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Stars: Ben Litwinschuh, Lutz Simon Eilert, Helena Pieske, Ludwig Trepte, Sylvie Testud | Written by Johanna Stuttmann | Directed by Mara Eibl-Eibesfeldt

We first see Sabine (Sylvie Testud) in happier times, frolicking with her three young kids: Jonas (Ben Litwinschuh), Nick (Lutz Simon Eilert) and Miechen (Helena Pieske). But Sabine, suffering with mental health problems, can’t cope with her parental responsibilities. The father is well-meaning, although any assistance is strictly of the remote, debit card variety. One day, Sabine books herself into hospital to get over her “demons”, leaving Jonas, the eldest, in charge.

After the initial thrill of adult-free independence, the house falls into disrepair. While scavenging in bins, Jonas meets Felix (Ludwig Trepte), who becomes a kind of mentor. Felix mocks Jonas – he calls him “Dwarf” – but they strike up an awkward friendship. Despite Jonas’s best efforts, his siblings are ill and starving and their home is becoming shrouded in cobwebs.

The 65th Berlinale has begun to unveil its lineup for this coming February 5th to 15th in the German capital. Watch this page for updates as more announcements come in.

Competition

Cinderella (Kenneth Branagh)

Ixcanul (Jayro Bustamante)

As We Were Dreaming (Andreas Dresen)

Under Electric Clouds (Alexey German)

Eisenstein in Guanajuato (Peter Greenaway)

45 Years (Andrew Haigh)

Knight of Cups (Terrence Malick)

Perspektive Deutsches Kino

The Bunker (Nikias Chryssos)

Spiderwebhouse (Mara Eibl-Eibesfeldt)

HomeSick (Jakob M. Erwa)

Wanja (Carolina Hellsgård)

Sibylle (Michael Krummenacher)

A Perfect Place (Anatol Schuster)

I Remember (Janna Ji Wonders)

Generation 14Plus

Short Skin (Duccio Chiarini, Italy)

Corbo (Mathieu Denis, Canada)

Nena (Saskia Diesing, Netherlands/Germany)

Flocken (Beata Gårdeler, Sweden)

The Beat Beneath My Feet (John Williams, Great Britain)

Generation Kplus

Paper Planes (Robert Connolly, Australia)

Snow Pirates (Faruk Hacıhafızoğlu, Turkey)

Mini and the Mozzies (Jannik Hastrup and Flemming Quist Møller, Denmark)

Rainbow (Nagesh Kukunoor, India)

My Skinny Sister...

The 2015 Berlinale runs February 5-15. The first wave of titles includes five feature-length films and two shorter ones spanning many distinct genres and styles. "The Bunker" (dir. Nikias Chryssos) “creates a world of its own, somewhere between an absurd comedy, a horror film, a melodrama and a B movie... A young student seeks quiet and solitude to focus on an important work but ends up as the teacher of a peculiar boy who is home-schooled by his parents in an isolated bunker mansion.” "Spiderwebhouse" (dir. Mara Eibl-Eibesfeldt) “turns a social drama into a modern, black-and-white fairy-tale that hovers on the line between reality and childlike fantasy. A single mother (Sylvie Testud) who fails to live up to the role model of a loving and caring mother, and so disappears for a time, triggers a tale about the strong bond that develops between her three left-behind children.” "HomeSick" (dir. Jakob M. Erwa), "the second full-length.

The Berlinale's begun rolling out the lineup for its 65th edition, beginning with the first seven titles in the Perspektive Deutsches Kino program. Nikias Chryssos’s The Bunker "creates a world of its own, somewhere between an absurd comedy, a horror film, a melodrama and a B movie," the festival tells us. With Spiderwebhouse, Mara Eibl-Eibesfeldt "turns a social drama into a modern, black-and-white fairy-tale." Jakob M. Erwa’s HomeSick "combines some of the elements of a thriller with impressionistic arthouse cinema." Anne Ratte-Polle plays the title roles in both Carolina Hellsgård’s Wanja and Michael Krummenacher’s Sibylle. We've got the details. » - David Hudson...

The Berlinale's begun rolling out the lineup for its 65th edition, beginning with the first seven titles in the Perspektive Deutsches Kino program. Nikias Chryssos’s The Bunker "creates a world of its own, somewhere between an absurd comedy, a horror film, a melodrama and a B movie," the festival tells us. With Spiderwebhouse, Mara Eibl-Eibesfeldt "turns a social drama into a modern, black-and-white fairy-tale." Jakob M. Erwa’s HomeSick "combines some of the elements of a thriller with impressionistic arthouse cinema." Anne Ratte-Polle plays the title roles in both Carolina Hellsgård’s Wanja and Michael Krummenacher’s Sibylle. We've got the details. » - David Hudson...