How Movie Stars Made the Berlin Film Festival as Buzzy as Sundance

Sideshow and Janus Films have acquired North American rights for German director Christian Petzold’s new film Afire, following its award-winning world premiere in competition at the Berlin Film Festival.

Christopher Vourlias The Thessaloniki Documentary Festival kicks off its 25th edition Thursday at a time when the nonfiction genre has arguably reached unprecedented heights. This year’s festival, which takes place March 2 – 12 in the seaside Mediterranean city, unfolds just days after veteran French docmaker Nicolas Philibert won the Golden Bear in Berlin for his documentary about a Paris mental health care facility, “On the Adamant.” The award capped a fortnight in which Sean Penn’s gonzo doc about Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, “Superpower,” also generated plenty of buzz (albeit lukewarm reviews). Meanwhile, Cameroon’s Cyrielle Raingou took home Rotterdam’s Tiger Award just a few weeks earlier for “Le Spectre de Boko Haram,” a riveting view of terrorism seen through children’s eyes. And one summer ago, Laura Poitras triumphed on the Lido with “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed,” her docu-portrait of the photographer and activist Nan Goldin, which won the Venice Film Festival’s Golden Lion award.

Kristen Stewart has served one look after another while acting as the jury president at the Berlinale International Film Festival, and her latest look is perhaps her most daring yet.

Guy Lodge Film Critic Veteran French docmaker Nicolas Philibert was the surprise winner of the Golden Bear at this year’s Berlin Film Festival, taking the prize for his film “On the Adamant,” a poignant observational study of a Paris mental health care facility. He received the award from jury president Kristen Stewart, after the star offered an extended and plainly heartfelt ode to the film’s humanity and simplicity: “People have gone in circles for thousands of years trying to pin down what can be deemed art, who’s allowed to do it and what determines its value,” she said, citing the boundary-pushing nature of the festival, and namechecking such opposing philosophers on the matter as Aristotle, Barthes, Sontag and Beavis & Butthead, before concluding, “For all of us, you just know it when you see it.”

Guy Lodge Film Critic The official awards ceremony of this year’s Berlin Film Festival is under way, with Kristen Stewart’s jury set to announce their winners from the Competition selections. This post will be updated as they’re announced.Previously announced: AUDIENCE AWARDS Panorama Audience Award: “Sira,” Apolline TraoréSecond Prize: “The Burdened,” Amr GamalThird Prize: “Midwives,” Léa Fehner Panorama Documentary Audience Award: “Kokomo City,” D. SmithSecond Prize: “The Eternal Memory,” Maite AlberdiThird Prize: “The Cemetery of Cinema,” Thierno Souleymane Diallo

The competition winners of the 73rd Berlinale are about to start rolling in as the festival draws to a close Saturday evening.

Kristen Stewart is standing up for a second silent demonstration during the 2023 Berlinale Film Festival.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Berlinale competition film “Music” opens with gray clouds racing across the face of a Greek mountain as a storm prepares to break. It is a suitably dramatic prelude to the tumultuous events that will unfold, albeit rendered in an understated manner by German director Angela Schanelec, who won the Berlinale best director award in 2019 for “I Was at Home, But.” As the storm lifts, an abandoned baby boy is rescued a paramedic, who names him Jon. Years later, Jon, now a young man, kills another man, accidentally, and ends up in prison. Here, he is tended to by a female guard, Iro, as his eyesight begins to deteriorate. When he is released, the two get married and have a child. But several years later, his wife discovers a terrible secret.

Good afternoon Insider team, Max Goldbart here. It has been a wild ride of a week with Berlin drawing to a close. Read below for a good ol’ recap.

EXCLUSIVE: On February 24, 2022 Sean Penn and his documentary filmmaking team got up before dawn in Kyiv in anticipation of a planned interview with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Suddenly, explosions shattered the quiet and missile fire turned the darkened sky to malevolent orange. Russia’s full-scale attack on its neighbor had begun — what President Vladimir Putin later that day euphemistically dubbed a “special military operation.”

Zack Sharf Back in 2001, Sean Penn found himself next to Jack Nicholson in a speeding car on the way to meet Russian president Vladimir Putin. The two actors were in Russia for the world premiere of “The Pledge” at the Moscow Film Festival. The Penn-directed psychological drama starred Nicholson as a retiring police detective who vows to catch the killer of a young child. Penn recently spoke to The Independent about his anxiety-inducing journey to meet Putin. “We were put in a convoy,” Penn said. “We knew that Putin was going to be the honored guest. In the nature of that time and space, we accepted the invitation. We got in this convoy, and we were going as fast as they wanted to drive, with no care for whether it might have presented danger in the villages we drove through.”

