Richard Linklater’s “Blue Moon,” starring Ethan Hawke and Margaret Qualley, and Michel Franco’s “Dreams” with Jessica Chastain are slated to compete at the 75th edition of the Berlin Film Festival. This year’s jury will be presided over by “May December” filmmaker Todd Haynes.
“Blue Moon,” which also stars Bobby Cannavale and Andrew Scott, is a long-gestating project which charts the final days of Lorenz Hart, half of the songwriting team Rodgers & Hart. The film has already been acquired by Sony Pictures Classics.
“Dreams” reunites Franco with Chastain following 2023’s “Memory.” The film stars Isaac Hernández as Fernando, a young ballet dancer from Mexico, who dreams of being internationally recognized and living in the U.S. Chastain plays his lover, a socialite and philanthropist.
Jessica Chastain in Michel Franco’s “Dreams”
Berlin Film Festival
Other notable titles on the competition roster include “Hot Milk,” the feature debut of acclaimed screenwriter Rebecca Lenkiewicz (“She Said”) starring Emma Mackey, Fiona Shaw and Vicky Krieps; and “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You,” Mary Bronstein’s film starring Rose Byrne, A$AP Rocky and Conan O’Brien.
Two Chinese movies will also make their world debuts at the Berlinale: “Girls on Wire” (“Xiang fei de nv hai”), directed by Vivian Qu, and “Living the Land” (“Sheng xi zhi di”), directed by Huo Meng.
The exciting lineup kicks off the leadership of new artistic director Tricia Tuttle, who took over from Carlo Chatrian and signals an endeavor to boast a competition that brings the festival slightly closer to Cannes. Overall, movies that will compete this year for the Golden and Silver bears are on paper less niche and more crossover than recent Berlinale lineups, but Tuttle, who is a well respected American film journalist and curator, has also kept the edginess and iconoclastic flare that has symbolized the festival since its inception.
In announcing the lineup, Tuttle discussed her wish to broaden the appeal of the festival, as well as keep its political roots. “We cannot and we do not shy away from [politics]. It’s arguably in the DNA of the city and the festival itself,” she said. “But it’s fair to say that the Berlinale is many things and for all festivals and all culture right now, the news agenda can often dominate the discourse. But we really hope that believe that the films that audiences are going to see over the weeks of the festival are going to get people talking about the vibrancy of the art form itself.”
Under Tuttle’s helm, the Berlinale has introduced a new competitive section called Perspectives whose inaugural lineup includes 14 feature film debuts, 12 of which are world premieres.
“Perspectives, our new first fiction feature competition brings together exceptional international filmmakers, spanning the globe from India to Mexico, from Taiwan to Egypt, from the U.S. to Slovenia,” Tuttle said. The films include “Mad Bills to Pay” by Joel Alfonso Vargas and “How to Be Normal and the Oddness of the Other World” by Florian Pochlatko.
Meanwhile, the competition roster spans movies from 26 countries and includes eight films directed or co-directed by female helmers.
“We’re fiercely proud of the films in this year’s competition; they showcase the breadth of cinema and offer fascinating glimpses into different lives and places,” said Tuttle, who previously led the BFI London Film Festival during a fast-growing five-year chapter.
Tuttle described the films selected as “intimate dramas that ask us to understand our human fragilities and strengths; there is gentle comedy but also the sharpest, blackest satire; there are films that pay homage to cinematic greats and ones that use the art form’s fullest canvas.”
“Each of these singular works shows filmmakers at the top of their craft. From these deserving ranks, we look forward to discovering what Todd Haynes’ jury pick as the winners of Berlinale Golden and Silver Bears,” Tuttle continued.
Emma Mackey and Vicky Krieps in “Hot Milk.”
nikos nikolopoulos
Nine more titles have also been added to the Berlinale Special program, most notably James Mangold’s Oscar contender “A Complete Unknown” starring Timothée Chalamet as a young Bob Dylan. The fest will also host a screening of Peter Wollen’s 1987 film “Friendship’s Death,” starring Tilda Swinton, as part of her Honorary Golden Bear tribute.
Last year, the Berlinale was embroiled in controversy after the directors of award-winning doc “No Other Land” — both Palestinian and Israeli filmmakers — described Israeli’s “apartheid” while on stage, sparking angry responses from German politicians. Tuttle acknowledged that, this year, there have been concerns surrounded freedom of speech and that “lots of filmmakers from Arab countries” had approached the organizers “just to make sure the festival is a space for open dialogue.”
Tuttle added that the matter “had affected the program,” but it’s “not been something that’s kept us from being able to program what we want.”
See the full lineup below.
