi South Korea 2025 World premiere

Hot Milk by Rebecca Lenkiewicz | with Emma Mackey, Fiona Shaw, Vicky Krieps, Vincent Perez United Kingdom 2025 World premiere | Debut film

If I Had Legs I’d Kick You by Mary Bronstein | with Rose Byrne, A$AP Rocky, Conan O’Brien, Danielle Macdonald, Ivy Wolk USA 2024 International premiere

Kontinental ’25 by Radu Jude | with Eszter Tompa, Gabriel Spahiu, Adonis Tanța Romania 2025 World premiere

El mensaje (The Message) by Iván Fund | with Mara Bestelli, Marcelo Subiotto, Anika Bootz, Betania Cappato Argentina / Spain 2025 World premiere

Mother’s Baby by Johanna Moder | with Marie Leuenberger, Hans Löw, Claes Bang, Julia Franz Richter Austria / Switzerland / Germany 2025 World premiere

Reflet dans un diamant mort (Reflection in a Dead Diamond) by Hélène Cattet, Bruno Forzani | with Fabio Testi, Yannick Renier, Koen De Bouw, Maria de Medeiros, Thi Mai Nguyen Belgium / Luxembourg / Italy / France 2025

Sheng xi zhi di (Living the Land) By Huo Meng │with Wang Shang, Zhang Chuwen, Zhang Yanrong, Zhang Caixia, Cao Lingzhi People’s Republic of China 2025 World premiere

Strichka chasu (Timestamp) by Kateryna Gornostai | with Olha Bryhynets, Borys Khovriak, Mykola Kolomiiets Ukraine / Luxembourg / Netherlands / France 2025 World premiere | Documentary form

La Tour de Glace (The Ice Tower) by Lucile Hadžihalilović | with Marion Cotillard, Clara Pacini, August Diehl, Gaspar Noé France / Germany 2025 World premiere

O último azul (The Blue Trail) by Gabriel Mascaro | with Denise Weinberg, Rodrigo Santoro, Miriam Socorrás, Adanilo Brazil / Mexico / Chile / Netherlands 2025 World premiere

Was Marielle weiß (What Marielle Knows) by Frédéric Hambalek | with Julia Jentsch, Felix Kramer, Laeni Geiseler, Mehmet Ateşçi, Moritz Treuenfels Germany 2025 World premiere

Xiang fei de nv hai (Girls on Wire) by Vivian Qu | with Liu Haocun, Wen Qi, Zhang Youhao People’s Republic of China 2025 World premiere

Yunan by Ameer Fakher Eldin | with Georges Khabbaz, Hanna Schygulla, Ali Suliman, Sibel Kekilli, Tom Wlaschiha Germany / Canada / Italy / Palestine / Qatar / Jordan / Saudi Arabia 2025 World premiere

Berlinale Special Gala

After This Death by Lucio Castro | with Mia Maestro, Lee Pace, Rupert Friend, Gwendoline Christie, Philip Ettinger USA 2025 World premiere

A Complete Unknown (Like A Complete Unknown) by James Mangold | with Timothée Chalamet, Edward Norton, Elle Fanning, Monica Barbaro, Boyd Holbrook USA 2024 German premiere

Heldin (Late Shift) by Petra Volpe | with Leonie Benesch, Sonja Riesen, Urs Bihler, Margherita Schoch, Jürg Plüss Switzerland / Germany 2025 World premiere

Lurker by Alex Russell | with Théodore Pellerin, Archie Madekwe, Zach Fox, Havana Rose Liu, Sunny Suljic USA / Italy 2025 International premiere | Debut film

Das Deutsche Volk by Marcin Wierzchowski Germany 2025 World premiere | Documentary form

Kein Tier. So Wild. (No Beast. So Fierce.) by Burhan Qurbani | with Kenda Hmeidan, Verena Altenberger, Hiam Abbass, Mona Zarreh Hoshyari Khah, Mehdi Nebbou Germany / Poland / France 2025 World premiere

Leibniz – Chronik eines verschollenen Bildes (Leibniz – Chronicle of a Lost Painting) by Edgar Reitz, Anatol Schuster | with Edgar Selge, Aenne Schwarz, Michael Kranz, Lars Eidinger, Barbara Sukowa Germany 2025 World premiere

Michtav Le’David (A Letter to David) by Tom Shoval | with David Cunio, Eitan Cunio, Sharon Aloni-Cunio, Silvia Cunio, Luis Cunio Israel / USA 2025 World premiere | Documentary form

My Undesirable Friends: Part I – Last Air in Moscow by Julia Loktev | with Anna Nemzer, Elena Kostyuchenko, Ksenia Mironova, Sonya Groysman, Alesya Marokhovskaya USA 2024 International premiere | Documentary form

Perspectives Films

Baksho Bondi (Shadowbox) by Tanushree Das, Saumyananda Sahi | with Tillotama Shome, Chandan Bisht, Sayan Karmakar, Suman Saha India / France / USA / Spain 2025 World premiere

BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions by Kahlil Joseph | with Kaneza Schaal, Hope Giselle, Shaunette Renée Wilson, Funmilayo Akechukwu, Peter Hernandez USA 2025 International premiere | Debut film

Come la notte (Where the Night Stands Still) by Liryc Dela Cruz | with Jenny Llanto Caringal, Tess Magallanes, Benjamin Vasquez Barcellano Jr. Italy / Philippines 2025 World premiere

El Diablo Fuma (y guarda las cabezas de los cerillos quemados en la misma caja) (The Devil Smokes (and Saves the Burnt Matches in the Same Box)) by Ernesto Martinez Bucio | with Mariapau Bravo Aviña, Rafael Nieto Martínez, Regina Alejandra, Donovan Said, Laura Uribe Rojas Mexico 2025 World premiere | Debut film

How to Be Normal and the Oddness of the Other World by Florian Pochlatko | with Luisa-Céline Gaffron, Elke Winkens, Cornelius Obonya, Felix Pöchhacker, David Scheid Austria 2025 World premiere | Debut film

Kaj ti je deklica (Little Trouble Girls) by Urška Djukić | with Jara Sofija Ostan, Mina Švajger, Saša Tabaković, Nataša Burger, Staša Popović Slovenia / Italy / Croatia / Serbia 2025 World premiere | Debut film

Mad Bills to Pay (or Destiny, dile que no soy malo) by Joel Alfonso Vargas | with Juan Collado, Destiny Checo, Yohanna Florentino, Nathaly Navarro USA 2025 International premiere | Debut film

Mit der Faust in die Welt schlagen (Punching the World) by Constanze Klaue | with Anton Franke, Camille Moltzen, Anja Schneider, Christian Näthe, Johannes Scheidweiler Germany 2025 World premiere | Debut film

Al Mosta’mera (The Settlement) by Mohamed Rashad | with Adham Shoukry, Ziad Islam, Hajar Omar, Mohamed Abdel Hady, Emad Ghoneim Egypt / France / Germany / Saudi Arabia / Qatar 2025 World premiere

On vous croit (We believe you) by Arnaud Dufeys, Charlotte Devillers | with Myriem Akheddiou, Laurent Capelluto, Natali Broods, Ulysse Goffin, Adèle Pinckaers Belgium 2025 World premiere

Le rendez-vous de l’été (That Summer in Paris) by Valentine Cadic | with Blandine Madec, India Hair, Arcadi Radeff, Matthias Jacquin, Lou Deleuze France 2025 World premiere | Debut film

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