Berlin: The 2022 Berlin International Film Festival scheduled for February- 2022 has revealed its first titles, including seven films that have been invited to the Berlinale Special program. Director M. Night Shyamalan will head up the Berlinale international jury which picks the Gold and Silver Bear award winners among the festival’s competition titles.
Despite concerns over the continuing coronavirus pandemic and the new Omicron variant of COVID-19, Berlin is sticking to its plan to hold an in-person festival next year. Under current health regulations, all attendees will be required to be fully vaccinated and there may be testing and masking requirements for some Berlinale venues.
Peter Flinth’s “Against The Ice”, starring Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Joe Cole, Heida Reed and Charles Dance, and Laurent Larivière’s “About Joan”, starring Isabelle Huppert, which both play as Berlinale Special Galas.
According to news reports, The Panorama program has unveiled 13 titles, with Generation confirming eight features, and further films set for the Forum and Forum Expanded.
“The pandemic has created distances – not only between people but also the way we see the world. Amongst the 2022 selection are films shot during the pandemic, reflecting on how it feels to be disconnected from others. It is with this first batch of films that we want to highlight the power of cinema as a tool that connects people, places and times ahead“, said the Artistic Director of the Berlinale, Carlo Chatrian.
The Panorama strand includes “Myanmar Diaries”, a doc/feature hybrid from the Myanmar Film Collective that highlights violence suffered by Burmese citizens.
Panorama titles include the world premiers of Tim Sutton’s “Taurus” starring Megan Fox, Scoot McNairy, Colson Baker and Ruby Rose; the Italian feature “Into My Name” from Nicolò Bassetti; and “Talking About the Weather” from German director Annika Pinske. French feature “Rookies” from directors Thierry Demaizière and Alban Teurlai, “The Quiet Girl” from Irish director Colm Bairéad and Mascha Halberstad’s Dutch movie “Oink” are among the world premieres in the Generations selection for children’s and youth films.
Berlin organizers have said the 2022 festival program would be “roughly similarly” the same in size compared to the pre-COVID-19 edition of the fest in 2020. Short films, which were struck from the Generation sidebar for this year’s festival, will return to the section in 2022.
The European Film Market (EFM), which runs February 10-17, will again set up shop at Berlin’s Gropius Bau and the Marriott Hotel.
The 2022 EFM will be a hybrid event, also featuring online formats and screenings for professionals unable to attend in person. Similarly, industry-focused sections — namely the Berlinale Series Market, running February 14-16; the Berlinale Co-Production Market (Feb. 12-16); Berlinale Talents (Feb. 12-17); and the World Cinema Fund — will combine in-person sessions with online offerings.