COMPETITION
“Ari”
by Léonor Serraille | with Andranic Manet, Pascal Rénéric, Théo Delezenne, Ryad Ferrad, Eva Lallier Juan
France / Belgium 2025
World premiere
“Blue Moon”
by Richard Linklater | with Ethan Hawke, Margaret Qualley, Bobby Cannavale, Andrew Scott
USA / Ireland 2025
World premiere
“La cache” (“The Safe House”)
by Lionel Baier | with Dominique Reymond, Michel Blanc, William Lebghil, Aurélien Gabrielli, Liliane Rovère
Switzerland / Luxembourg / France 2025
World premiere
“Dreams”
by Michel Franco | with Jessica Chastain, Isaac Hernández, Rupert Friend, Marshall Bell
Mexico 2025
World premiere
“Drømmer” (“Dreams (Sex Love)”)
by Dag Johan Haugerud | with Ella Øverbye, Selome Emnetu, Ane Dahl Torp, Anne Marit Jacobsen
Norway 2024
International premiere
“Geu jayeoni nege mworago hani” (“What Does That Nature Say to You”)
by Hong Sangsoo | with Ha Seongguk, Kwon Haehyo, Cho Yunhee, Kang Soyi
South Korea 2025
World premiere
“Hot Milk”
by Rebecca Lenkiewicz | with Emma Mackey, Fiona Shaw, Vicky Krieps, Vincent Perez
United Kingdom 2025
World premiere | Debut film
“If I Had Legs I’d Kick You”
by Mary Bronstein | with Rose Byrne, A$AP Rocky, Conan O’Brien, Danielle Macdonald, Ivy Wolk, Delaney Quinn
USA 2024
International premiere
“Kontinental ’25”
by Radu Jude | with Eszter Tompa, Gabriel Spahiu, Adonis Tanța
Romania 2025
World premiere
“El mensaje” (“The Message”)
by Iván Fund | with Mara Bestelli, Marcelo Subiotto, Anika Bootz, Betania Cappato
Argentina / Spain 2025
World premiere
“Mother’s Baby”
by Johanna Moder | with Marie Leuenberger, Hans Löw, Claes Bang, Julia Franz Richter
Austria / Switzerland / Germany 2025
World premiere
“O último azul” (“The Blue Trail”)
by Gabriel Mascaro | with Denise Weinberg, Rodrigo Santoro, Miriam Socorrás, Adanilo
Brazil / Mexico / Chile / Netherlands 2025
World premiere
“Reflet dans un diamant mort” (“Reflection in a Dead Diamond”)
by Hélène Cattet, Bruno Forzani | with Fabio Testi, Yannick Renier, Koen De Bouw, Maria de Medeiros, Thi Mai Nguyen
Belgium / Luxembourg / Italy / France 2025
World premiere
“Sheng xi zhi di” (“Living the Land”)
By Huo Meng │with Wang Shang, Zhang Chuwen, Zhang Yanrong, Zhang Caixia, Cao Lingzhi
People’s Republic of China 2025
World premiere
“Strichka chasu” (“Timestamp”)
by Kateryna Gornostai | with Olha Bryhynets, Borys Khovriak, Mykola Kolomiiets
Ukraine / Luxembourg / Netherlands / France 2025
World premiere | Documentary form
“La Tour de Glace” (“The Ice Tower”)
by Lucile Hadžihalilović | with Marion Cotillard, Clara Pacini, August Diehl, Gaspar Noé
France / Germany 2025
World premiere
“Was Marielle weiß” (“What Marielle Knows”)
by Frédéric Hambalek | with Julia Jentsch, Felix Kramer, Laeni Geiseler, Mehmet Ateşçi, Moritz Treuenfels
Germany 2025
World premiere
“Xiang fei de nv hai” (“Girls on Wire”)
by Vivian Qu | with Liu Haocun, Wen Qi, Zhang Youhao
People’s Republic of China 2025
World premiere
“Yunan”
by Ameer Fakher Eldin | with Georges Khabbaz, Hanna Schygulla, Ali Suliman, Sibel Kekilli, Tom Wlaschiha
Germany / Canada / Italy / Palestine / Qatar / Jordan / Saudi Arabia 2025
World premiere
BERLINALE SPECIAL GALA
“After This Death”
by Lucio Castro | with Mia Maestro, Lee Pace, Rupert Friend, Gwendoline Christie, Philip Ettinger
USA 2025
World premiere
“A Complete Unknown” (“Like a Complete Unknown”)
by James Mangold | with Timothée Chalamet, Edward Norton, Elle Fanning, Monica Barbaro, Boyd Holbrook
USA 2024
German premiere
“Heldin” (“Late Shift”)
by Petra Volpe | with Leonie Benesch, Sonja Riesen, Urs Bihler, Margherita Schoch, Jürg Plüss
Switzerland / Germany 2025
World premiere
“Islands”
by Jan-Ole Gerster | with Sam Riley, Stacy Martin, Jack Farthing, Dylan Torrell
