UPDATE: Looks like Hong Sang-soo (“What Does That Nature Say to You”), Léonor Serraille (“Ari”) and Lucile Hadzihalilovic (“Tour de Glace”) might also turn up in competition with their latest works. I’ve updated my predictions below.
EARLIER: I’ve gotten quite a few emails about this. So, let’s take a crack at it.
The lineup for the 75th Berlin Film Festival will be announced next Wednesday. I’ve waited long enough to post my predictions since there wasn’t a lot of intel coming in, and I’m more connected with Cannes than Berlin, but rumors have definitely ramped up this week and we now have a better indication as to what titles to expect at the Berlinale.
Firstly, sidebar sections have already been announced. All that’s left is competition, which I will be focusing on in this writeup. Expect James Mangold’s “A Complete Unknown” to screen at the Berlinale, no doubt as a way to boost momentum for the Oscar contending film, with Timothee Chalamet and the cast in attendance.
Other notable out-of-competition titles include Bong Joon ho’s “Mickey 17,” Tom Tykwer’s “The Light,” and Justin Kurzel’s limited series, “The Narrow Road to the Deep North.”
No word yet on whether Christian Petzold’s “Miroirs No. 3” will show up at Berlin. Petzold has been a mainstay of the festival for many years now, but his latest film is currently set up with an October release date in Germany, and I would imagine he probably wants to finally expand his options — maybe Venice?
Meanwhile, Wes Anderson, who has premiered a handful of his films at Berlin, might be waiting it out a little longer when it comes to his latest, “The Phoenician Scheme.” The film still has no distributor, and a splashy bow at Cannes would make more sense for it at the moment.
There will be two “Dreams” in competition. Michael Franco’s “Dreams,” starring Jessica Chastain, has a firmly secured spot. The film surprisingly skipped Venice last year, where Franco’s become a mainstay, and that was apparently due to the film still being in the editing stages. Then there’s Norway’s Dag Johan Haugerud completing his "Sex, Love, Dreams" trilogy in Berlin competition with … “Dreams.”
On Tuesday, Steven Soderbergh’s ”Black Bag” screened for a select few critics in Munich which is good indication that something might be brewing for a Berlin premiere. The film is set for U.S. release in March and that means it either goes without a festival bow or it is heading to Berlin. I’d bet on the latter.
Meanwhile, I had previously reported that Richard Linklater’s “Nouvelle Vague” had been submitted for Cannes, but he has another film already in the can,” Blue Moon,” and it even received an MPA rating on Monday (R). There have been many whispers about Linklater being in Berlin competition and he did premiere “Boyhood” there in 2014.
There’s also definitely a new movie from Radu Jude in competition. No word yet on whether it’s “Continental ‘25,” or “Dracula Park.”
As for the rest of the competition, we should expect new films from Cattet/Forzani, Vivian Qu, Shang Qiu, Burhan Qurbani, Lionel Baier, Frederic Hambalek, Amir Fakher Eldin, Petra Volpe, Pablo Aguero, Anna Roller, Max Frisch, Rebecca Lenkiewicz, and Mariko Mizoguchi.
I’m certainly missing a few films, and the below predictions only have 20 titles so there will definitely be a few surprises sneaking in there. I don’t expect many big names to show up this year.
“Blue Moon” (Richard Linklater)
“Black Bag” (Steven Soderbergh)
“Dreams” (Michel Franco)
“Continental ‘25/”Dracula”” (Radu Jude)
“What Does That Nature Say to You” (Hong Sang-Soo)
“Tour de Glace” (Lucile Hadzihalilovic)
“Ari” (Léonor Serraille)
“Reflet Dans Un Diamant Mort” (Helene Cattet/Bruno Forzani)
“Girls on the Wire” (Vivian Qu)
“My Father’s Son” (Sheng Qiu)
“No Beast So Fierce” (Burhan Qurbani)
“La Cache” (Lionel Baier)
“Marielle” (Frederic Hambalek)
“Yunan” (Amir Fakher Eldin)
“Dreams” (Jan Dag Haugerud)
“Heroine” (Petra Volpe)
“Saint-Exupéry” (Pablo Agüero)
“Allegro Pastell” (Anna Roller)
“Hot Milk” (Rebecca Lenkiewicz)
“Untitled” (Mariko Minoguchi)
”Stiller” (Stefan Haupt)