Vampires, sci-fi creatures and Charli XCX are descending on Berlin this year.
The Berlin Film Festival on Wednesday unveiled more titles for its Berlinale lineup, including its high-profile, out-of-competition section of red carpet premieres that will screen at the 76th Berlinale, which runs Feb. 12-22.
Among additions in the Berlinale Specials program are the international premiere of Noah Segan’sThe Only Living Pickpocket in New Yorkwith John Turturro and Steve Buscemi, and the European premieres of Padraic McKinley’sThe Weight, starring Ethan Hawke and Russell Crowe, and Gore Verbinski’s sci-fi comedyGood Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Diewith Sam Rockwell, Juno Temple and Zazie Beetz.
Among the titles bowing in Panorama, Berlin’s main sidebar section, is Aidan Zamiri’sThe Moment featuring music superstar Charli XCX in what is described as “a mockumentary, a feminist act of self-empowerment and an ironic meta-commentary on the music business.”
Feminist perspectives will also be showcased elsewhere in the Panorama lineup, which includesÁrru, the directorial debut of Sámi choreographer Elle Sofe Sara; Iranian activist and filmmaker Mahnaz Mohammadi’s new dramaRoya; and Olive Nwosu’s feature debutLady. And it wouldn’t be Berlin without a new film from Hong Sangsoo. The prolific South Korean auteur returns to Potsdamer Platz withGeunyeoga doraon nal, a drama described as “a subtle reflection on the acting profession itself.”
Among the Berlinale Special highlights is the world premiere of The Blood Countess, the hotly anticipated horror mystery thriller starring Isabelle Huppert as a 16th century vampire and featuring an all-star European cast, including Birgit Minichmayr (Everyone Else), Lars Eidinger (Jay Kelly), Thomas Schubert (Afire) and André Jung (The Forger).
The film, directed by renowned German New Wave artist and filmmaker Ulrike Ottinger, is the latest retelling of the story of Hungarian Countess Elizabeth Báthory, a real-life aristocrat accused of bathing in the blood of virgins to retain her youth. Julie Delpy played a version of Báthory in 2009 feature The Countess; Anna Friel in the 2008 historical drama Bathory, and Maria Kalinina in the 2006 slasher horror Stay Alive, in which the spirit of the blood countess haunts a survival video game.
This iteration of the story promises to be more high-brow, with a script from Ottinger and Elfriede Jelinek, the acclaimed Nobel Prize-winning author of The Piano Teacher (which also starred Huppert). The Blood Countess was a hot presales title at Berlin last year. Magnify is handling sales worldwide.
Other Berlinale Special Galas include the world premiere of Teodora Ana Mihai’s Heysel 85, which tells the story of the Heysel Stadium disaster, in which, before the start of a European Cup Final between Liverpool and Juventus, a crowd crush resulted in 39 deaths. And Berlin audiences will be able to beat their chests and call out to God in unison with Amanda Seyfried, with the German premiere of Mona Fastvold’s awards season contender The Testament of Ann Lee, which stars Seyfried as the 18th century religious leader and founder of the Shakers movement.
On the gory side, Berlin will hold the world premiere of Sleep No More, a body horror feature from Indonesia’s genre master Edwin (Vengeance Is Mine, All Others Pay Cash), and Saccharine, from Australia’s Natalie Erika James, in which a lovelorn medical student becomes possessed after taking part in an obscure weight-loss craze: eating human ashes.
Documentary highlights include Jason Osder and William Lafi Youmans’ Who Killed Alex Odeh?, a true-crime investigation into the killing of a Palestinian activist, which will head to Berlin after its Sundance premiere; and the world premiere of The Ballad of Judas Priest, directors Sam Dunn and Tom Morello’s joyous tribute to the heavy metal pioneers.
Series getting their world premiere in Berlin this year include eagerly awaited new adaptation of Lord of the Flies, directed by Marc Munden and written by Adolescence co-creator Jack Thorne; the darkly comic crime drama Mint directed by Charlotte Regan (Scrapper); and Chilean adaptation La casa de los espíritus, based on Isabel Allende’s landmark novel (which was adapted in English by Billy August as The House of the Spirits in 1993, starring Jeremy Irons, Meryl Streep, Glenn Close, Winona Ryder, Antonio Banderas and Vanessa Redgrave).
Other small screen delights include new chapters of Mark Cousins’ The Story of Documentary Film; the Spanish series Ravalear: Not For Sale, from the producers of Oscar-nominated animated film Robot Dreams; and the six-part German horror mystery series House of Yang.
The Berlinale will announce its full lineup on Jan. 20.