Films Competing at Berlin Film Festival

Christian Watjen
By Christian Watjen
February 25, 2020Entertainment
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BERLIN—The Berlin Film Festival, one of the biggest film festivals in the world, is currently underway in the German capital. This year, 18 films are competing for the prestigious Golden Bear and Silver Bear awards.

The festival presents a variety of films from around the world vying for the top prize, the Golden Bear.

Among the films running for the top prize is “First Cow” by Kelly Reichardt in its international premiere. It’s one of only two U.S. productions in the competition lineup. The movie is a fresh take on the Western motif. It tells the story of the friendship between a cook and a Chinese immigrant in Oregon in the early 19th century. The duo embarks on a lucrative business selling cakes. And they become a different kind of outlaws since the milk for the cakes is acquired illegally.

“I remember when I first read the script, I thought, this is actually two geeks meeting in a land of guns,” said Orion Lee, one of the lead actors in “First Cow.”

Among the German productions competing this year is “Undine” by Christian Petzold. The movie retells the myth of the mysterious water spirit Undine, who needs to fall in love in order to become human. Best known as Ariel in the fairy tale “Little Mermaid,” in Petzold’s drama, Undine works as a historian and guide in Germany’s capital.

“It upsets me when I hear ‘We need strong female roles,’ because I don’t think female characters have to be strong in order to be worth telling,” said Paula Beer, the lead actress in “Undine.”

The winners for the Golden and Silver Bears are set to be announced on Saturday, Feb. 29.

Here are all the films competing at the Berlin Film Festival:

Berlin Alexanderplatz
Germany / Netherlands
by Burhan Qurbani
with Welket Bungué, Jella Haase, Albrecht Schuch, Joachim Król, Annabelle Mandeng, Nils Verkooijen, Richard Fouofié Djimeli
World premiere

DAU. Natasha
Germany / Ukraine / United Kingdom / Russian Federation
by Ilya Khrzhanovskiy, Jekaterina Oertel
with Natalia Berezhnaya, Olga Shkabarnya, Vladimir Azhippo, Alexei Blinov, Luc Bigé
World premiere

Domangchin Yeoja (The Woman Who Ran)
Republic of Korea
by Hong Sangsoo
with Kim Minhee, Seo Younghwa, Song Seonmi, Kim Saebyuk, Lee Eunmi, Kwon Haehyo, Shin Seokho, Ha Seongguk
World premiere

Effacer L’historique (Delete History)
France / Belgium
by Benoît Delépine, Gustave Kervern
with Blanche Gardin, Denis Podalydès, Corinne Masiero
World premiere

El Prófugo (The Intruder)
Argentina / Mexico
by Natalia Meta
with Érica Rivas, Nahuel Pérez Biscayart, Daniel Hendler, Cecilia Roth, Guillermo Arengo, Agustín Rittano, Mirta Busnelli
World premiere

Favolacce (Bad Tales)
Italy / Switzerland
by Damiano & Fabio D’Innocenzo
with Elio Germano, Barbara Chichiarelli, Lino Musella, Gabriel Montesi, Max Malatesta
World premiere

First Cow
United States
by Kelly Reichardt
with John Magaro, Orion Lee, Toby Jones, Scott Shepherd, Gary Farmer, Lily Gladstone
International premiere

Irradiés (Irradiated)
France / Cambodia
by Rithy Panh
World premiere / Documentary form

Le Sel Des Larmes (The Salt of Tears)
France / Switzerland
by Philippe Garrel
with Logann Antuofermo, Oulaya Amamra, André Wilms, Louise Chevillotte, Souheila Yacoub
World premiere

Never Rarely Sometimes Always
United States
by Eliza Hittman
with Sidney Flanigan, Talia Ryder, Théodore Pellerin, Ryan Eggold, Sharon Van Etten
International premiere

Rizi (Days)
Taiwan
by Tsai Ming-Liang
with Lee Kang-Sheng, Anong Houngheuangsy
World premiere

The Roads Not Taken
United Kingdom
by Sally Potter
with Javier Bardem, Elle Fanning, Salma Hayek, Laura Linney
World premiere

Schwesterlein (My Little Sister)
Switzerland
by Stéphanie Chuat, Véronique Reymond
with Nina Hoss, Lars Eidinger, Marthe Keller, Jens Albinus, Thomas Ostermeier, Linne-Lu Lungershausen, Noah Tscharland, Isabelle Caillat, Moritz Gottwald, Urs Jucker
World premiere

Sheytan Vojud Nadarad (There Is No Evil)
Germany / Czech Republic / Iran
by Mohammad Rasoulof
World premiere

Siberia
Italy / Germany / Mexico
by Abel Ferrara
with Willem Dafoe, Dounia Sichov, Simon McBurney, Cristina Chiriac
World premiere

Todos Os Mortos (All the Dead Ones)
Brazil / France
by Caetano Gotardo, Marco Dutra
with Mawusi Tulani, Clarissa Kiste, Carolina Bianchi, Thaia Perez, Alaíde Costa, Leonor Silveira, Agyei Augusto, Rogério Brito, Thomás Aquino, Andrea Marquee
World premiere

Undine
Germany / France
by Christian Petzold
with Paula Beer, Franz Rogowski, Maryam Zaree, Jacob Matschenz
World premiere

Volevo Nascondermi (Hidden Away)
Italy
by Giorgio Diritti
with Elio Germano
World premiere

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