Berlin Film Festival Lineup 2021: New Films by Céline Sciamma and Hong Sang-soo Enter Competition

Zack Sharf
·9 min read

The Berlin International Film Festival has set its full slate for the upcoming 2021 edition. Berlinale usually follows Sundance with a February festival, but the pandemic has forced organizers to develop a new festival format for 2021. The 71st Berlin International Film Festival is set to take place with the “Industry Event” from March 1 to 5, which will include the European Film Market (EFM), the Berlinale Co-Production Market, the Berlinale Talents, and the World Cinema Fund in online forms. From June 9 to 20, 2021 the Berlinale will launch a “Summer Special” with numerous film presentations in Berlin, both at indoor and outdoor cinemas.

Included in the March event is the traditional film festival slate, which includes the main Berlinale Competition lineup as well as sidebar sections such as Berlinale Special & Berlinale Series, Encounters, Berlinale Shorts, Panorama, Forum & Forum Expanded, Generation, Perspektive Deutsches Kino, and Retrospective. With the exception of the Retrospective, the films will be shown at the March event.

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Check out the full lineup for the 2021 Berlin Film Festival below.

Competition Titles
“Albatros” (Drift Away)
France
by Xavier Beauvois

“Babardeală cu buclucsau porno balamuc” (Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn)
Romania/Luxemburg/Croatia/Czech Republic
by Radu Jude

“Fabian oder Der Gang vor die Hunde” (Fabian – Going to the Dogs)
Germany
by Dominik Graf

“Ghasideyeh gave sefid” (Ballad of a White Cow)
Iran/France
by Behtash Sanaeeha, Maryam Moghaddam

“Guzen to sozo” (Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy)
Japan
by Ryusuke Hamaguchi

“Herr Bachmann und seine Klasse” (Mr Bachmann and His Class)
Germany
by Maria Speth

“Ich bin dein Mensch” (I’m Your Man)
Germany
by Maria Schrader

“Inteurodeoksyeon” (Introduction)
Republic of Korea
by Hong Sangsoo

“Memory Box”
France/Lebanon/Canada/Qatar
by Joana Hadjithomas, Khalil Joreige

“Nebenan” (Next Door)
Germany
by Daniel Brühl

“Petite Maman”
France
by Céline Sciamma

Ras vkhedavt, rodesac cas vukurebt? (What Do We See When We Look at the Sky?)
Germany/Georgia
by Alexandre Koberidze

“Rengeteg – mindenhol látlak” (Forest – I See You Everywhere)
Hungary
by Bence Fliegauf

“Természetes fény” (Natural Light)
Hungary/Latvia/France/Germany
by Dénes Nagy

“Una Película de Policías” (A Cop Movie)
Mexico
by Alonso Ruizpalacios

Berlinale Special Titles
“Best Sellers”
Canada/U.K.
by Lina Roessler

“Courage”
Germany
by Aliaksei Paluyan

“French Exit”
Canada/Ireland
by Azazel Jacobs

“Je suis Karl”
Germany/Czech Republic
by Christian Schwochow

“Language Lessons”
U.S.
by Natalie Morales

“Limbo”
Hong Kong/People’s Republic of China
by Cheang Soi

“The Mauritanian”
U.K.
by Kevin Macdonald

“Per Lucio” (For Lucio)
Italy
by Pietro Marcello

“Tides”
Germany/Switzerland
by Tim Fehlbaum

“Tina”
U.S.
by Dan Lindsay, T. J. Martin

“Wer wir waren” (Who We Were)
Germany
by Marc Bauder

Generation
“Beans”
Canada
by Tracey Deer
with Kiawentiio Tarbell, Rainbow Dickerson, Violah Beauvais, Paulina Alexis

“Ensilumi (Any Day Now)”
Finland
by Hamy Ramezan
with Aran–Sina Keshvari, Shahab Hosseini, Shabnam Ghorbani, Kimiya Eskandari

“Han Nan Xia Ri (Summer Blur)”
People’s Republic of China
by Han Shuai
with Gong Beibi, Huang Tian, Zhang Xinyuan, Yan Xingyue

“Jong chak yeok (Short Vacation)”
Republic of Korea
by Kwon Min-pyo, Seo Hansol
with Seol Si-yeon, Bae Yeon-woo, Park So-jung, Han Song-hee

“Last Days at Sea”
Philippines / Taiwan
by Venice Atienza

“Mission Ulja Funk”
Germany / Luxemburg / Poland
by Barbara Kronenberg
with Romy Lou Janinhoff, Jonas Oeßel, Hildegard Schroedter, Luc Feit

“Nelly Rapp – Monster Agent”
Sweden
by Amanda Adolfsson
with Matilda Gross, Lily Wahlsteen, Marianne Mörck, Johan Rheborg

“Una escuela en Cerro Hueso (A School in Cerro Hueso)”
Argentina
by Betania Cappato
with Mara Bestelli, Pablo Seijo, Clementina Folmer, Irene Zequin

“Cryptozoo”
USA
by Dash Shaw
with Lake Bell, Michael Cera, Zoe Kazan, Louisa Krause, Angeliki Papoulia

