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Berlin International Film Festival 2020

View other Berlin International Film Festival Films by strand: Encounters, Forum, Generation, Homage - Helen Mirren, Panorama

Never Rarely Sometimes Always Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Never Rarely Sometimes Always and Siberia
All The Dead Ones (Todos os mortos) (Country: Brazil, France; Year: 2020; Director: Marco Dutra, Caetano Gotardo; Writer: Marco Dutra, Caetano Gotardo; Stars: Mawusi Tulani, Clarissa Kiste, Carolina Bianchi, Thaia Perez, Agyei Augusto, Leonor Silveira, Alaíde Costa, Rogério Brito, Thomas Aquino, Andréa Marquee, Luciano Chirolli, Teca Pereira, Gilda Nomacce, Vinicius Meloni, Eduardo Silva)
1899. Slavery recently has been abolished in Brazil. The fates of the women in two families become entangled when the Soareses, former land and slave owners, request help from Ina, a woman of African descent they once dismissed due to religious differences.
World premiere
Bad Tales (Favolacce) (Country: Italy, Switzerland; Year: 2020; Director: Damiano D'Innocenzo, Fabio D'Innocenzo; Writer: Damiano D'Innocenzo, Fabio D'Innocenzo; Stars: Elio Germano, Barbara Chichiarelli, Gabriel Montesi, Max Malatesta, Ileana D'Ambra, Lino Musella, Massimiliano Tortora, Barbara Ronchi, Sara Bertelà, Justin Korovkin, Cristina Pellegrino, Giulia Melillo, Giulietta Rebeggiani, Federico Majorana, Giulia Galiani)
Trouble brews over a long hot summer on the outskirts of Rome.
Full Review
World premiere
Berlin Alexanderplatz (Country: Germany, Netherlands; Year: 2020; Director: Burhan Qurbani; Writer: Martin Behnke, Burhan Qurbani, based on the novel by Alfred Döblin; Stars: Albrecht Schuch, Jella Haase, Martin Wuttke, Nils Verkooijen, Welket Bungué, Joachim Król, Lukhanyo Bele, Benny O.-Arthur, Annabelle Mandeng, Mira Elisa Goeres, Lena Schmidtke, Thomas Lawinky, Derek Meisenburg, Faris Saleh, Richard Fouofié Djimeli)
Modern adaptation of Weimar Republic era novel set in the present day.
World premiere
DAU. Natasha (Country: Russia, UK, Germany, Ukraine; Year: 2020; Director: Ilya Khrzhanovskiy, Jekaterina Oertel; Writer: Ilya Khrzhanovskiy, Kora Landau-Drobantseva; Stars: Natalia Berezhnaya, Olga Shkabarnya, Vladimir Azhippo, Alexei Blinov, Luc Bigé, Anatoliy Sidko, Raisa Voloshchuk, Natalia Berezhnaya, Olga Shkabarnya, Vladimir Azhippo, Alexei Blinov, Luc Bigé, Anatoliy Sidko, Raisa Voloshchuk)
Natasha works in the canteen of a secret Soviet research institute. She drinks a lot, likes to talk about love and embarks on an affair. State security intervenes. A tale of violence that is as radical as it is provocative.
World premiere
Days (Rizi) (Country: Taiwan; Year: 2020; Director: Tsai Ming-liang; Stars: Lee Kang-sheng, Anong Houngheuangsy)
Kang lives alone in a big house, Non in a small apartment in town. They meet, and then part, their days flowing on as before.
World premiere
First Cow First Cow
First Cow and My Little Sister
Delete History (Effacer l'historique) (Year: 2020; Director: Benoît Delépine, Gustave Kervern; Writer: Benoît Delépine, Gustave Kervern)
Three social media victims declare war on the tech giants.
World premiere
First Cow (Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: Kelly Reichardt; Writer: Jonathan Raymond, Kelly Reichardt, based on the book by Jonathan Raymond; Stars: John Magaro, Orion Lee, Toby Jones, Alia Shawkat)
A cook with a group of fur trappers strikes up a connection with a Chinese emigre in the Old West.
Full Review
International premiere
Hidden Away (Volevo Nascondermi) (Country: Italy; Year: 2020; Director: Giorgio Diritti; Writer: Giorgio Diritti, Fredo Valla, Giorgio Diritti, Tania Pedroni, Fredo Valla; Stars: Elio Germano, Oliver Ewy, Leonardo Carrozzo, Gianni Fantoni, Andrea Gherpelli, Orietta Notari, Denis Campitelli, Guglielmo Pagnozzi, Peter Hottinger, Dagny Gioulami, Kamil Krejcí, Benjamin Utzerath, Carmen Gratl, Laura Pizzirani, Lorenzo Ansaloni)
The story of Antonio Ligabue, a revolutionary loner in modern art.
World premiere
The Intruder (Country: Argentina, Mexico; Year: 2020; Director: Natalia Meta; Writer: Natalia Meta; Stars: Cecilia Roth, Erica Rivas, Nahuel Pérez Biscayart, Daniel Hendler, Mirta Busnelli, Agustín Rittano, Guillermo Arengo, Cecilia Roth, Erica Rivas, Nahuel Pérez Biscayart, Daniel Hendler, Mirta Busnelli, Agustín Rittano, Guillermo Arengo)
After a traumatic episode, a woman starts to find it hard to distinguish between what is real and what is imaginary.
