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Gabriel Mascaro’s The Blue Trail is the winner of this year’s Berlin jury grid with an average score of 3.4 as Kateryna Gornostai’s Timestamp, Hong Sangsoo’s What Does Nature Say To You and Lionel Baier’s The Safe House completethe entries.

The Blue Trailstars Denise Weinberg in a dystopian fable following a 77-year-old who embarks on a journey through the Amazon. It received four four-stars (excellent) and five three-stars (good) and beats last year’s joint winners My Favourite Cake and The Devil’s Bath with 3.1.In the official Berlin award ceremony, the film received theSilver Bear grand...

The tumultuous events of May 1968 have never seemed more upbeat and sentimental than they do in The Safe House (La Cache), a retro family dramedy set in one labyrinthine Parisian apartment while the surrounding streets abound with social unrest.

Based on Christophe Boltanski’s prizewinning 2015 novel, the latest feature from Swiss writer-director Lionel Baier (Continental Drift (South)) is drenched in period nostalgia and wink-wink vibes, even if there’s a darker undercurrent running through the plot. With a few glaring homages to Jean-Luc Godard, among other nods to the epoch, the film plays more like historical pastiche than original material. It scores some soft emotional blows toward the end, but otherwise feels like a minor trip back to a major time.

Author Boltanski is the nephew of renowned artist Christian Boltanski, famous for his brooding installations composed of metal boxes, archive photos and documents meant to recall the traumas of WWII and the Holocaust.

Memories can’t be cancelled. The Boltanski family never celebrates significant dates, even their own birthdays; according to the narrator who leads us into this whimsical fantasy of post-war Jewish life, they live only for the present moment. In May 1968, the present moment consists of riots in the streets and demands for the government to step down, although it is the utopian dreams on the posters slapped up on walls that embody the movement’s true spirit: “Beauty is in the streets!” “Banning is banned!”. One of the Boltanski sons is out there at the Sorbonne with his wife, changing the world; the rest of the family are together in their house in Paris, where they like to huddle in one room, eating assortments of snacks on the bed while the revolution is televised.

In fact, the past is stuck in the house’s every crack. Knick-knacks from menorahs to...

Radu Jude’s Kontinental ’25 makes a strong debut on the Berlin critics jury grid while Johanna Moder’s Mother’s Baby, Ameer Fakher Eldin’s Yunan and Dag Johan Haugerud’s Dreams (Sex Love) also land.

Kontinental ’25scored a 3.1 average rating from the critics, putting it second behind Gabriel Mascaro’s The Blue Trail on 3.4. Jude’s Romanian-set drama received three four-stars (excellent) four three-stars (good) and two two-stars (average) – the latter from Barabara Hollender and Kalapapruek.

Click on the grid above for the most up-to-date version

Jude was last in Berlin with his Golden Bear-winning Bad Luck Banging Or Loony Porn...

May Days: Baier’s Broad Commentary on a Revolutionary Footnote

“Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people,” said Eleanor Roosevelt. Dipping its irreverent toes into each of these camps is The Safe House, the latest film from Swiss director Lionel Baier, adapted from the novel by Christophe Boltanski. And Baier most assuredly wants the audience to recognize the origins of the source material, with narration often breaking the fourth wall to remind us we are watching the reenactment of a publication, arguably docu-fiction, which presents a curious event which transpired at the home of a quirky artistic family during the civil unrest of May, 1968.…...

Set during the May 1968 revolution in Paris, Lionel Baier’s “The Safe House” is a comic family portrait filled with ideas that never fully cohere. The film is based on Christophe Boltanski’s Prix Femina-winning biographical novel of the same name, a fact of which we’re reminded numerous times via authorial voiceover. Its snappy, postmodern unfurling, rife with intentionally obvious rear projections, does eventually give way to moving dimensions as the family’s history fades into view, but few political or personal elements amount to anything poignant.

Although Boltanski’s family serves as fuel for the screenplay, “The Safe House” anonymizes them and tilt-shifts some of the story’s details, while keeping the broad premise intact: a saga unfolding in the margins of one of France’s most pivotal modern protests. It’s told, at least initially, through the eyes of a nine-year-old boy (Ethan Chimienti), meant to be Boltanski himself.