“Fighter”
Republic of Korea
by Jéro Yun
with Lim Seong-mi, Baek Seo-bin, Oh Kwang-rok, Lee Seung-yeon

“From the Wild Sea”
Denmark
by Robin Petré

“La Mif (The Fam)”
Switzerland
by Fred Baillif

“Ninjababy”
Norway
by Yngvild Sve Flikke
with Kristine Kujath Thorp, Arthur Berning, Nader Khademi, Tora Dietrichson

“Stop-Zemlia”
Ukraine
by Kateryna Gornostai
with Maria Fedorchenko, Arsenii Markov, Yana Isaienko, Oleksandr Ivanov

“Tabija (The White Fortress)”
Canada / Bosnia and Herzegovina
by Igor Drljača
with Pavle Čemerikić, Sumeja Dardagan, Jasmin Geljo, Kerim Čutuna

Retrospective
“Night After Night,” USA 1932, by Archie Mayo
with George Raft, Constance Cummings, Wynne Gibson, Mae West

“No Man of Her Own,” USA 1932, by Wesley Ruggles
with Clark Gable, Carole Lombard, Dorothy Mackaill, Grant Mitchell

“I’m No Angel,” USA 1933, by Wesley Ruggles
with Mae West, Cary Grant, Gregory Ratoff, Edward Arnold

“She Done Him Wrong,” USA 1933, by Lowell Sherman
with Mae West, Cary Grant, Owen Moore, Gilbert Roland

“Belle of the Nineties,” USA 1934, by Leo McCarey
with Mae West, Roger Pryor, Johnny Mack Brown, John Miljan

“Lady by Choice,” USA 1934, by David Burton
with Carole Lombard, May Robson, Roger Pryor, Walter Connolly

“Twentieth Century,” USA 1934, by Howard Hawks
with John Barrymore, Carole Lombard, Walter Connolly, Roscoe Karns

“Goin’ to Town,” USA 1935, by Alexander Hall
with Mae West, Paul Cavanagh, Gilbert Emery, Marjorie Gateson

“Hands Across the Table,” USA 1935, by Mitchell Leisen
with Carole Lombard, Fred MacMurray, Ralph Bellamy, Astrid Allwyn

“Go West Young Man,” USA 1936, by Henry Hathaway
with Mae West, Warren William, Randolph Scott, Alice Brady

“Klondike Annie,” USA 1936, by Raoul Walsh
with Mae West, Victor McLaglen, Philip Reed, Helen Jerome Eddy

“My Man Godfrey,” USA 1936, by Gregory La Cava
with William Powell, Carole Lombard, Alice Brady, Gail Patrick

“Nothing Sacred, USA 1937, by William A. Wellmann
with Carole Lombard, Frederic March, Charles Winniger, Walter Connolly

“True Confession, USA 1937, by Wesley Ruggles
with Carole Lombard, Fred MacMurray, John Barrymore, Una Merkel

“Every Day’s a Holiday, USA 1938, by A. Edward Sutherland
with Mae West, Edmund Lowe, Charles Butterworth, Charles Winninger

“Four’s a Crowd,” USA 1938, by Michael Curtiz
with Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Rosalind Russell, Patric Knowles

“The Women,v USA 1939, by George Cukor
with Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, Rosalind Russell, Mary Boland

“Hired Wife,” USA 1940, by William A. Seiter
with Rosalind Russell, Brian Aherne, Virginia Bruce, Robert Benchley

“His Girl Friday,” USA 1940, by Howard Hawks
with Cary Grant, Rosalind Russell, Ralph Bellamy, Gene Lockhart

“My Little Chickadee,” USA 1940, by Edward F. Cline
with Mae West, W. C. Fields, Joseph Calleia, Dick Foran

“Design for Scandal,” USA 1941, by Norman Taurog
with Rosalind Russell, Walter Pidgeon, Edward Arnold, Lee Bowman

“Mr. & Mrs. Smith,” USA 1941, by Alfred Hitchcock
with Carole Lombard, Robert Montgomery, Gene Raymond, Jack Carson

“This Thing Called Love,” USA 1941, by Alexander Hall
with Rosalind Russell, Melvyn Douglas, Binnie Barnes, Allyn Joslyn

“My Sister Eileen,” USA 1942, by Alexander Hall
with Rosalind Russell, Brian Aherne, Janet Blair, George Tobias

“Take a Letter, Darling,” USA 1942, by Mitchell Leisen
with Rosalind Russell, Fred MacMurray, Macdonald Carey, Constance Moore

“To Be or Not to Be,” USA 1942, by Ernst Lubitsch
with Carole Lombard, Jack Benny, Robert Stack, Felix Bressart

“What a Woman!,” USA 1943, by Irving Cummings
with Rosalind Russell, Brian Aherne, Willard Parker, Alan Dinehart