World premiere
Irradiated (Irradiés) (Year: 2020; Director: Rithy Panh)
Documentary about people who have survived the irradiation of war.
World premiere
Bad Tales Bad Tales
Bad Tales and There Is No Evil
My Little Sister (Schwesterlein) (Country: Switzerland, Germany; Year: 2020; Director: Stéphanie Chuat, Véronique Reymond; Writer: Stéphanie Chuat, Véronique Reymond; Stars: Nina Hoss, Lars Eidinger, Marthe Keller, Jens Albinus, Thomas Ostermeier, Isabelle Caillat, Paulo dos Santos)
Lisa has bid goodbye to her ambitions as a playwright and the Berlin arts scene and now lives in Switzerland with her husband, who runs an international school. When her twin brother – star of the Schaubühne theatre’s ensemble – falls ill, she returns to Berlin.
Full Review
World premiere
Never Rarely Sometimes Always (Country: US; Year: 2020; Director: Eliza Hittman; Writer: Eliza Hittman; Stars: Sidney Flanigan, Talia Ryder, Théodore Pellerin, Ryan Eggold, Sharon Van Etten, Drew Seltzer)
Faced with an unintended pregnancy and a lack of local support, Autumn and her cousin Skylar embark on a brave, fraught journey across state lines to New York City.
Full Review See: Interview with Eliza Hittman and Sidney Flanigan about Never Rarely Sometimes Always
International premiere
The Roads Not Taken (Country: UK, US, Sweden; Year: 2020; Director: Sally Potter; Writer: Sally Potter; Stars: Javier Bardem, Elle Fanning, Salma Hayek, Branka Katic, Laura Linney, Dimitri Andreas, Katia Mullova-Brind, Milena Tscharntke, Debora Weston, Aaron Joshua, Sabina Cameron, Griffin Stevens, Catherine Levi, Ruth Keeling, Olan Montgomery)
A day in the life of a dad and daughter as she grapples with the challenges of her father's chaotic mind, while looking to the future.
World premiere
The Salt Of Tears (Le sel des larmes) (Country: France, Switzerland; Year: 2020; Director: Philippe Garrel; Writer: Jean-Claude Carrière, Philippe Garrel, Arlette Langmann; Stars: Logann Antuofermo, Oulaya Amamra, Louise Chevillotte, André Wilms, Souheila Yacoub, Aline Belibi, Teddy Chawa, Martin Mesnier, Logann Antuofermo, Oulaya Amamra, Louise Chevillotte, André Wilms, Souheila Yacoub, Aline Belibi, Teddy Chawa)
Story about a relationship that sparks between a provincial youngster on a trip to Paris and a woman he meets there.
World premiere
Siberia (Country: Italy, Germany, Mexico; Year: 2020; Director: Abel Ferrara; Writer: Abel Ferrara, Christ Zois; Stars: Willem Dafoe, Dounia Sichov, Simon McBurney, Cristina Chiriac, Daniel Giménez Cacho, Fabio Pagano, Anna Ferrara, Phil Neilson, Laurent Arnatsiaq, Valentina Rozumenko, Trish Osmond, Stella Pecollo, Willem Dafoe, Dounia Sichov, Simon McBurney)
A broken man flees the world and finds himself in a cave. His escape becomes a radical confrontation with his dreams, his memories and demonic visions.
Full Review See: Abel Ferrara in conversation on Siberia, Willem Dafoe and his latest projects
, Abel Ferrara in conversation on Abel Ferrara’s Cinema Village, Willem Dafoe, Siberia and more
World premiere
Undine Undine
Undine and The Salt Of Tears
There Is No Evil (Sheytan vojud nadarad) (Year: 2020; Director: Mohammad Rasoulof; Writer: Mohammad Rasoulof; Stars: Baran Rasoulof, Ehsan Mirhosseini, Zhila Shahi, Mohammad Seddighimehr, Mohammad Valizadegan, Kaveh Ahangar, Mahtab Servati, Parvin Maleki, Reza Bahrami, Darya Moghbeli, Shaghayegh Shoorian, Salar Khamseh, Kaveh Ebrahim, Pouya Mehri, Gholamhosein Taseiri)
Four stories that are variations on the crucial themes of moral strength and the death penalty.
Full Review
World premiere
Undine (Country: Germany, France; Year: 2020; Director: Christian Petzold; Writer: Christian Petzold; Stars: Paula Beer, Franz Rogowski, Maryam Zaree, Jacob Matschenz, Anne Ratte-Polle, Rafael Stachowiak, José Barros, Julia Franz Richter, Gloria Endres de Oliveira, Enno Trebs, Christoph Zrenner, Stefan Walz, Bita Steinjan)
Undine is a city historian on urban development in a Berlin museum, the 'place by the swamp'. When her boyfriend leaves her, she vows to kill the faithless man but soon meets another.
Full Review See: Christian Petzold and Heinz Emigholz on German fairy tales
World premiere
The Woman Who Ran (Country: South Korea; Year: 2020; Director: Hong Sang-soo; Stars: Kim Min-hee, Lee Eun-mi, Song Seon-mi, Seo Young-hwa)
While her husband is on a business trip, a woman meets three friends on the outskirts of Seoul. Their friendly conversation carries many undercurrents.
World premiere
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