Paris, May 1968, becomes more than a backdrop in “The Safe House” (“La cache”), Swiss filmmaker Lionel Baier’s latest. It’s an adaptation of Christophe Boltanski’s Prix Femina winning novel, “La cache,” produced by Bande à Part Films and co-produced with Red Lion, Les Films du Poisson, Rts Radio Télévision Suisse and Srg Ssr, making it a French, Swiss and Luxembourgish co-production. The comedy-drama, which debuts in competition at Berlinale, sees Baier observe an eccentric family.

The ensemble cast features Dominique Reymond as the Grandmother, the late Michel Blanc as Père-Grand, the Grandfather, William Lebghil as the Great Uncle and Aurélien Gabrielli as Little Uncle. Liliane Rovère portrays Hinterland, while Adrien Barazzone and Larisa Faber play the boy’s father and mother, respectively, with Ethan Chimienti as the aforementioned boy. Gilles Privat also joins the ensemble in a key supporting role.

Baier’s film opens with a line from...

The lineup for the 75th Berlin International Film Festival has been unveiled, with 19 films competing for the coveted Golden Bear. Outside of those, the festival will also host the world premiere of Bong Joon-ho’s Mickey 17, have a screening of James Mangold’s A Complete Unknown and offer up Tom Tykwer’s latest, The Light, which will be opening the festival.

Here is the full competition lineup for this year’s Berlin International Film Festival:

Ari – Léonor Serraille

Blue Moon – Richard Linklater

La cache (The Safe House) – Lionel Baier

Dreams – Michel Franco

Drømmer (Dreams (Sex Love)) – Dag Johan Haugerud

Geu jayeoni nege mworago hani (What Does That Nature Say to You) – Hong Sangsoo

Hot Milk – Rebecca Lenkiewicz

If I Had Legs I’d Kick You – Mary Bronstein

Kontinental ’25 – Radu Jude

El mensaje (The Message) – Iván Fund

Mother’s Baby – Johanna Moder

O último azul (The Blue Trail) – Gabriel Mascaro

Reflet...

The Berlin Film Festival has unveiled the lineup for the 2025 edition, running February 13-23. It’s the first official lineup overseen by new artistic director and former BFI London Film Festival leader Tricia Tuttle, who succeeds Carlo Chatrian and brings her background as an American journalist and curator to the annual German showcase. She’s also working with co-directors of programming, Jacqueline Lyanga and Michael Stütz, to help reposition the Berlinale’s profile among the great global film festivals and lure bigger-name filmmakers in the process.

This year’s lineup, announced Tuesday, January 21, features new films from Richard Linklater, Michel Franco, Rebecca Lenkiewicz, Hong Sangsoo (“What Does That Nature Say to You”), Radu Jude (“Kontinental ’25”), and Lucile Hadžihalilović (“The Ice Tower”). Already confirmed in the mix are “Mickey 17” from Bong Joon Ho and Ira Sachs’ Sundance premiere “Peter Hujar’s Day,” plus Tom Tykwer’s “The Light” opening the festival.

Brussels-based Best Friend Forever has boardedKateryna Gornostai’s documentaryTimestamp, the only documentary selected for the main competition at the Berlin International Film Festival.

The film focuses on a school in Ukraine whose students and teachers are doing their best to continue daily life under the constant threat of war.

Timestampis produced by Ukraine’s 2Brave Productions and co-produced by Luxembourg-based a_BAHN, the Netherlands’ Rinkel Docs with France’s Cinephage Productions on board as associate producers. It is based on a concept from Ukrainian educational organisation Osvitoria which has executive produced the film.

“The war has deeply penetrated our daily...

Paris-based Luxbox has acquired Romanian writer-director Radu Jude’s Kontinental ’25,about a woman’s attempts tosootheher conscience when a homeless man she was attempting to evict commits suicide.

It will world premiere in competition at the Berlin International Film Festival next month.

The film, whose title is inspired by Roberto Rossellini’s Europe ’51, isproduced by Romania’s Saga Film with Brazil’s Rt Features, Switzerland’s Bord Cadre films, the UK’s Sovereign Films, and Luxembourg’s Paul Thiltges Distributions.