Forum
“From Where They Stood” (France/Germany), dir. Christophe Cognet
“Anamnesis” (Germany), dir. Chris Wright, Stefan Kolbe
“Tzarevna Scaling” (Russia), dir. Uldus Bakhtiozina
“Ski” (Argentina / Brazil), dir. Manque La Banca
“The First 54 Years” (France / Finland / Israel / Germany), dir. Avi Mograbi
“Night Nursery” (Burkina Faso / France / Germany), dir. Moumouni Sanou
“The Inheritance” (USA), dir. Ephraim Asili
“Come Here” (Thailand), dir. Anocha Suwichakornpong
“Just A Movement” (Belgium / France), dir. Vincent Meessen
“Mbah Jhiwo / Ancient Soul” (Spain), dir.Alvaro Gurrea
“Jack’s Ride” (Portugal), dir. Susana Nobre
“What Will Summer Bring” (Argentina), dir. Ignacio Ceroi
“A River Runs, Turns, Erases, Replaces” (USA), dir. Shengze Zhu
“The Good Woman of Sichuan” (Canada), dir. Sabrina Zhao
“Ste. Anne” (Canada), dir. Rhayne Vermette
“Taming the Garden” (Switzerland / Germany / Georgia), dir. Salomé Jashi
“The Luminous View” (Italy / Spain), dir. Fabrizio Ferraro

Encounters
“As I Want”
Egypt / France / Norway / Palestine
by Samaher Alqadi

“Azor”
Switzerland / France / Argentina
by Andreas Fontana
with Fabrizio Rongione, Stéphanie Cléau

“The Beta Test”
USA / United Kingdom
by Jim Cummings, PJ McCabe
with Jim Cummings, Virginia Newcomb, PJ McCabe

“Blutsauger (Bloodsuckers)”
Germany
by Julian Radlmaier
with Alexandre Koberidze, Lilith Stangenberg, Alexander Herbst, Corinna Harfouch

“Hygiène sociale (Social Hygiene)”
Canada
by Denis Côté
with Maxim Gaudette, Larissa Corriveau, Eleonore Loiselle

“Das Mädchen und die Spinne (The Girl and the Spider)”
Switzerland
by Ramon Zürcher, Silvan Zürcher
with Henriette Confurius, Liliane Amuat, Ursina Lardi

“Mantagheye payani (District Terminal)”
Iran / Germany
by Bardia Yadegari, Ehsan Mirhosseini
with Bardia Yadegari, Farideh Azadi, Ali Hemmati

“Moon, 66 Questions”
Greece / France
by Jacqueline Lentzou
with Sofia Kokkali, Lazaros Georgakopoulos

“Nous (We)”
France
by Alice Diop
with Ismael Soumaïla Sissoko, N’deye Sighane Diop, Pierre Bergounioux

“Rock Bottom Riser”
USA
by Fern Silva

“The Scary of Sixty-First”
USA
by Dasha Nekrasova
with Betsey Brown, Madeline Quinn, Dasha Nekrasova

“Vị (Taste)”
Vietnam / Singapore / France / Thailand / Germany /Taiwan
by Lê Bảo
with Olegunleko Ezekiel Gbenga, Thi Minh Nga Khuong, Thi Dung Le

Panaroma
“Censor”
United Kingdom
by Prano Bailey-Bond

“Death of a Virgin, and the Sin of Not Living”
Lebanon
by George Peter Barbari

“Dirty Feathers”
USA / Mexico
by Carlos Alfonso Corral

“Genderation”
Germany
by Monika Treut

“Glück (Bliss)”
Germany
by Henrika Kull

“Kelti (Celts)”
Serbia
by Milica Tomović

“Der menschliche Faktor (Human Factors)”
Germany / Italy / Denmark
by Ronny Trocker

“Miguel’s War”
Lebanon / Germany / Spain
by Eliane Raheb

“Mishehu Yohav Mishehu (All Eyes Off Me)”
Israel
by Hadas Ben Aroya

“Le monde après nous (The World After Us)”
France
by Louda Ben Salah-Cazanas

“Night Raiders”
Canada / New Zealand
by Danis Goulet

“North By Current”
USA
by Angelo Madsen Minax

“Okul Tıraşı (Brother’s Keeper)”
Turkey / Romania
by Ferit Karahan

“Souad”
Egypt / Tunisia / Germany
by Ayten Amin

“Ted K”
USA
by Tony Stone

“Théo et les métamorphoses (Theo and the Metamorphosis)”
France
by Damien Odoul

“A Última Floresta (The Last Forest)”
Brazil
by Luiz Bolognesi

“Die Welt wird eine andere sein (Copilot)”
Germany / France
by Anne Zohra Berrached

“Yuko No Tenbin (A Balance)”
Japan
by Yujiro Harumoto

Perspektive Deutsches Kino
“Instructions for Survival”
Germany
by Yana Ugrekhelidze

“Jesus Egon Christus (Jesus Egon Christ)”
Germany
by David Vajda, Saša Vajda

“In Bewegung bleiben (Keep Moving)”
Germany
by Salar Ghazi

“Die Saat (The Seed)”
Germany
by Mia Maariel Meyer

“When a farm goes aflame”
Germany
by Jide Tom Akinleminu

“Wood and Water”
Germany / France
by Jonas Bak

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