On January 21, local time, the 75th Berlin Film Festival announced the shortlist of films for each unit, including the main competition. This year, two films from mainland China will compete for the highest honor, the Golden Bear Award: "A Girl Who Wants to Fly" directed by Wen Yan and starring Liu Haocun and Wen Qi, and "The Land of the Living" directed by Huo Meng. Compared with the collective absence of Chinese films last year, this is a big surprise.
After the Berlin Film Festival ended last year, former executive director Mariette Rissenbeek and artistic director Carlo Chatrian both resigned, and Tricia Tuttle, the former artistic director of the London Film Festival, took over. Then in July last year, Berlin cancelled the "Adventure Unit" founded by Chatrian to encourage aesthetically and artistically unconventional works, and instead established a new "Perspective Unit" to honor first feature films. As a result, it was criticized by many filmmakers in the industry, especially those in the documentary field. For Tuttle, it seems that he started off badly, and this Berlin Film Festival is the first big test for the new director.
Judging from the 19 films shortlisted in the main competition unit, this year's Berlin Film Festival is still quite exciting. Many famous directors have brought new works, and there are many big-name actors who can add starlight to the red carpet. Moreover, eight of them are directed by women, two more than last year.
Poster of "The Girl Who Wants to Fly"
Let's take a look at the two mainland Chinese films in the main competition unit. "The Girl Who Wants to Fly" is Wen Yan's new work after "Carnival" was shortlisted for the main competition unit of the Venice Film Festival in 2017. Wen Qi and Liu Haocun play a pair of cousins who are not on good terms in the film. The two accidentally provoke a group of drug dealers and have to embark on a desperate journey; the cast also includes Zhang Youhao, Liu Yitie, Peng Jing, Jiankang, Yang Haoyu, Zhou You, Geng Le, etc. "The Land of Life" is Huo Meng's second feature film after "Crossing Zhaoguan". It is set in the early 1990s and shows the changes of an ordinary Chinese village from the perspective of a teenager. In addition, it is a pity that there are no Chinese-language films in the newly established "Perspective Unit".
Poster of "The Living Land"
As for foreign directors, Richard Lindlake, who won two Berlin Best Director Awards for Before Sunrise and Boyhood, returns with his new film Blue Moon. The film stars his old partner Ethan Hawke, and other actors include Margaret Qualley, Andrew Scott, Bobby Cannavale, etc. The title Blue Moon is taken from the most well-known song of the music duo Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, who became famous in the 1920s. The story tells that after the two broke up, although they each achieved brilliant achievements, Hart still couldn't let it go and hoped to reconcile with his former partner.
Stills from Blue Moon
After his 2021 film "Bad Luck Sex, Crazy Porn" won the Golden Bear Award at the Berlin Film Festival, Romanian director Radu Jude also returned with his new film "Europe in 2025".
Another old friend of Berlin, Korean director Hong Sang-soo, will challenge the Golden Bear Award for the eighth time with his new film What Nature Said to You. In the past five years, he has won four awards in Berlin (The Woman Who Ran, Introduction, The Novelist's Film, and The Traveler's Needs), but he is still short of a Golden Bear.
Stills from What Nature Said to You
Mexican director Michel Frank's new film "Dream" stars Jessica Chastain. This is the second collaboration between the two after "Memories" in 2023. The film tells the love story between a socialite and a ballet dancer. French director Lucille Hazihalilovich's new film "Tower of Ice and Snow" stars Marion Cotillard. The story is set in the 1970s and tells the story of a girl who escaped from a rural orphanage and a movie star. Although the final chapter of Norwegian director Dag Johan Haugrud's "Sex, Dream, Love Trilogy" "Dream" has been screened in Norway, it is still shortlisted for the main competition unit. Ukrainian director Katerina Gnostai's "Time Stamp" is the only documentary shortlisted.
This year's Berlin Film Festival will be held from February 13 to February 23; the opening film is "The Light", a new work by the famous German director Tom Tykwer, starring Lars Ettinger ("Persian Lessons" and "No Man's Land"); the jury led by American director Todd Haynes will decide the winners of the main competition unit.
【List of films shortlisted for the main competition unit】
Ali Director: Leonore Serhay (France)
"Blue Moon" Director: Richard Lindlake (USA)
Safe House Director: Lionel Bayer (Switzerland)
Dreams Director: Michel Frank (Mexico)
"Sex, Dream, Love Trilogy: Dream" Director: Dag Johan Haugrud (Norway)
What Nature Says to You Director: Hong Sang-soo (South Korea)
Hot Milk Director: Rebecca Lenkiewicz (UK)
If I Had Legs, I'd Kick You Director: Mary Bronstein (USA)
"Europe in 2025" Director: Radu Jude (Romania)
The News Director: Ivan Vonder (Argentina)
"Mother's Baby" Director: Johanna Moder (Austria)
The Other Side of the Sky Director: Gabriel Mascaro (Brazil)
"Reflections on a Fatal Diamond" Director: Irene Catet, Bruno Forzani (France)
"The Land of Life" Director: Huo Meng (China)
The Girl Who Wants to Fly Director: Wen Yan (China)
"Time Stamp" Director: Katerina Gonostay (Ukraine)
"Tower of Ice and Snow" Director: Lucille Hazihalilovich (France)
Mariel Director: Frederick Hambarek (Germany)
"Yunan" Director: Amir Fakhr Eldin (Germany)
