An Afghan feature opens the Berlin International Film Festival, while stars including Pamela Anderson, Ethan Hawke and John Turturro are expected on the red carpet.
The festival runs from February 12-22Image: Sebastian Christoph Gollnow/dpa/picture alliance
Advertisement
The Berlin International Film Festival, or Berlinale, which runs this year from February 12-22, opens with an Afghan drama titled "No Good Men."
Award-winning director Shahrbanoo Sadat's third feature is set on the eve of the 2021 Taliban offensive and tells the story of a TV newsroom camerawoman who is discouraged by the lack of interesting potential romantic partners in her country's deeply patriarchal society.
Combining political urgency and romantic comedy, the film embodies two of the Berlinale's distinctive facets: It is historically the most political of the three major European film fests, alongside Cannes and Venice, yet it's also a crowd-pleaser — one of the world's largest audience film festivals.
Last year's Berlinale set an all-time ticket sales record, with 336,000 tickets sold to the public.
Red carpet moments and politics at the Berlinale 2026
The Berlin International Film Festival runs February 12-22. Here are some of the stars attending the event — and what some of them had to say on the political role of cinema.
Image: Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP Photo/picture alliance
'No Good Men' opens the festival
The festival's opening film, "No Good Men," is said to be the "first Afghan romantic comedy." It features an unusual combination of feel-good feminist vibes amid the Taliban takeover of Aghanistan in 2021. Director Shahrbanoo Sadat, who also has a lead role in the film, poses with co-stars, Anwar Hashimi and the young Liam Hussaini, on the red carpet before the world premiere held on February 12.
Image: Dave Bedrosian/Geisler-Fotopress/picture alliance
Wim Wenders leads the jury
The German director of cult films including "Wings of Desire" (1987) and the Oscar-nominated "Perfect Days" (2023) has been recognized with prizes around the world. Now, along with his fellow jurors, he will be deciding who will win the Berlinale's top awards, the Golden and Silver Bears. But beyond his role in the jury, it was a statement on politics that drew the media's attention.
Image: Markus Schreiber/AP Photo/picture alliance
Boycotting the festival: Arundhati Roy
The Indian author was expected in Berlin, but Roy has withdrawn from the festival following Wim Wenders' press conference statement that filmmakers "have to stay out of politics." Reacting to the social media storm, festival director Tricia Tuttle noted that the quote distorted Wenders' values, and that free speech also includes the right to "not be expected to comment on all broader debates."
Image: Jonas Been Henriksen/NTB/dpa/picture alliance
80 film workers denounce the festival's silence on Israel’s Gaza war
Tilda Swinton, who received the Honorary Golden Bear last year, is among the 80 signatories of an open letter published in Variety on Tuesday. The actors and directors condemn the Berlinale for its "anti-Palestinian racism." Denouncing Wim Wenders' comment, they also urge organizers to clearly state their opposition to "Israel's genocide" in Gaza.
Image: Ronny Hartmann/AFP/Getty Images
Michelle Yeoh receives Honorary Golden Bear
Malaysian star Michelle Yeoh, winner of the 2023 Oscar for best actress for her role in "Everything Everywhere All at Once," was awarded the Honorary Golden Bear this year. Asked to comment on US politics at the festival's press conference, the actress — who primarily lives in Switzerland — said she didn't feel "in the position to really talk about the political situation in the US."
Image: Ronny Hartmann/AFP
Hiam Abbass in a queer family drama
Starring in competition entry "In a Whisper," French-Palestinian actress Hiam Abbass commented on the festival row, noting that Wenders' remarks were "taken out of context," since he did mention that cinema can "change the world" — but that filmmakers shouldn't be drawn into party politics. Still, for the star of "Succession," "everything we do is a political act."
Image: Axel Schmidt/REUTERS
Ethan Hawke all for 'anything that fights fascism'
Hawke stars in the Depression-era drama "The Weight," which celebrated its European premiere in Berlin. Also asked about stars' responsibility to speak out on political topics like fascism, the actor first joked that "a bunch of jet-lagged, drunk artists" are probably "the last place you want to look" to obtain guidance. But, he concluded, "anything that fights fascism, I'm all for it."
