The 2016 Berlin Film Festival has released its full competition lineup. Now that we can take stock of all the directors screening films in the festival’s most prominent category, we must report that very few women will be competing for the prestigious Golden Bear. Of 23 films up for the top honor, a mere two are directed by women, amounting to just under 9% of the slate: "24 Weeks" by Anne Zohra Berrached and "Things to Come" by Mia Hansen-Løve. Last year, female helmers accounted for 16% of the fest’s highest-profile section.
The festival has also announced more information about its Gala, Special and Panorama sections.
Only one of the six films featured in the Galas category is directed by a woman: Pernilla August’s "A Serious Game." Both of the films in the Special section hail from female filmmakers: Sonia Kennebeck’s "National Bird" and co-director Tilda Swinton’s "The Seasons in Quincy: Four Portraits of John Berger."
But in the Panorama division of the fest — whose mission it is to build bridges between commercial interests and artistic vision — women are familiarly outnumbered. Of 22 narrative films selected to screen, just three are helmed by a woman: Doris Dörrie’s "Fukushima, mon Amour," Aslı Özge’s "All of a Sudden" and Anna Muylaert’s "Don’t Call me Son." And just three of the 14 documentaries in this section are directed by women: "Kiki" by Sara Jordenö, "Strike a Pose" co-directed by Ester Gould and "Zona Norte" by Monika Treut.
The Berlinale also announced that Christine Vachon, one of the producers behind "Carol," will receive a Special Teddy Award for her contributions to queer and U.S. independent cinema. The Teddy Award, an offshoot of the Panorama, has been awarded since 1987 and celebrates shorts, docs and features with a connection to queer culture. A press release for the festival notes that a dozen of Vachon’s films have been shown in Berlinale programs.
Here are the women-directed films announced for the Competition, Berlinale Special Galas, Berlinale Special and Panorama marked in bold. Lists adapted from press materials and ScreenDaily:
COMPETITION
24 Wochen (24 Weeks)
Germany
By Anne Zohra Berrached (Two Mothers)
With Julia Jentsch, Bjarne Mädel, Johanna Gastdorf, Emilia Pieske
World premiere
Chang Jiang Tu (Crosscurrent)
People’s Republic of China
By Yang Chao (Passages)
With Qin Hao, Xin Zhi Lei
World premiere
Chi-Raq
USA
By Spike Lee (Malcom X, Do the Right Thing)
With Nick Cannon, Wesley Snipes, Teyonah Parris, Jennifer Hudson, Angela Bassett, John Cusack, Samuel L. Jackson
International premiere – Out of competition
Des nouvelles de la planète Mars (News from planet Mars)
France / Belgium
By Dominik Moll (Lemming, Harry, He’s Here to Help)
With François Damiens, Vincent Macaigne, Veerle Baetens, Jeanne Guittet, Tom Rivoire
World premiere – Out of competiton
Inhebbek Hedi (Hedi)
Tunisia / Belgium / France
By Mohamed Ben Attia
With Majd Mastoura, Rym Ben Messaoud, Sabah Bouzouita, Hakim Boumessoudi, Omnia Ben Ghali
World premiere – First feature
Mahana (The Patriarch)
New Zealand
By Lee Tamahori (The Devil’s Double, Die Another Day, Once Were Warriors)
With Temuera Morrison, Akuhata Keefe, Nancy Brunning, Jim Moriarty, Regan Taylor, Maria Walker
World premiere – Out of competiton
Saint Amour
France / Belgium
By Benoît Delépine, Gustave Kervern (Mammuth, Le grand soir)
With Gérard Depardieu, Benoît Poelvoorde, Vincent Lacoste, Céline Sallette
World premiere – Out of competiton
Soy Nero
