The Berlin International Film Festival revealed the 20 films selected for the official competition, and the management of the new session announced that the festival will open on February 15 with Cillian Murphy's film “Little Things Like These.” (Small Things Like This), based on the novel by Irish writer Claire Keegan, was published in 2021.

Throughout the novel, Keegan observes the exploitation of simple people in the name of religion. The film reveals facts about the “Magdalene Laundries” in Ireland, which were asylums that were run by Roman Catholic institutions in the 1820s until 1996, ostensibly to reform “fallen young women.” The film's events take place during Christmas 1985, when an ordinary person named Bill Furlong discovers shocking secrets kept by the monastery. The film reunites director Tim Millantz with Cillian Murphy, star of “Oppenheimer” and “Peaky Blinders.”

Carlo Chatrian, the artistic director of the festival, said in a statement published on the official website of the Briennale: “We are confident that this story, which combines the kindness that must be directed to the most vulnerable groups, and the strength of the will to stand up against injustice, will resonate with everyone.”

American director Martin Scorsese will receive an honorary “Golden Bear” for lifetime achievement during this year's festival, and Mexican actress Lupita Nyong'o will chair the international jury.

The Berlin International Film Festival is in its 74th session, and on February 25, a group of the most prominent cinematic productions in the world will conclude in its official competition, which includes one American film for the opening, 6 films directed by women, and one Iranian film.

Made in England

The participation of the film “Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger” is an important event in the festival. It is a feature-length documentary about the influential British filmmakers Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, narrated by American director Martin Scorsese, from Directed by David Hinton, the film features rare archival material from the personal collections of Powell, Pressburger and Scorsese.

As for “Love Lies Bleeding,” it is the latest feature film by British director Rose Glass, and is being shown for the first time. The film stars Kristen Stewart and Weronika Tovelska, and describes feelings of love as “a romance fueled by ego, desire, and the American dream.” The film arrives in Berlin after being shown for the first time at the Sundance Film Festival.

The film “The Kitchen” (La Cocina) by Mexican director Alonso Ruizpalacios is competing in the official competition, and tells a love story that takes place in the kitchen of a Manhattan restaurant, where Rooney Mara plays the role of an American waitress named Julia who becomes romantically involved with the main suspect in an internal theft, who is a cook. A Mexican named Pedro (Raul Briones).

Another end

As for the movie “Another End,” its events take place in the near future, when there is a new technology that can return the consciousness of a dead person to a living body, in an attempt to alleviate the grief of separation. The English-language film is written and directed by Piero Messina, whose debut film The Wai premiered to great success at the 2015 Venice Film Festival.

Gael García Bernal plays Sal, a man whose wife dies, and Reinette Rainette plays Zoe, the woman who later becomes his partner after renting her body, where Sal's ex-wife's memory and consciousness were temporarily implanted.

Reinette Rensef is the heroine of the movie “The Worst Person in the World,” and participates in the movie “A Different Man,” which revolves around an actress who had facial reconstruction surgery. But she must accept that the role she sacrificed for went to another actress. The film had its world premiere at Sundance earlier this month.

Regarding the idea of ​​the film, director and author Piero Messina told Qaraiti magazine, saying: “The idea is to produce a science fiction film that is also a love story.” “It's a story of two people who loved each other, and still love each other, even after one of them died. I worked with the possibilities of this paradox of loving someone in another body.”

Directed and written by Margherita Vicario, the musical comedy “Gloria” takes place in a girls’ boarding school in 18th-century Venice, where a group of performers challenge classical traditions.

Frenchman Bruno Dumont competes with an absurd science fiction film full of madness, “L'Empire”, whose events take place in a small village in northern France, which becomes a battlefield for hidden extraterrestrial knights.

Historical drama has its presence in the official competition of the Berlin Festival with the movie “From Hilde With Love”, directed by Andreas Driessen, which is a drama from the Nazi era, and tells the story of a young woman who falls in love with an anti-Nazi resistance fighter.

Satan's path

Horror has its share through the film “The Devil's Bath”, by German Veronica Franz and Severin Viala, whose second film, “Goodnight Mommy”, was considered one of the most unforgettable horror films of the past decade.

As for Hong Sangsoo, the South Korean who has won awards during the past three years at the festival, this year he presents “A Traveler’s Needs,” and his film “The Woman Who Ran” in 2020 won the Silver Bear Award for Best Director, and Sangsoo won. 2021 Silver Bear Award for Best Screenplay; His film “The Novelist's Film” in 2022 won the Jury Prize.

Iranian cake

One of the titles participating in this year's competition is “My Favorite Cake” by Iranian directors Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeha. The last collaboration between Moghadam and Sanaeha was the film “Ballad of A White Cow”, which was shown for the first time. At the Berlin Film Festival in 2021, their film tells the story of a woman who discovers that her husband is innocent of the charges against him.

Film production is heavily participating in the Berlin Festival competition this year, but the most prominent entries are Olivier Assayas’ film, which deals with the Corona pandemic under the name “Hors du temps”, which revolves around a couple spending the lockdown period together, and it stars Vincent McCain and Nora. Hamzawi.

As for the romantic drama film “Black Tea,” it is directed by the French-based Mauritanian director Abderrahmane Sissako, the owner of the film “Timbuktu,” which was nominated for an Oscar in 2015. His new film tells the story of a woman who leaves Ivory Coast to start a new life in China.

Russian filmmaker Viktor Korsakovsky is participating in the film “Architecton”, a German-French production.