Image: Ben Kriemann/PIC ONE/IMAGO
Charli xcx finds a 'Moment' in Berlin
Another star at the festival is British pop icon Charli xcx, who plays a semi-fictional version of herself in "The Moment," a mockumentary directed by Aidan Zamiri. The film is described as "a chaotic, self-aware reflection on fame, identity and artistic pressure." Amid heated the debate on the role of politics in cinema, Charli applauded the festival for "not shying away from political films."
Image: Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP Photo/picture alliance
Bella Ramsey and Neil Patrick Harris in a tear-jerking comedy
In "Sunny Dancer," which premieres in Berlin on February 13, the star of "The Last of Us," Bella Ramsey (second from left), plays the role of a teenager affected by cancer who reluctantly attends a camp with other kids battling with the illness. Neil Patrick Harris (far right) also stars in the coming-of-age movie. They pose here with producer Ken Petrie and director George Jaques.
Image: Dave Bedrosian/Future Image/IMAGO
An ensemble cast for 'Rosebush Pruning'
Pamela Anderson was on the red carpet to celebrate the premiere of "Rosebush Pruning," directed by Karim Ainouz, in which she plays the mother of an extremely wealthy, dysfunctional family. The film also stars Callum Turner, Riley Keough, Elle Fanning, Jamie Bell and Tracy Letts.
Image: Ben Kriemann/PIC ONE/picture alliance
Power couple Dua Lipa and Callum Turner
Also supporting the world premiere of "Rosebush Pruning," Callum Turner showed up on Berlin's red carpet with his fiancée, pop superstar Dua Lipa. The couple's presence at the festival not only added a touch of glamour to the event, but also of romance, since it happened to be right on Valentine's Day.
Image: Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP Photo/picture alliance
Rupert Grint: Not a Ron Weasley role
"Harry Potter" fans lined up along the red carpet to get a selfie with the English actor for the world premiere of "Nightborn." Grint attended the festival alongside his Finnish co-star, Seidi Haarla. They portray a couple with a newborn child, but something is terribly wrong with the baby — horror in an isolated Finnish forest.
Image: Dave Bedrosian/Geisler-Fotopress/picture alliance
Sam Rockwell is a strange man from the future
The US actor known for his quirky and charismatic character roles plays a man who comes from the future with a mission to save the world from AI zombification in "Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die," directed by Gore Verbinski ("Pirates of the Caribbean"). Rockwell was also in Berlin for the European premiere of this zany sci-fi comedy.
Image: Thomas Bohlen/Starface/IMAGO
Isabelle Huppert in a vampire mystery movie
A Berlinale regular, French actress Isabelle Huppert is renowned for her portrayals of cold, morally dubious women. In "The Blood Countess," directed by German filmmaker Ulrike Ottinger, she embodies the mysterious titular character, who — after decades off the radar — reappears in present-day Vienna to track down a book that could potentially destroy all evil, including vampires.
Image: Thomas Bohlen/Starface/IMAGO
Juliette Binoche in 'Queen at Sea'
Oscar-winning French actress Juliette Binoche poses here on the Berlinale red carpet. She stars alongside knighted British New Wave actor Tom Courtenay, as well as Anna Calder-Marshall and Florence Hunt, in a drama about a family dealing with the mother's dementia, "Queen at Sea," directed by Lance Hammer.
Image: Rouzbeh Fouladi/ZUMA/IMAGO
John Turturro as an aging pickpocket
Famous for his frequent collaborations with the Coen brothers and Spike Lee, actor John Turturro attended the festival for the European premiere of "The Only Living Pickpocket in New York." He also gave a talk with the film's director, Noah Segan, as part of a series of free events called Berlinale HUB.
