Films Added to Berlin Lineup Including Chiwetel Ejiofor’s Directorial Debut

The Berlin film festival, which is slated to take place from February 7 to the 17th this year, has unveiled a press release on their official website adding 11 films to its competition as well as another 6 for the Berlinale Special. The German festival based in Berlin will be on its 69th year of showcasing films from filmmakers around the world and this year will allow a Netflix original film be played in the competition.

This year’s roster include a few films of political nature, including Mr. Jones that stars James Norton as Welsh Journalist Gareth Jones as he discovers and publicizes the Soviet famine of 1932-33 to the western world as well as Charles Ferguson’s American documentary Watergate (announced as part of the Berlinale lineup on December 13th of last year).

The Netflix film featured will be Isabel Coixet’s Elisa y Marcela, which will chronicle the first same-sex marriage of a lesbian couple in Spain around the turn of the 20th century. A number of the films showing will be having their world premiere such as Wang Xiaoshuai’s Di jiu tian chang (So Long, My Son), the aforementioned Mr. Jones, and the directorial debut of Wagner Moura (known for portraying Pablo Escobar in Netflix’s Narcos) with Marighella.

A full list of films announced today can be seen below, or on the official press release here. The previous press release from December 13th, 2018 can be accessed here.

Competition

Di jiu tian chang (So Long, My Son)
People’s Republic of China
by Wang Xiaoshuai (In Love We TrustBeijing BicycleChinese Portrait)
with Wang Jingchun, Yong Mei, Qi Xi, Wang Yuan, Du Jiang, Ai Liya, Xu Cheng, Li Jingjing, Zhao Yanguozhang
World premiere

Elisa y Marcela (Elisa & Marcela)
Spain
by Isabel Coixet (ElegyThe BookshopThe Secret Life of Words)
with Natalia de Molina, Greta Fernández, Sara Casasnovas, Tamar Novas, Maria Pujalte
World premiere

Gospod postoi, imeto i’ e Petrunija (God Exists, Her Name is Petrunija)
Macedonia / Belgium / Slovenia / Croatia / France
by Teona Strugar Mitevska (When the Day Had No NameThe Women Who Brushed Off Her TearsI Am From Titov Veles)
with Zorica Nusheva, Labina Mitevska, Simeon Moni Damevski, Suad Begovski, Violeta Shapkovska, Stefan Vujisic, Xhevdet Jahari, Andrijana Kolevska
World premiere

Marighella
Brazil
by Wagner Moura
with Seu Jorge, Adriana Esteves, Bruno Gagliasso, Jorge Paz, Luiz Carlos Vasconcelos, Humberto Carrão, Bella Camero, Ana Paula Bouzas
World premiere – First Feature
Out of competition

Mr. Jones
Poland / United Kingdom / Ukraine
by Agnieszka Holland (SpoorEuropa EuropaAngry Harvest)
with James Norton, Vanessa Kirby, Peter Sarsgaard
World premiere

Öndög
Mongolia
by Wang Quan’an (White Deer PlainApart TogetherTuya‘ s Marriage)
with Dulamjav Enkhtaivan, Aorigeletu, Norovsambuu Batmunkh
World premiere

The Operative
Germany / Israel / France / USA
by Yuval Adler (Bethlehem)
with Diane Kruger, Martin Freeman, Cas Anvar
World premiere – Out of competition

La paranza dei bambini (Piranhas)
Italy
by Claudio Giovannesi (FioreAlì Blue Eyes)
with Francesco Di Napoli, Ar Tem, Viviana Aprea, Pasquale Marotta
World premiere

Systemsprenger (System Crasher)
Germany
by Nora Fingscheidt (Without this World)
with Helena Zengel, Albrecht Schuch, Gabriela Maria Schmeide, Lisa Hagmeister
World premiere – First Feature

Ut og stjæle hester (Out Stealing Horses)
Norway / Sweden / Denmark
by Hans Petter Moland (The Beautiful CountryA Somewhat Gentle ManIn Order of Disappearance)
with Stellan Skarsgård, Tobias Santelmann, Bjørn Floberg, Danica Curcic
World premiere

Varda par Agnès (Varda by Agnès) – Documentary
France
by Agnès Varda (Cléo from 5 to 7The Gleaners and IThe Beaches of AgnèsFaces Places)
World premiere – Out of competition

Berlinale Special at the Haus der Berliner Festspiele

ANTHROPOCENE: The Human Epoch – Documentary
Canada
by Jennifer Baichwal (Long Time RunningWatermarkManufactured Landscapes), Nicholas de Pencier (Long Time RunningBlack CodeFour Wings and a Prayer), Edward Burtynsky (Watermark)
European premiere

Es hätte schlimmer kommen können – Mario Adorf (It Could Have Been Worse – Mario Adorf) – Documentary
Germany
by Dominik Wessely (Reverse Angle: Rebellion of the FilmmakersNelly’s AdventureThe Housewife’s Flower)
with Mario Adorf, Senta Berger, Margarethe von Trotta
World premiere

El Norte (The North)
USA (1984)
by Gregory Nava (BordertownMy FamilySelena)
with Zaide Silvia Gutiérrez, David Villalpando, Ernesto Gómez Cruz, Lupe Ontiveros
El Norte was restored in 2017 by the Academy Film Archive, supported in part by the Getty Foundation.
European premiere of the restored version
In cooperation with NATIVe

Berlinale Special Gala at the Friedrichstadt-Palast

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
United Kingdom
by Chiwetel Ejiofor
with Chiwetel Ejiofor, Maxwell Simba, Lily Banda, Noma Dumezweni, Aïssa Maïga, Joseph Marcell, Lemogang Tsipa European premiere – First Feature

Lampenfieber (Kids in the Spotlight) – Documentary
Germany
by Alice Agneskirchner (On Hunting – Who Owns Nature?20xBrandenburgDear Mum, I Hardly Knew You…)
World premiere

Berlinale Special Gala at the Zoo Palast

Celle que vous croyez (Who You Think I Am)
France
by Safy Nebbou (Angel of MineDumasIn the Forests of Siberia)
with Juliette Binoche, François Civil, Nicole Garcia
World premiere

Robert Thornson Jr.: My name is Robert and I am currently an undergraduate student at the University of California Irvine. I am pursuing a B.A. in Film and Media studies with hopes to work in the creative industry. I have always had a passion for storytelling and since youth I've loved film. I grew up loving the movies of directors like Wes Anderson, Stanley Kubrick, Alfred Hitchcock, Martin Scorsese, David Fincher, and many more along with writers such as Aaron Sorkin and Quentin Tarantino. One thing I have always done is write about movies and communicate to others information about the "film community" and the industry as well as about the films themselves. I write creatively on a daily basis.
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