A multitalented International Jury will decide who will take home the Golden and the Silver Bears at the Berlinale 2022.
Director M. Night Shyamalan will head a multitalented, multinational Jury who will decide the winners of the Golden and the Silver Bears at the Berlinale 2022. Eighteen films are competing for the awards in this year’s Competition. The winners will be announced at the Berlinale Palast on February 16.
The other members of the jury are director, screenwriter and visual artist Karim Aïnouz (Brazil / Algeria), producer Saïd Ben Saïd (France / Tunisia), director and scriptwriter Anne Zohra Berrached (Germany), filmmaker and author Tsitsi Dangarembga (Zimbabwe), director and screenwriter Ryûsuke Hamaguchi (Japan), actor and producer Connie Nielsen (Denmark).
Shyamalan has been captivating audiences worldwide with his genre films over the past three decades. His impressive filmmaking includes 14 feature films as a cinema director. His breakthrough, the 1999 psychological thriller The Sixth Sense starring Bruce Willis, was the second highest grossing film of that year and received six Academy Award nominations.
Karim Aïnouz first studied architecture in Paris and Brasilia before doing a degree in film studies at New York University and gaining practical experience as an assistant director for Todd Haynes. His feature film debut Madame Satã premiered at Cannes in 2002, later O Céu de Suely (Love for Sale, 2006) and Viajo Porque Preciso, Volto Porque te Amo (I Travel Because I Have To, I Come Back Because I Love You, 2009) screened in Venice. Aïnouz is also a regular guest at the Berlinale.
Saïd Ben Saïd is a French-Tunisian film producer, founder and chairman of SBS Productions. His large output of 40 films includes films directed by Paul Verhoeven, David Cronenberg, Roman Polanski, Brian De Palma, Nadav Lapid, Philippe Garrel, Walter Hill, Alain Corneau, Kleber Mendonça Filho, André Téchiné and Ira Sachs. Recent releases include: David Cronenberg’s Maps to the Stars with Julianne Moore who won Best Actress in Cannes in 2014, Paul Verhoeven’s Elle which was awarded with Best Foreign Picture at the 2017 Golden Globes, Nadav Lapid’s Synonyms which won the 2019 Golden Bear at the Berlinale and Kleber Mendonça Filho’s Bacurau which received the 2019 Jury Prize in Cannes.
Anne Zohra Berrached, born in Erfurt in 1982 as the daughter of a German and an Algerian, first studied social pedagogy and worked as a theatre pedagogue in London before turning to filmmaking. After her first own short documentary film Der Pausenclown (2009), she studied at the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg. Her first feature-length film Zwei Mütter (Two Mothers) was awarded the section prize in the Perspektive Deutsches Kino at the Berlinale in 2013, and three years later 24 Wochen (24 Weeks) ran for the Golden Bear in the Competition.
Zimbabwean filmmaker and writer Tsitsi Dangarembga studied at Cambridge and the University of Zimbabwe before coming to Berlin to study directing at the German Film and Television Academy. As a screenwriter or director, she has been involved in several of her home country’s cinematic milestones, including Neria (1991), Flame (1996), Everyone’s Child (1996) and I Want a Wedding Dress (2011).
Ryûsuke Hamaguchi‘s episodic film Gûzen to sôzô (Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy) premiered in the Competition at the Berlinale in 2021, where it won the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize. In the same year, he also received the Best Screenplay Prize for an adaptation of Murakami’s Doiraibu mai kâ (Drive My Car), which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival.
Connie Nielsen was born in Denmark where she started her career on stage alongside her mother in political Revue and Variety shows. She moved to France and Italy as a young woman to continue her studies and further her acting career internationally. Once in the US, she starred in Ridley Scott’s Oscar winner Gladiator (2000), Mission to Mars (2000) by Brian de Palma and Basic (2003). She first appeared in a Danish production for Susanne Bier’s Brothers (2004) for which she was nominated for the European Film Award, among others, and received Best Actress awards in San Sebastián and the Danish film prize The Bodil.
Eleven filmmakers have been at the Berlinale before, eight in Competition, and five of them already hold a “bear” in their hands.
Eighteen films will compete for the Golden and Silver Bears. Productions from 15 countries are represented. 17 films are world premieres. Seven films were directed by women.