Germany / France / Mexico
By Rafi Pitts (The Hunter, It’s Winter)
With Johnny Ortiz, Rory Cochrane, Aml Ameen, Darell Britt-Gibson, Michael Harney
World premiere
As announced in previous press releases, the program also includes:
Alone in Berlin by Vincent Perez (Germany / France / United Kingdom)
Boris sans Béatrice (Boris without Béatrice) by Denis Côté (Canada)
Cartas da guerra (Letters from War) by Ivo M. Ferreira (Portugal)
Ejhdeha Vared Mishavad! (A Dragon Arrives!) by Mani Haghighi (Iran)
Fuocoammare (Fire at Sea) by Gianfranco Rosi (Italy / France) – documentary
Genius by Michael Grandage (United Kingdom / USA) – First feature
Hail, Caesar! by Joel and Ethan Coen (USA / United Kingdom) – Out of competition
Hele Sa Hiwagang Hapis (A Lullaby to the Sorrowful Mystery) by Lav Diaz (Philippines / Singapore)
Kollektivet (The Commune) by Thomas Vinterberg (Denmark / Sweden / Netherlands)
L’avenir (Things to Come) by Mia Hansen-Løve (France / Germany)
Midnight Special by Jeff Nichols (USA)
Quand on a 17 ans (Being 17) by André Téchiné (France)
Smrt u Sarajevu / Mort à Sarajevo (Death in Sarajevo) by Danis Tanović (France / Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Zero Days by Alex Gibney (USA) – documentary
Zjednoczone Stany Miłosci (United States of Love) by Tomasz Wasilewski (Poland / Sweden)
Berlinale Special Galas
A Quiet Passion (UK-Belgium)
Terence Davies (Distant Voices, Still Lives, Sunset Song)
With Cynthia Nixon, Jennifer Ehle, Keith Carradine, Jodhi May, Catherine Bailey, Emma Bell, Duncan Duff
World premiere
Creepy (Japan)
Kiyoshi Kurosawa (Journey to the Shore, Tokyo Sonata)
With Hidetoshi Nishijima, Yuko Takeuchi, Teruyuki Kagawa, Haruna Kawaguchi, Masahiro Higashide
World premiere
A Serious Game (Den allvarsamma leken) (Swe-Den-Nor)
Pernilla August (The Legacy –TV series, Beyond)
With Sverrir Gudnason, Karin Franz Körlof, Liv Mjönes, Michael Nyqvist, Mikkel Boe Følsgaard
World premiere
Miles Ahead (US)
By Don Cheadle (debut)
With Ewan McGregor, Don Cheadle, Keith Stanfield, Michael Stuhlbarg, Austin Lyon
International premiere
The Music of Strangers: Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble – doc (US)
Morgan Neville
European premiere
Where To Invade Next – doc (US)
Michael Moore
European premiere
Berlinale Special
National Bird – doc (US)
Sonia Kennebeck
World premiere
The Seasons in Quincy: Four Portraits of John Berger- doc (UK)
Dirs: Colin MacCabe, Christopher Roth, Bartek Dziadosz, Tilda Swinton
World Premiere
Panorama
Aloys – Swiss / France
By Tobias Nölle
With Georg Friedrich, Tilde von Overbeck
World premiere
El rey del Once (The Tenth Man) – Argentina
By Daniel Burman
With Alan Sabbagh, Julieta Zylberberg, Usher Barilka, Elvira Onetto
World premiere
Goat – USA
By Andrew Neel
With Ben Schnetzer, Nick Jonas, James Franco
International premiere
Grüße aus Fukushima (Fukushima, mon Amour) – Germany
By Doris Dörrie
With Rosalie Thomass, Kaori Momoi
World premiere
Indignation – USA
By James Schamus
With Logan Lerman, Sarah Gadon
International premiere – debut
Jonathan – Germany
By Piotr J. Lewandowski
With Jannis Niewöhner, André Hennicke, Julia Koschitz, Thomas Sarbacher, Barbara Auer
World premiere – debut
Kater (Tomcat) – Austria
By Händl Klaus
With Lukas Turtur, Philipp Hochmair
World premiere
La helada negra (The Black Frost) – Argentina
By Maximiliano Schonfeld
With Ailín Salas, Lucas Schell, Benigno Lell
World premiere
Lantouri – Iran
By Reza Dormishian