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Sales agency Memento Intl. has unveiled the first clip and poster from Liu Jian’s Berlin competition title “Art College 1994,” which world premieres on Feb. 24. The film is a portrait of youth set on the campus of the Chinese Southern Academy of Arts in the early 1990s. Against the backdrop of reforms opening China to the Western world, a group of college students live in full swing as they take their first steps into adulthood, where love and friendships are intertwined with artistic pursuits, ideals and ambitions. Caught between tradition and modernity, they now have to choose who they want to become. It is the director’s third animation feature after 2010’s “Piercing I” and “Have a Nice Day,” which premiered in competition at the Berlinale in 2017, and quickly built a cult following. “Have a Nice Day” was also honored with the best animated feature award at the Golden Horse Awards in Taiwan.

Matt Damon revealed he is in the early stages of research in a documentary project tackling the war in Ukraine at the Berlin Film Festival on Sunday.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent The Berlinale red carpet on Saturday became a protest platform against Iran’s repressive regime when a group of Iranian filmmakers and talents, joined by jury president Kristen Stewart, chanted “Women, Life, Freedom!” and demanded the release of imprisoned journalists and an Iranian rapper. Actress Golshifteh Farahani, who is also on the jury; “Holy Spider” actress Zar Amir Ebrahimi; and “The Siren” director Sepideh Farsi were among dozens of Iranian film professionals participating in the protests hosted by Berlinale co-directors Mariette Rissenbeek and Carlo Chatrian. Protesters with signs demanded freedom for female Iranian journalists Niloofar Hamedi and Elaheh Mohammadi who are behind bars, accused of “conspiring against national security” for being the first to report on Mahsa Amini’s death, and for the release of dissident Iranian hip hop artist Toomaj Salehi who has been accused of spreading propaganda and could face the death penalty.

Kristen Stewart joined Iranian filmmakers in a demonstration showing solidarity for Iran’s Women Life Freedom protests on the red carpet of the Berlin Film Festival on Saturday.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Uncork’d Entertainment has acquired the North American rights for suspense sci-fi thriller “I’ll Be Watching” from Iuvit Media Sales at the European Film Market in Berlin. The film has also been picked up by Falcon Films in the Middle East and North Africa, while Dolphin Medien has taken German-speaking territory rights. The film is directed by Erik Bernard (“Free Dead or Alive”), and stars “The 100” stars Eliza Taylor and Bob Morley, along with Bryan Batt (“12 Years a Slave”), David Keith (“An Officer and a Gentleman”), Hannah Fierman (“VHS”), and Seth Michaels (“Red Notice”).

Celebrities were out and about this week on red carpets, TV talk show sets and on the streets of Los Angeles and New York. Alec Baldwin was seen strolling down the streets of Brooklyn after picking up his morning coffee on Wednesday.  The actor's outing came after it was reported that Dave Halls, the assistant director of his movie "Rust," may testify against him in the 2021 shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. Baldwin and armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed are facing charges of involuntary manslaughter.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor 101 Films Intl. has secured worldwide distribution rights for World War II adventure film “War Blade,” starring Joseph Millson (“Casino Royale,” “The Last Kingdom”), Paul Marlon (“Trigger Point”), Michael McKell (“Murder Investigation Team,” “Doctors”) and Rebecca Scott (“The Capture,” “Transhuman”). The sales company is presenting the film to buyers at the European Film Market in Berlin. The film was written and directed by Nicholas Winter (“Robin Hood: The Rebellion,” “Breathe,” “Bone Breaker”). “War Blade” follows Robert Banks, an agent of the British Special Operations Executive, who is tasked with rescuing a French resistance fighter from a hidden Nazi bunker. With the help of a German nurse and a ragtag group of allies, Banks must journey to the belly of the beast.

Christopher Vourlias Sean Penn said he was happy to be a “propagandist” for the Ukrainian war effort and called Russian president Vladimir Putin a “creepy little bully” Saturday in Berlin, after the world premiere of his gonzo documentary “Superpower,” a gripping, courage-under-fire portrait of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy. “This is not an unbiased film because this is not an ambiguous war,” he said, calling the conflict “extremely personal.” “I’m very happy to be considered a propagandist. I was happy to make an unbiased film because that is the true story we found.” Donning a black jacket and hoodie and sporting a camouflage trucker cap, Penn repeatedly called on the Biden administration to send precision, long-range missiles to Kyiv to support the Ukrainian war effort.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Kino Lorber has acquired all rights in the U.S. to “Diabolik,” “Diabolik – Ginko Attacks!” and “Diabolik — Who Are You?” from Beta Cinema at the European Film Market in Berlin. The movies are based on the smash-hit Italian comic-book series about a ruthless master thief, which has sold more than 150 million copies worldwide. The stylish crime-comic adaptations are written and directed by Marco and Antonio Manetti. “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Marvel’s Avengers” actor Giacomo Gianniotti stars in “Diabolik — Ginko Attacks!” and “Diabolik — Who Are You?,” and Luca Marinelli (“The Old Guard”) in the first installment, “Diabolik.” Monica Bellucci (“Matrix,” “The Apartment”) stars in the role of Altea, Miriam Leone (“The Invisible Witness,” “Medici”) as Eva Kant, and Valerio Mastandrea (“Perfect Strangers,” “Nine”) as Inspector Ginko.