Among them, eleven filmmakers have been at the festival before, eight in Competition, and five of them already hold a “bear” in their hands. One film is a non-fiction and animated one, set in an unspecified time.
Artistic Director Carlo Chatrian, said, “We are happy to have back artists we cherish and whose work is important to us. We are also happy to welcome for the first time in the Competition filmmakers whose films have thrilled us. More than half of the films selected take place in the present day, but only two deal with the current pandemic times. Human and emotional bonds are a common thread – with half of the selection choosing the family as a context for their tales. Almost all films set their tales out of the city centre, in the periphery, in the countryside or they follow the characters in their journeys away from towns.”
The Competition Films are: A E I O U – Das schnelle Alphabet der Liebe (A E I O U – A Quick Alphabet of Love); Alcarràs; Avec amour et acharnement (Both Sides of the Blade); Call Jane; Drii Winter (A Piece of Sky); Everything Will Be Ok; La ligne (The Line); Leonora addio; Les passagers de la nuit (The Passengers of the Night); Nana (Before, Now & Then); Peter von Kant; Rabiye Kurnaz gegen George W. Bush (Rabiye Kurnaz vs. George W. Bush); Rimini; Robe of Gems; So-seol-ga-ui Yeong-hwa (The Novelist’s Film); Un año, una noche (One Year, One Night); Un été comme ça (That Kind of Summer); Yin Ru Chen Yan (Return to Dust).
Competition Films
A E I O U – Das schnelle Alphabet der Liebe (A E I O U – A Quick Alphabet of Love) Germany / France by Nicolette Krebitz with Sophie Rois, Udo Kier, Milan Herms, Nicolas Bridet World premiere
Alcarràs Spain / Italy by Carla Simón with Jordi Pujol Dolcet, Anna Otin, Xènia Roset, Albert Bosch, Ainet Jounou, Josep Abad World premiere
Avec amour et acharnement (Both Sides of the Blade) France by Claire Denis with Juliette Binoche, Vincent Lindon, Grégoire Colin, Bulle Ogier World premiere
Call Jane USA by Phyllis Nagy with Elizabeth Banks, Sigourney Weaver, Kate Mara International premiere
Drii Winter (A Piece of Sky) Switzerland / Germany by Michael Koch with Michèle Brand, Simon Wisler World premiere
Everything Will Be Ok France / Cambodia by Rithy Panh World premiere / documentary form
La ligne (The Line) Switzerland / France / Belgium by Ursula Meier with Stéphanie Blanchoud, Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, Elli Spagnolo World premiere
Leonora addio Italy by Paolo Taviani with Fabrizio Ferracane, Matteo Pittiruti, Dania Marino, Dora Becker World premiere
Les passagers de la nuit (The Passengers of the Night) France by Mikhaël Hers with Charlotte Gainsbourg, Quito Rayon-Richter, Noée Abita, Megan Northam, Thibault Vinçon, Emmanuelle Béart World premiere
Nana (Before, Now & Then) Indonesia by Kamila Andini with Happy Salma, Laura Basuki, Arswendy Bening Swara, Ibnu Jamil World premiere
Peter von Kant France by François Ozon with Denis Ménochet, Isabelle Adjani, Hanna Schygulla World premiere / opening film
Rabiye Kurnaz gegen George W. Bush (Rabiye Kurnaz vs. George W. Bush) Germany / France by Andreas Dresen with Meltem Kaptan, Alexander Scheer World premiere
Rimini Austria / France / Germany by Ulrich Seidl with Michael Thomas, Hans-Michael Rehberg, Tessa Göttlicher, Inge Maux, Claudia Martini, Georg Friedrich World premiere
Robe of Gems Mexico / Argentina / USA by Natalia López Gallardo with Nailea Norvind, Antonia Olivares, Aida Roa World premiere / debut film
So-seol-ga-ui Yeong-hwa (The Novelist’s Film) South Korea by Hong Sangsoo with Lee Hyeyoung, Kim Minhee, Seo Younghwa World premiere
Un año, una noche (One Year, One Night) Spain / France by Isaki Lacuesta with Nahuel Pérez Biscayart, Noémie Merlant, Quim Gutiérrez World premiere
Un été comme ça (That Kind of Summer) Canada by Denis Côté with Larissa Corriveau, Aude Mathieu, Laure Giappiconi, Anne Ratte Polle, Samir Guesmi World premiere
Yin Ru Chen Yan (Return to Dust) People’s Republic of China by Li Ruijun with Wu Renlin, Hai Qing World premiere
The health and safety of the audience at all events and strict compliance with the current hygiene regulations remain the top priority
In view of the Covid-19, the Berlinale has developed a new concept to keep the show going without any interruption in these times of pandemic. The focus this year, therefore, will be on cinema screenings in the Berlinale venues. The health and safety of the audience at all events and strict compliance with the current hygiene regulations remain the top priority.
