Berlin Film Festival’s Panorama Lineup Unveiled: Alain Guiraudie’s ‘Nobody’s Hero’ Set as Opener

Filmmaker David Lynch (Twin Peaks, Blue Velvet) has joined the cast of Steven Spielberg’s drama The Fabelmans, Deadline has confirmed.

Naman Ramachandran Indian filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali has revealed the first trailer for his long-awaited film “Gangubai Kathiawadi,” which will have its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival. Starring Alia Bhatt (“Gully Boy”) in the titular role alongside Ajay Devgn (“Tanhaji”), the film is based on the book, “Mafia Queens of Mumbai,” written by S. Hussain Zaidi and Jane Borges.

Shalini Dore Features News EditorMultihyphenate M. Night Shyamalan is eager to get started on his role as the Berlin Film Festival’s competition jury president.“Part of going to film festivals and seeing these movies is I’m with the very best storytellers that are telling the most different and original stories in their own way,” Shyamalan said.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentBrussels-based company Best Friend Forever has acquired “Coma,” the latest film by celebrated French director Bertrand Bonello (“Saint Laurent”). “Coma” will have its world premiere premiere at the Berlin Film Festival in the Encounters section. Weaving genre, animation and live action, the stylish movie boasts an exciting cast including Louise Labeque (“Zombi Child”) and Julia Faure (“Camille Rewinds”), with voices by beloved late actor Gaspard Ulliel, as well as Louis Garrel, Laetitia Casta, Anaïs Demoustier and Vincent Lacoste.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentItaly’s Vision Distribution has boarded Berlin Panorama title “Swing Ride,” directed by Chiara Bellosi, and will launch sales at the upcoming EFM on the pic about an overweight teenager named Benedetta who is pining for attention.“Swing Ride” (“Calcinculo”) is set in a tiny southern Italian town where Benedetta meets Armando, aka Amanda, a young transvestite who runs the carousel and sells drugs.

Dispatches from the Sundance Film Festival are usually accompanied by descriptions of the looming mountains, snowy premieres and frantic bus shuttles. This year's Sundance, which played out entirely virtually due to the COVID-19 surge driven by the omicron variant, meant less evocative screening circumstances: Laptops, digital links and Zooms.But even in reduced form, the films were often hypnotic, thrilling and urgent.

Berlin Film Festival organizers on Wednesday said they have further updated their Covid regulations ahead of the fest, which kicks off February 10.

Ed Meza @edmezavarGerman sales company Pluto Film is under new ownership following its sale by founders and former CEOs Heino Deckert and Torsten Frehse to Daniela and Benjamin Cölle.Deckert and Frehse, who established the Berlin-based shingle in 2015, are stepping down to focus on the activities of their respective companies, the Leipzig-based production shingle Maja.de and Berlin film distributor Neue Visionen.The new husband and wife team will head Pluto Film as co-CEOs, with Daniela Cölle also serving as head of acquisitions. Cölle has worked at the company since its launch, initially as festival manager.“We are very thankful to Torsten and Heino for trusting in us as new owners and CEOs,” she said.

The team behind the European Film Market (EFM), the industry wing of the Berlin Film Festival, had been busy preparing for a return to an in-person event in 2022 after they were forced to put last year’s edition online due to Covid.

The 72nd Berlin International Film Festival has confirmed its various juries, including who will be joining M. Night Shyamalan to award the International Competition prizes.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentThough the Berlin Film Festival’s European Film Market has been forced by the omicron variant to go online, the fact that the fest itself will instead be held in person means that, as anticipated by Variety, some industry players are planning to make the trek to Germany.This has prompted the EFM –- after some deliberation with local health authorities –- to set up separate industry screenings for films launching in the Berlinale’s 2022 official selection.“Even with the EFM going online, a number of industry delegates confirmed their intention to come to Berlin to visit the festival in person and the Berlinale offers industry accreditation even in its revised format,” EFM director Dennis Ruh (pictured) tells Variety. All festival accreditation holders will have access to tickets allocated for all public screenings.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterNational Geographic Documentary Films has acquired “The Territory,” a timely look at indigenous-led land defense in the Amazon rainforest, following its premiere at the virtual Sundance Film Festival.The company plans to release “The Territory” theatrically later this year before the film heads to its streaming platforms.Alex Pritz directed “The Territory” in his feature film debut. Using verité-style footage captured over three years, the documentary tells the fight of the Indigenous Uru-eu-wau-wau people against rapidly approaching deforestation brought by illegal loggers and nonnative farmers in the Brazilian Amazon.In Variety’s review of “The Territory,” which screened in the world cinema documentary competition, film critic Guy Lodge described the doc as “riveting and despairing in equal measure.” “Dual forces of climate change and cultural genocide overlap to devastating effect in “The Territory,” threatening not just a native community but a wider ecosystem — and cheered on by the actively hostile powers that be,” Lodge wrote.Darren Aronofsky, the Oscar-winning director of “Black Swan,” “The Wrestler” and “Requiem for a Dream,” served as a producer on “The Territory.” The film has been co-produced by the Indigenous Uru-eu-wau-wau community, with activist Txai Suruí on board as an executive producer.

Mexico’s Oscar-shortlisted Prayers For the Stolen directed by Tatiana Huezo won the FIPRESCI Prize for Best International Feature Film at the Palm Springs Film Festival, which revealed its juried winners Wednesday despite being forced to cancel its 2022 edition.

It feels like yesterday that I was on the phone to Berlinale directors Mariette Rissenbeek and Carlo Chatrian following their pre-recorded video announcement of the 2021 festival program, the three of us casting an eye forward to the following year with the hope that this pandemic would finally be behind us.

While somewhat arbitrary and beholden to what’s finished, what’s available, and what’s ready, film festivals tend to have good years and bad years, depending. And well, after several good years, where the Berlin Film Festival has re-established itself as a significant player in the world cinema film festival sweepstakes, the Berlinale has really upped the ante in 2022 with a terrific line-up.

The 72nd Berlin International Film Festival is revealing its Competition line-up this morning from 11am CET, refresh this page for updates.

The program announcements continue for the 72nd Berlin International Film Festival this week, with the full Panorama line-up now confirmed.

Marco Bellocchio Honorary Prize

The program announcements continue for this year’s Berlin International Film Festival, with the Series and Generation strands both unveiling today, as well as the line-up for the Co-Production Market. Scroll down for the lists of titles.