Germany 2025
World premiere
“Köln 75”
by Ido Fluk | with Mala Emde, John Magaro, Michael Chernus, Alexander Scheer
Germany / Poland / Belgium 2025
World premiere
“Das Licht” (“The Light”)
by Tom Tykwer | with Nicolette Krebitz, Lars Eidinger, Tala Al-Deen, Elke Biesendorfer, Julius Gause
Germany 2025
World premiere
“Lurker”
by Alex Russell | with Théodore Pellerin, Archie Madekwe, Zack Fox, Havana Rose Liu, Sunny Suljic
USA / Italy 2025
International premiere | Debut film
“Mickey 17”
by Bong Joon Ho | with Robert Pattinson, Naomi Ackie, Steven Yeun, Toni Collette, Mark Ruffalo
USA / South Korea / United Kingdom 2024
German Premiere
“The Thing With Feathers”
by Dylan Southern | with Benedict Cumberbatch, Richard Boxall, Henry Boxall, Sam Spruell, Vinette Robinson
United Kingdom 2025
European premiere
BERLINALE SPECIAL SERIES GALA
“The Narrow Road to the Deep North”
by Justin Kurzel | with Jacob Elordi, Ciarán Hinds, Odessa Young, Olivia DeJonge, Simon Baker
Australia 2025
World premiere | Series
BERLINALE SPECIAL
“Ancestral Visions of the Future”
by Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese | with Siphiwe Nzima, Sobo Bernard, Zaman Mathejane, Mochesane Edwin Kotsoane, Rehauhetsoe Ernest Kotsoane
France / Lesotho / Germany / Saudi Arabia 2025
World premiere | Documentary form
“Das Deutsche Volk”
by Marcin Wierzchowski
Germany 2025
World premiere | Documentary form
“Honey Bunch”
by Madeleine Sims-Fewer, Dusty Mancinelli | with Grace Glowicki, Ben Petrie, Kate Dickie, Jason Isaacs, India Brown
Canada 2025
World premiere
“Je n’avais que le néant – ‘Shoah’ par Claude Lanzmann” (“All I Had Was Nothingness”)
by Guillaume Ribot
France 2025
World premiere
“Kein Tier. So Wild.” (“No Beast. So Fierce.”)
by Burhan Qurbani | with Kenda Hmeidan, Verena Altenberger, Hiam Abbass, Mona Zarreh Hoshyari Khah, Mehdi Nebbou
Germany / Poland / France 2025
World premiere
“Leibniz – Chronik eines verschollenen Bildes” (“Leibniz – Chronicle of a Lost Painting”)
by Edgar Reitz, Anatol Schuster | with Edgar Selge, Aenne Schwarz, Michael Kranz, Lars Eidinger, Barbara Sukowa
Germany 2025
World premiere
“A melhor mãe do mundo” (“The Best Mother in the World” | “Die beste Mutter der Welt”)
by Anna Muylaert | with Shirley Cruz, Seu Jorge, Rihanna Barbosa, BeninAyo
Brazil / Argentina 2025
World premiere
“Michtav Le’David” (“A Letter to David”)
by Tom Shoval | with David Cunio, Eitan Cunio, Sharon Aloni-Cunio, Silvia Cunio, Luis Cunio
Israel / USA 2025
World premiere | Documentary form
“My Undesirable Friends: Part I – Last Air in Moscow”
by Julia Loktev | with Anna Nemzer, Elena Kostyuchenko, Ksenia Mironova, Sonya Groysman, Alesya Marokhovskaya
USA 2024
International premiere | Documentary form
“Pa-gwa” (“The Old Woman With the Knife”)
by Min Kyu-dong | with Hyeyoung Lee, Kim Sung-cheol, Yeon Woo-jin, Kim Moo-yul, Shin Sia
South Korea 2025
World premiere
“Shoah”
by Claude Lanzmann
France 1985
PERSPECTIVES
“Al Mosta’mera” (“The Settlement”)
by Mohamed Rashad | with Adham Shoukry, Ziad Islam, Hajar Omar, Mohamed Abdel Hady, Emad Ghoneim
Egypt / France / Germany / Saudi Arabia / Qatar 2025
World premiere
“Baksho Bondi” (“Shadowbox”)
by Tanushree Das, Saumyananda Sahi | with Tillotama Shome, Chandan Bisht, Sayan Karmakar, Suman Saha
India / France / USA / Spain 2025
World premiere
“BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions”
by Kahlil Joseph | with Kaneza Schaal, Hope Giselle, Shaunette Renée Wilson, Funmilayo Akechukwu, Peter Hernandez
USA 2025
International premiere | Debut film
“Come la notte” (“Where the Night Stands Still”)
by Liryc Dela Cruz | with Jenny Llanto Caringal, Tess Magallanes, Benjamin Vasquez Barcellano Jr.