Following recent decisions by the Federal Government and the Berlin Senate, the previously developed hygiene and security measures have been reviewed once again, so that the 2022 festival can be organised as an in-person 2G-plus event (additional masking and testing requirement).
The Berlinale has changed its format and concept due to the pandemic: The festival will start on February 10 with the ceremonial opening at the Berlinale Palast. Afterwards, until February 16, film teams will present their films personally to the public and accredited audiences at the premieres in the various Berlinale cinemas. The award ceremony for the Golden and Silver Bears, as well as the GWFF Best First Feature Award and the Berlinale Documentary Award will take place on the evening of February 16. The “Publikumstag” event, which has been very popular for some years now, will be extended to four days in 2022: from February 17-20, there will be repeat screenings in all the Berlinale cinemas (at the regular standard price of 10 Euros).
In addition to shortening the part of the festival consisting of presentations, the new concept also envisages a fundamental reduction in seating capacity in the Berlinale cinemas to 50 percent. Due to the pandemic, it will not be possible to hold parties and receptions, but for film teams there will still be a chance to appear in a reduced format on the Red Carpet at the Berlinale Palast or at other premiere cinemas in the presence of the press, which will help to create a touch of the traditional festival atmosphere.
According to the new State Minister for Culture and Media, Claudia Roth, “We want to make the Berlinale possible, and according to current deliberations, we can achieve this. We want the festival to send a signal to the entire film industry, to cinemas and moviegoers, and to culture as a whole. We need cinema, we need culture. Of course, in today’s times, this can only be managed with some painful cuts and with constant vigilance. The pandemic situation is dynamic, and the Berlinale is adapting to the resulting challenges. We are helping wherever we can, and I would like to thank the Federal Minister of Finance but also many dedicated colleagues in government and parliament for their support. I would also like to thank the State of Berlin and especially the health authorities and the Senator for Health for supporting the Berlinale along this route with such dedication. I would especially like to thank the Berlinale management for embarking on this journey together with us, and the Berlinale staff for their perseverance and enormous commitment, without which the Berlinale 2022 could not take place.”
“We are aware of the challenges posed by the unpredictable course of the pandemic. At the same time, we believe that culture plays such a fundamental role in society that we do not want to lose sight of this aspect. We would like to enable festival screenings for our audiences and filmmakers even in these times of pandemic. With our new concept, we are focusing fully on the cinematic experience and reducing the formation of groups. The key thing is to give audiences and film teams a collective experience of cinema with this changed concept, while reducing the number of face-to-face encounters in compliance with the corona regulations. Our international guests are keen to present their work on site,” according to the two directors of the Berlinale, Mariette Rissenbeek and Carlo Chatrian.
The festival schedule until February 16 also includes press conferences and photo calls for individual films. The award ceremony of the Honorary Golden Bear to Isabelle Huppert (Feb 15) and the presentation of the European Shooting Stars (Feb 14) will also take place within this shortened in-person time frame.
European Film Market, Berlinale Co-Production Market, Berlinale Talents and World Cinema Fund to go online
While the festival aims to organise physical cinema visits as safely as possible even in times of pandemic, there are greater obstacles to organising the EFM in the Gropius Bau as well as other meeting-driven, face-to-face events. Due to the current pandemic conditions, the European Film Market (10.-17.02.2022) will be realised purely digitally, and the Berlinale Co-Production Market (Feb 12-16, 2022), Berlinale Talents (Feb 12-17, 2022) and World Cinema Fund Day will also be conducted online.
