Explained: How the Berlin Film Festival 2023 blends newcomers with veterans for its main competition

The Berlin Film Festival 2023 shall be taking place from February 16 to 26 of that month. And the one aspect of this year's event is that it promises a blend of newcomers and veterans. Sean Penn, Jesse Eisenberg, Canadian actor-director Matt Johnson, Korean auteur Hong Sangsoo, and Korean-Canadian director Celine Song are confirmed to be in the attendance.

Berlinale artistic director Carlo Chatrian and executive director Mariëtte Rissenbeck have unveiled the nominations for the main competition. Here they are:

INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION LINEUP

“20,000 Species of Bees” by Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren (Spain)

“The Shadowless Tower” by Zhang Lu (China)

“Till the End of the Night” by Christoph Hochhausler (Germany)

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“BlackBerry” by Matt Johnson (Canada)

“Disco Boy” by Giacomo Abbruzzese (France/Italy/Poland/Belgium)

“The Plough” by Philippe Garrel (France/Switzerland)

“Ingeborg Bachmann – Journey into the Desert” by Margarethe von Trotta (Germany/Switzerland/Austria/Luxembourg)

“Someday We’ll Tell Each Other Everything” by Emily Atef (Germany)

“Limbo” by Ivan Sen (Australia)

“Bad Living” by Joao Canijo (Portugal/France)

“Manodrome” by John Trengove (U.K./U.S.)

“Music” by Angela Schanelec (Germany/France/Serbia)

“Past Lives” by Celine Song (U.S.)

“Afire” by Christian Petzold (Germany)

“On the Adamant” by Nicolas Philibert (France/Japan)

“The Survival of Kindness” by Rolf de Heer (Australia)

“Suzume” by Makoto Shinkai (Japan)

“Totem” by Lila Avilés (Mexico/Denmark/France)

BERLINALE SPECIAL GALA

“Superpower” by Sean Penn, Aaron Kaufman (U.S.)

ENCOUNTERS FILMS

“The Klezmer Project” by Leandro Koch, Paloma Schahmann (Argentina/Austria)

“The Adults” by Dustin Guy Defa (U.S.)

“The Echo” by Tatiana Huezo (Mexico/Germany)

“Here” by Bas Devos (Belgium)

“In the Blind Spot” by Ayse Polat (Germany)

“The Cage is Looking for a Bird” by Malika Musaeva (France/Russia)

“My Worst Enemy” by Mehran Tamadon (France/Switzerland)

“White Plastic Sky” by Tibor Banoczki, Sarolta Szabo (Hungary/Slovakia)

“In Water” by Hong Sangsoo (South Korea)

“Family Time” by Tia Kuovo (Finland/Sweden)

“The Walls of Bergamo” by Stefano Savona (Italy)

“Orlando, My Political Biography” by Paul B. Preciado (France)

“Samsara” by Lois Patino (Spain)

“Eastern Front” by Vitaly Mansky, Yevhen Titarenko (Latvia/Czechia/Ukraine/U.S.)

“Living Bad” by Joao Canijo (Portugal/France)

“Absence” by Wu Lang (China)

Sean Penn’s film about the war in Ukraine, “Superpower,” will have its world premiere at this year’s Berlin film festival, organizers said Monday.

The documentary will run outside the main competition, which features 18 movies this year including John Trengove’s “Manodrome” with Jesse Eisenberg and Adrien Brody.

Organizers said the Berlinale will pay special tribute this year to Ukraine and the protests in Iran.

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