The first batch of titles announced for the 73rd Berlinale (aka the 2023 Berlin International Film Festival) has been announced, with Sean Penn and Aaron Kaufman’s Superpower among the many highly-anticipated premieres. The documentary, which debuts in the Special Gala section, follows Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Notable entries in the competition section of the festival include Manodrome, from director John Trengove (The Wound), and starring Jesse Eisenberg and Adrien Brody, as well as BlackBerry, a documentary surrounding the titular smartphone company, from acclaimed Canadian filmmaker Matt Johnson (The Dirties, Operation Avalanche). Other titles announced include Past Lives from Celine Song, which premiered at Sundance earlier this year, and Disco Boy, which marks the feature-film debut of Giacomo Abbruzzese.
This year’s Berlinale will open with the world premiere of She Came to Me. Directed by Rebecca Miller, and starring Peter Dinklage, Marisa Tomei, Joanna Kulig, Brian d’Arcy James and Anne Hathaway, it follows a composer suffering from a creative block on the most important score of his career.
The rest of the festival programme will be announced on February 7. The films announced today are as follows:
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION
20,000 Species of Bees / Spain (Director: Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren, Starring: Sofía Otero, Patricia López Arnaiz, Ane Gabarain, Itziar Lazkano, Sara Cózar) – World Premiere.
The Shadowless Tower / China (Director: Zhang Lu, Starring: Xin Baiqing, Huang Yao, Tian Zhuangzhuang, Nan Ji, Wang Hongwei) – World Premiere.
Till the End of the Night / Germany (Director: Christoph Hochhäusler, Starring: Timocin Ziegler, Thea Ehre, Michael Sideris) – World Premiere.
BlackBerry / Canada (Director: Matt Johnson, Starring: Jay Baruchel, Glenn Howerton, Matt Johnson, Cary Elwes, Saul Rubinek) – World Premiere.
Disco Boy / France, Italy, Poland, Belgium (Director: Giacomo Abbruzzese, Starring: Franz Rogowski, Morr Ndiaye, Laëtitia Ky, Leon Lučev) – World Premiere.
The Plough / France, Switzerland (Director: Phillipe Garrel, Starring: Louis Garrel, Damien Mongin, Esther Garrel, Lena Garrel, Francine Bergé) – World Premiere.
Ingeborg Bachmann – Journey into the Desert / Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Luxembourg (Director: Margarethe von Trotta, Starring: Vicky Krieps, Ronald Zehrfeld, Tobias Resch, Basil Eidenbenz, Luna Wedler) – World Premiere.
Someday We’ll Tell Each Other Everything / Germany (Director: Emily Atef, Starring: ) – World Premiere.
Limbo / Australia (Director: Ivan Sen, Starring: Simon Baker, Rob Collins, Natasha Wanganeen, Nicholas Hope, Mark Coe) – World Premiere.
Bad Living / Portugal, France (Director: João Canijo, Starring: Anabela Moreira, Rita Blanco, Madalena Almeida, Cleia Almeida, Vera Barreto) – World Premiere.
Manodrome / U.K., U.S.A (Director: John Trengove, Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Adrien Brody, Odessa Young, Sallieu Sesay, Phil Ettinger) – World Premiere.
Music / Germany, France, Serbia (Director: Angela Schanelec, Starring: Aliocha Schneider, Agathe Bonitzer, Marisha Triantafyllidou, Agyris Xafis) – World Premiere.
Past Lives / U.S.A (Director: Celine Song, Starring: Greta Lee, Teo Yoo, John Magaro) – International Premiere.
Afire / Germany (Director: Christian Petzold, Starring: Thomas Schubert, Paula Beer, Langston Uibel, Enno Trebs, Matthias Brandt) – World Premiere.
On the Adamant / France, Japan (Director: Nicolas Philibert) – World Premiere.
The Survival of Kindness / Australia (Director: Rolf de Heer, Starring: Mwajemi Hussein, Deepthi Sharma, Darsan Sharma) – International Premiere.
Suzume / Japan (Director: Makoto Shinkai) – International Premiere.
Totem / Mexico, Denmark, France (Director: Lila Avilés, Starring: Naíma Sentíes, Monserrat Marañon, Marisol Gasé, Saori Gurza, Teresita Sánchez) – World Premiere.
BERLINALE SPECIAL GALA
Superpower / U.S.A (Directors: Sean Penn, Aaron Kaufman)
ENCOUNTER FILMS
The Klezmer Project / Argentina, Austria (Directors: Leandro Koch, Paloma Schamann, Starring: Leandro Koch, Paloma Schachmann) – World Premiere.
The Adults / U.S.A. (Director: Dustin Guy Defa, Starring: Michael Cera, Hannah Gross, Sophia Lillis) – World Premiere.
The Echo / Mexico, Germany (Director: Tatiana Huezo) – World Premiere.
Here / Belgium (Director: Bas Devos, Starring: Stefan Gota, Liyo Gong) – World Premiere.
In the Blind Spot / Germany (Director: Ayşe Polat, Starring: Katja Bürkle, Ahmet Varlı, Çağla Yurga, Aybi Era, Maximilian Hemmersdorfer) – World Premiere.
The Cage is Looking for a Bird / France, Russia (Director: Malika Musaeva, Starring: Khadizha Bataeva, Madina Akkieva, Fatima Elzhurkaeva, Rita Merzhoeva, Magomed Alhastov) – World Premiere.
My Worst Enemy / France, Switzerland (Director: Mehran Tamadon, Starring: Zar Amir Ebrahimi) – World Premiere.
White Plastic Sky / Hungary, Slovakia (Directors: Tibor Bánóczki, Sarolta Szabó, Starring: Tamás Keresztes, Zsófia Szamosi, Géza Hegedűs D., Judit Schell, István Znamenák) – World Premiere.
In Water / South Korea (Director: Hong Sangsoo, Starring: Shin Seokho, Ha Seongguk, Kim Seungyun) – World Premiere.
Family Time / Finland, Sweden (Director: Tia Kuovo, Starring: Ria Kataja, Elina Knihtilä, Leena Uotila, Tom Wentzel, Jarkko Pajunen) – World Premiere.
The Walls of Bergamo / Italy (Director: Stefano Savona) – World Premiere.
Orlando, My Political Biography / France (Director: Paul B. Preciado) – World Premiere.
Samsara / Spain (Director: Lois Patiño, Starring: Amid Keomany, Toumor Xiong, Simone Milavanh, Mariam Vuaa Mtego, Juwairiya Idrisa Uwesu) – World Premiere.
Eastern Front / Latvia, Czechia, Ukraine, U.S.A. (Directors: Vitaly Mansky, Yevhen Titarenko) – World Premiere.
Living Bad / Portugal, France (Director: João Canijo, Starring: Nuno Lopes, Leonor Silveira, Beatriz Batarda) – World Premiere.
Absence / China (Director: Wu Lang) – World Premiere.
The 2023 Berlinale (Berlin International Film Festival) starts February 16. Check out the trailer for this edition here.
