Berlin: Inaugural Encounters Competition To Bow New Films From ‘Donnybrook’s Tim Sutton & ‘Sieranevada’s Cristi Puiu

Berlin-based sales agent Films Boutique expands their slate for the upcoming Berlin Film Festival with global sales rights on “Last and First Men,” from the late Icelandic-born filmmaker-composer Jóhann Jóhannsson, which will world premiere in the Berlinale Special section.

Berlin-based sales agent M-appeal has picked up Norwegian children’s film “Sisters: The Summer We Found Our Superpowers,” ahead of the European Film Market in Berlin, where it will screen.

Photo courtesy Tom of Finland Foundation/Copyright by Peter Berlin

The Berlin Film Festival has unveiled the six film professionals —three men and three women —who will join jury president Jeremy Irons in picking the winners of this year's competition.Oscar-nominated French actress Bérénice Bejo (The Artist) and Oscar-winning screenwriter Kenneth Lonergan (Manchester by the Sea) will judge the 2020 Berlin line-up, alongside Brazilian director Kleber Mendonça Filho (Bacurau, Aquarius) and Palestinian filmmaker Annemarie Jacir (Wajib, Salt of This Sea).

American playwright and filmmaker Kenneth Lonergan, French actor and “The Artist” star Bérénice Bejo, and Palestinian director Annemarie Jacir will serve on the International Jury of the Berlin Film Festival.

By Tom Grater

By Andreas Wiseman

Black Belt Eagle Scout—the musical moniker of Katherine Paul—has announced a lengthy tour of North America and Europe. It kicks off later this month in Austin, Texas, and stops in Seattle, Brooklyn, Cincinnati, Berlin, London, and more before wrapping up in Brussels on May 30.

By Andreas Wiseman

It’s not that the knives were out, exactly. It’s just that the faint whiff of lame duckishness has hung over the Berlin Film Festival since the announcement of longtime director Dieter Kosslick’s 2019 departure, an impression that intensified during the last two editions, which were generally regarded as among the weakest the festival has recently seen.

The Assistant— whose original idea came from the Harvey Weinstein scandal — premiered at the Telluride Film Festival in September, is currently at Sundance, and will head to Berlin’s international fest next month.

Variety has been given exclusive access to the trailer for Swiss/Croatian feature film “Mare,” written and directed by Andrea Staka, which will have its world premiere in the Panorama Section of the Berlin Film Festival.

By Andreas Wiseman

The Berlin Film Festival is unveiling its main competition line-up this morning, alongside additional galas.

By Andreas Wiseman

A big year for the Berlin Film Festival, the 70th edition of the Berlinale will open with Philippe Falardeau’s anticipated “My Salinger Year,” headlined by a powerful female duo, Sigourney Weaver and Margaret Qualley.

By Andreas Wiseman

By Tom Grater

Vision Distribution, the Italian theatrical distributor jointly operated by pay-TV operator Sky Italia and five prominent Italian production companies, is expanding into international film sales with a new company called Vision Distribution International, to be headed by veteran sales agent Catia Rossi.