Luxbox, fresh off a strong festival and awards season run for Payal Kapadia’s All We Imagine As Light,...

Following last week’s lineup announcement, the Berlinale 2025 has now fleshed out its slate with the Competition, Special, and Perspectives sections. Highlights include the world premieres of Richard Linklater’s Blue Moon starring Ethan Hawke, Margaret Qualley, Bobby Cannavale, and Andrew Scott; Radu Jude’s Kontinental ’25; Hong Sangsoo’s What Does that Nature Say to You; Michel Franco’s Dreams starring Jessica Chastain; Lucile Hadžihalilović’s The Ice Tower starring Marion Cotillard; and Rebecca Lenkiewicz’s Hot Milk with Emma Mackey, Fiona Shaw, and Vicky Krieps.

The festival will also include international premieres from Julia Loktev, Mary Bronstein, Kahlil Joseph, and more. In terms of omissions for films that potentially could have been a strong fit: there’s no Steven Soderberg’s Black Bag, Wes Anderson’s German production The Phoenician Scheme, nor Berlinale regular Christian Petzold, who wrapped Miroirs No. 3 only a few months ago.

Check out the lineup...

France’s mk2 Films has boarded Lionel Baier’s 2025 Berlin Competition selection The Safe House (La Cache) and is launching international sales at EFM.

The comedy is about a nine-year-old boy living with his family of eccentric contemporary artists in their Parisian apartment during the famous French student protests in May 1968 who discovers a hidden secret dating back to the Second World War. The family drama is adapted from Christophe Boltanski’s novel of the same name inspired by his own life.

It is Swiss filmmaker Baier’s follow-upto Continental Drift (South) which premiered in Directors’ Fortnight in 2022.

“Lionel Baier...

The Berlin Film Festival on Tuesday unveiled the full list of titles set for its official competition alongside perspective and specials sidebars.

A total of 19 films have been selected for the international competition. It’s a buzzy selection with multiple titles that have been anticipated and boast high-profile names. Highlights include Richard Linklater’s latest feature Blue Moon, starring Ethan Hawke, Margaret Qualley, Bobby Cannavale and Andrew Scott. Mexican filmmaker Michel Franco launches his latest title Dreams in competition. The film stars Jessica Chastain, Isaac Hernández and Rupert Friend. Franco last worked with Chastain on the Venice competition title Memory.

Elsewhere, Romanian filmmaker Radu Jude lands in competition with Kontinental ’25. Rebecca Lenkiewicz’s Hot Milk starring Emma Mackey, Fiona Shaw and Vicky Krieps also secures a spot alongside Hong Sangsoo’s latest What Does that Nature Say to You, and Mumblecore veteran Mary Bronstein returns as a director with If I Had Legs I’d Kick You...

The competition line-up for the 2025 Berlin International Film Festival is being announced at a press conference at 11am Cet (10am GMT).

Scroll down for line-up

New festival director Tricia Tuttle is revealing the titles for the Competition and new Perspectives strand alongside co-directors of film programming Jacqueline Lyanga and Michael Stütz.

The announcement is being live-streamed on the festival’s social channels. Watch it live above.

Screen will update this page with the titles as they are announced. Refresh the page for latest updates.

As previously announced, the festival will open with Tom Tykwer’s Special Gala out of competition selection The Light.

Alycia Debnam-Carey Depositphotos

Alycia Jasmin Debnam-Carey, an Australian actress, gained recognition for her roles as Lexa in the dystopian science fiction series The 100 (2014–2016; 2020) and Alicia Clark in the horror drama series Fear the Walking Dead (2015–2022). She started her career in 2003 with a short drama film called Martha’s New Coat, directed by Rachel Ward. Her first feature film appearance was in the American disaster film Into the Storm (2014). In 2022, she made her directorial debut with the episode “Ofelia” in the seventh season of Fear the Walking Dead.

Career:

From 2003 to 2013, Debnam-Carey began her career by appearing in various short films and television series in Australia. She made her film debut in Martha’s New Coat and later appeared in the drama series McLeod’s Daughters and voiced a character in the animated short film The Safe House. She also played supporting roles in several short films. In 2010, she was cast...