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