Italy / Philippines 2025
World premiere
“El Diablo Fuma (y guarda las cabezas de los cerillos quemados en la misma caja)” (“The Devil Smokes (and Saves the Burnt Matches in the Same Box”))
by Ernesto Martinez Bucio | with Mariapau Bravo Aviña, Rafael Nieto Martínez, Regina Alejandra, Donovan Said, Laura Uribe Rojas
Mexico 2025
World premiere | Debut film
“Duas Vezes João Liberada” (“Two Times João Liberada”)
by Paula Tomás Marques | with June João, André Tecedeiro, Eloísa d’Ascensão, Tiago Aires Lêdo, Jenny Larrue
Portugal 2025
World premiere | Debut film
“Hé mán” (“Eel”)
by Chu Chun-Teng | with Devin Pan, Misi Ke, Chin-Yu Pan, Bella Chen, MeiHou Wu
Taiwan 2025
World premiere | Debut film
“How to Be Normal and the Oddness of the Other World”
by Florian Pochlatko | with Luisa-Céline Gaffron, Elke Winkens, Cornelius Obonya, Felix Pöchhacker, David Scheid
Austria 2025
World premiere | Debut film
“Kaj ti je deklica” (“Little Trouble Girls”)
by Urška Djukić | with Jara Sofija Ostan, Mina Švajger, Saša Tabaković, Nataša Burger, Staša Popović
Slovenia / Italy / Croatia / Serbia 2025
World premiere | Debut film
“Mad Bills to Pay (or Destiny, dile que no soy malo)”
by Joel Alfonso Vargas | with Juan Collado, Destiny Checo, Yohanna Florentino, Nathaly Navarro
USA 2025
International premiere | Debut film
“Minden Rendben” (“Growing Down”)
by Bálint Dániel Sós | with Szabolcs Hajdu, Ágoston Sáfrány, Anna Hay, Zonga Jakab-Aponyi, Zsófi Szamosi
Hungary 2025
World premiere | Debut film
“Mit der Faust in die Welt schlagen” (“Punching the World”)
by Constanze Klaue | with Anton Franke, Camille Moltzen, Anja Schneider, Christian Näthe, Johannes Scheidweiler
Germany 2025
World premiere | Debut film
“On vous croit” (“We believe you”)
by Arnaud Dufeys, Charlotte Devillers | with Myriem Akheddiou, Laurent Capelluto, Natali Broods, Ulysse Goffin, Adèle Pinckaers
Belgium 2025
World premiere
“Le rendez-vous de l’été” (“That Summer in Paris”)
by Valentine Cadic | with Blandine Madec, India Hair, Arcadi Radeff, Matthias Jacquin, Lou Deleuze
France 2025
World premiere | Debut film
“Linklater, Ethan Hawke’s Blue Moon, More: A Look at the Collaborative Genius of Two Hollywood Mavericks”
Richard Linklater and Ethan Hawke have long been a dynamic duo in the world of cinema, creating some of the most memorable and innovative films of the past few decades. From their groundbreaking work on “Before Sunrise,” “Before Sunset,” and “Before Midnight” to their more recent collaboration on the critically acclaimed “Boyhood,” these two have consistently pushed the boundaries of storytelling and filmmaking.
One of their lesser-known but equally impressive projects is the 2014 film “Boyhood.” This ambitious and groundbreaking film was shot over the course of 12 years, following the life of a young boy named Mason as he grows up in real-time. The result is a truly unique and immersive viewing experience that captures the passage of time like no other film before it.
But their collaborations go beyond just “Boyhood.” Linklater and Hawke have also worked together on the darkly comedic “Tape,” the philosophical “Waking Life,” and the heartfelt “Fast Food Nation.” Each film showcases their shared love of storytelling and their ability to tackle complex themes with intelligence and nuance.
As they continue to push the boundaries of cinema and challenge the status quo, it’s clear that Linklater and Hawke are a force to be reckoned with in Hollywood. Their work together is a testament to the power of collaboration and the magic that can happen when two great minds come together to create something truly special.
So whether you’re a longtime fan of their work or just discovering them for the first time, it’s clear that Linklater and Hawke’s partnership is one for the ages. Here’s to many more years of groundbreaking cinema from these two Hollywood mavericks.
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#Linklater #Ethan #Hawkes #Blue #Moon