With Navid Mohammadzadeh, Maryam Palizban, Baran Kosari
International premiere
Little Men – USA
Cross-Section Generation
By Ira Sachs
With Jennifer Ehle, Greg Kinnear, Paulina Garcia, Alfred Molina
International premiere
Ranenyy Angel (The Wounded Angel) – Kazakhstan / France / Germany
By Emir Baigazin
With Nurlybek Saktaganov, Madiar Aripbai, Madiar Nazarov, Omar Adilov
World premiere
While the Women Are Sleeping – Japan
By Wayne Wang
With Beat Takeshi, Hidetoshi Nishijima, Shioli Kutsuna, Sayuri Oyamada, Lily Franky
World premiere
Antes o tempo não acabava (Time Was Endless) – Brazil / Germany
By Sérgio Andrade, Fábio Baldo
With Anderson Tikuna, Rita Carelli, Begê Muniz, Emanuel Aragão
World premiere
Auf Einmal (All of a Sudden) – Germany / Netherlands / France
By Aslı Özge
With Sebastian Hülk, Julia Jentsch, Hanns Zischler, Sascha Alexander Gerşak
World premiere
Aquí no ha pasado nada (Much Ado About Nothing) – Chile
By Alejandro Fernández Almendras
With Agustín Silva, Paulina García, Alejandro Goic, Luis Gnecco, Daniel Alcaíno
European premiere
Jug-yeo-ju-neun Yeo-ja (The Bacchus Lady) – Republic of Korea
By E J-yong
With Youn Yuh-jung, Chon Moo-song, Yoon Kye-sang, An A-zu, Choi Hyun-jun
World premiere
La Route d’Istanbul (Road to Istanbul) – Algeria / France / Belgium
With Rachid Bouchareb
Mit Astrid Whettnall, Pauline Burlet, Patricia Ide, Abel Jafri
World premiere
Mãe só há uma (Don’t Call me Son) – Brazil
By Anna Muylaert
With Naomi Nero, Dani Nefussi, Matheus Natchergaele, Daniel Botelho, Luciana Paes
World premiere
Nunca vas a estar solo (You’ll Never Be Alone) – Chile
By Alex Anwandter
With Sergio Hernández, Andrew Bargsted, Jaime Leiva
World premiere
San Fu Tian (Dog Days) – Hong Kong, China / People’s Republic of China
By Jordan Schiele
With Huang Lu, Tian Mu Chen, Luo Lan Shan
World premiere
Shelley – Denmark / Sweden
By Ali Abbasi
With Ellen Dorrit Petersen, Cosmina Stratan, Peter Christoffersen
World premiere
Shepherds and Butchers – South Africa / USA / Germany
By Oliver Schmitz
With Steve Coogan, Andrea Riseborough, Garion Dowds
World premiere
Panorama Dokumente
Der Ost-Komplex (The GDR Complex) – Germany
By Jochen Hick
World premiere
Mapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures – USA / Germany
By Fenton Bailey, Randy Barbato
With Edward Mapplethorpe, Debbie Harry, Patti Smith, Gloria von Thurn und Taxis
International premiere
Mariupolis – Lithuania / Germany / France / Ukraine
By Mantas Kvedaravicius
World premiere
Uncle Howard – United Kingdom / USA
By Aaron Brookner
With Jim Jarmusch, Sara Driver, Tom DiCillo, Brad Gooch, Robert Wilson, William S Burroughs, Frederic Mitterand
European premiere
Brüder der Nacht (Brothers of the Night) – Austria
By Patric Chiha
World premiere
Curumim – Brazil
By Marcos Prado
World premiere
Europe, She Loves – Swiss / Germany
By Jan Gassmann
World premiere
Inside the Chinese Closet – Netherlands
By Sophia Luvarà
International premiere
Kiki – Sweden / USA
By Sara Jordenö
European premiere
Strike a Pose – Netherlands
By Ester Gould, Reijer Zwaan
World premiere
The Lovers and the Despot – United Kingdom
By Rob Cannan, Ross Adam
European premiere
WEEKENDS – Republic of Korea
By Lee Dong-ha
World premiere
Who’s Gonna Love Me Now? – Israel / United Kingdom
By Tomer Heymann, Barak Heymann, Alexander Bodin Saphir
World premiere
Wu Tu (My Land) – People’s Republic of China
By Fan Jian
European premiere
Zona Norte – Germany
By Monika Treut
World premiere
[via press materials and ScreenDaily]
