Claire Denis, Peter Strickland and Andrew Dominik will present new films at the 2022 Berlin Film Festival

A lowkey but interesting line-up comprises the selection for Berlinale’s 72nd edition.

After a little uncertainty around whether the festival could go ahead due to the ongoing pandemic, Berlinale has announced the programme for its 72nd edition, taking place in Germany’s capital from 10-16 February.

The festival usually runs for ten days, but this reduced edition is a compromise enabling guests to watch films on the big screen while attempting to minimise the risk of a Covid super-spreader event. After Sundance and IFFR were forced to cancel their 2022 in-person programmes, all eyes will be on Berlin to see how their gamble pays off. After a virtual festival in 2021, it’s no surprise the team are keen to get back to the cinema – and they’ve secured an intriguing line-up full of familiar names as well as some new faces.

François Ozon’s genderswapped lockdown drama Peter von Kant was previously announced as the festival’s opening title, starring Denis Menochet and Isabelle Adjani in a “free interpretation” of Fassbinder’s classic The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant. The film will play in competition alongside 16 other titles, including new work from Hong Sang-soo, Rithy Panh, Ursula Meier and Carol screenwriter Phyllis Nagy. Perhaps the most high profile title in the competition is Claire Denis’ Both Sides of the Blade, starring Juliette Binoche and Vincent Lindon as a couple whose union is marred by infidelity. The competition jury will be led by M Night Shyamalan, with further announcements to follow in the coming week.

Over in the Encounters section, Peter Strickland’s culinary-themed drama Flux Gourmet – starring Asa Butterfield and Gwendoline Christie – will premiere, as will Bertrand Bonello’s latest, Coma, and new work from Mitra Farahani, Arnaud des Pallières, Ruth Beckermann and Alexander Zolotukhin.

Special presentations will include Quentin Dupieux’s Incredible But True, Imitation Game director Graham Moore’s The Outfit, and Dario Argento’s first directorial effort in 10 years, Dark Glasses. While there’s no sign of his Marilyn Monroe biopic, Blonde, Andrew Dominik will also be at the festival, presenting his new Nick Cave and Warren Ellis documentary, This Much I Know to be True. As if that wasn’t enough, a new Lucretia Martel short, entitled North Terminal, will also premiere. While it might be another strange year for festivals to navigate, there’s plenty to look forward to, and artistic director Carlo Chatrian hinted at this morning’s press conference there’s still more announcements to come.

Here is the line-up in full:

International Competition

AEIOU – A Quick Alphabet of Love (Nicolette Krebitz)
Alcarràs (Carla Simon)
Both Sides of the Blade (Claire Denis)
Call Jane (Phyllis Nagy)
A Piece of Sky (Michael Koch)
That Kind of Summer (Denis Côté)
Everything Will Be Ok (Rithy Panh)
Leonora Addio (Paolo Taviani)
The Line (Ursula Meier)
Before, Now & Then (Kamila Andini)
The Passengers of the Night (Mikhaël Hers)
Rimini (Ulrich Seidl)
Rabiye Kurnaz vs George W. Bush (Andreas Dresen)
Robe of Gems (Natalia Lopez Gallardo)
The Novelist’s Film (Hong Sangsoo)
One Year, One Night (Isaki Lacuesta)
Return to Dust (Li Ruijun)
Peter von Kant (Francois Ozon (opening film)

Special Shorts

North Terminal (Lucretia Martel)
Nest (Hlynur Palmason)

Special

Good Luck To You, Leo Grande (Sophie Hyde)
Incredible But True (Quentin Dupieux)
Dark Glasses (Dario Argento)
The Outfit (Graham Moore)
This Much I Know to be True (Andrew Dominik)
A German Party (Simon Bruckner)

Encounters

See You Friday, Robinson (Mitra Farahani)
Axiom (Jons Jonsson)
Brother in Every Inch (Alexander Zolotukhin)
Coma (Bertrand Bonello)
Father’s Day (Kivu Ruhorahoza)
Flux Gourmet (Peter Strickland)
American Journal Arnaud des Pallieres)
Small, Slow But Steady (Sho Miyake)
Love Package (Gaston Solnicki)
The City And The City (Christos Passalis, Syllas Tzoumerkas)
Queens Of The Qing Dynasty (Ashley McKenzie)
Sonne (Kurdwin Ayub)
Unrest (Cylril Schaublin)
The Death Of My Mother (Jessica Krummacher)

Panorama

Aşk, Mark ve Ölüm – Love, Deutschmarks and Death (Cem Kaya)
Baqyt – Happiness (Askar Uzabayev)
Berdreymi – Beautiful Beings (Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson)
Bettina (Lutz Pehnert)
Cinco lobitos – Lullaby (Alauda Ruiz de Azúa)
Concerned Citizen (Idan Haguel)
Una femmina – The Code of Silence (Francesco Costabile)
Fogaréu (Flávia Neves)
Grand Jeté (Isabelle Stever)
Heroji radničke klase – Working Class Heroes (Miloš Pušić)
Kdybyradši hořelo – Somewhere Over the Chemtrails (Adam Koloman Rybanský)
No Simple Way Home (Akuol de Mabior)
No U-Turn (Ike Nnaebue)
El norte sobre el vacío – Northern Skies Over Empty Space (Alejandra Márquez Abella)
Produkty 24 – Convenience Store (Michael Borodin)
Viens je t’emmène – Nobody’s Hero (Alain Guiraudie)
Alle reden übers Wetter – Talking About the Weather (Annika Pinske)
The Apartment with Two Women (Kim Se-in)
Brainwashed: Sex-Camera-Power (Nina Menkes)
Calcinculo (Swing Ride) (Chiara Bellosi)
Dreaming Walls (Amélie van Elmbt, Maya Duverdier)
Klondike (Maryna Er Gorbach)
A Love Song (Max Walker-Silverman)
Myanmar Diaries (The Myanmar Film Collective)
Nel mio nome –Into My Name (Nicolò Bassetti)
Taurus (Tim Sutton)