Image: John Macdougall/AFP
Gemma Chan and Channing Tatum are parents in 'Josephine'
Hollywood star Channing Tatum and Gemma Chan ("Crazy Rich Asians") pose here on Berlin's red carpet on February 20, celebrating their competition entry "Josephine." In the film, they portray parents of an 8-year-old girl (Mason Reeves in her debut role) who has to process a traumatic event. Beth de Araujo's film has already won awards at Sundance.
Image: Clemens Niehaus/Future Image/IMAGO
17 images1 | 17
As festival director Tricia Tuttle tells DW, even though Berlin is "not afraid of championing and backing very political films — films that might create difficult talking points," the more than 200 works in the program feature a diversity of genres — from horror to romantic comedies to experimental works.
Tuttle feels that "every kind of cinema is political in some ways — even if it's a more intimate and personal lens through which you see cultural and social issues in the world." Still, she emphasizes that the event also aims to support a struggling movie industry by attracting a wider audience to the theaters, which is why many films in the program "are just escapist pleasures as well."
It's Tricia Tuttle's second year as the director of the BerlinaleImage: Liesa Johannssen/REUTERS
Red carpet premieres
The opening film is part of a non-competitive section of the festival called Berlinale Special, which features works selected to spark discussions and add red-carpet glamour to the festival through various premieres.
In this section, French actress Isabelle Huppert — who has confirmed she will be in Berlin — plays the lead role in Ulrike Ottinger's horror-tinged comedy "The Blood Countess," the screenplay of which she co-wrote with Austrian Nobel laureate Elfriede Jelinek.
John Turturro and Steve Buscemi star in Noah Segan's "The Only Living Pickpocket in New York," which celebrates its international premiere at the festival.
Other anticipated European premieres include Padraic McKinley‘s Sundance-acclaimed thriller "The Weight," starring Ethan Hawke and Russell Crowe, and Gore Verbinski's sci-fi comedy "Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die," featuring Sam Rockwell, Juno Temple and Zazie Beetz.
Another hyped title is "The Moment," a mockumentary on British pop star Charli xcx, which satirically portrays the singer in her attempts to extend her "brat" fame era.
Charli xcx will be in Berlin to promote her mockumentary, 'The Moment,' which plays on the music industry's pressuresImage: A24
The films competing for the Golden Bear
There are 22 films competing for the festival's top awards, the Golden and Silver Bears.
"Rosebush Pruning," directed by Karim Ainouz, is among the buzziest titles in the run, starring Callum Turner, Riley Keough, Jamie Bell, Elle Fanning and Pamela Anderson. Tuttle described it as a "twisted thriller about a privileged family unraveling when dark secrets emerge."
Six-time Oscar nominee, Amy Adams, stars in Kornel Mundruczo's "At the Sea," playing a former dancer who navigates sobriety and a new life after rehab.
Amy Adams stars in 'At the Sea,' by Hungarian director Kornel Mundruczo, who also directed 2020's 'Pieces of a Woman' Image: 2026 ATS Production LLC
In Beth de Araujo's "Josephine" — which won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance in January — Channing Tatum and Gemma Chan portray the parents of an 8-year girl who has witnessed a sexual assault.
French actress Juliette Binoche stars alongside Tom Courtenay, Anna Calder-Marshall and Florence Hunt in Lance Hammer's "Queen at Sea," an exploration of the impact of dementia on a family.
Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley in the "Harry Potter" films) and Finnish actress Seidi Haarla take on the role of new parents living in a Scandinavian forest, in a horror fantasy feature titled "Nightborn."
The competition entries stem from all over the world, with 28 countries contributing as co-producers.
Underscoring Africa's booming film culture, the continent is well represented through titles co-produced by Guinea-Bissau, Senegal, Tunisia and Chad.
Germany is also well represented in the competition, contributing three entries as the main production country, and two more in a co-producing role.
Among Germany's entries is Markus Schleinzer's "Rose," a historical drama set in the 17th century starring Sandra Hüller ("Anatomy of a Fall" and "The Zone of Interest"), who plays a mysterious soldier Rose, a woman disguised as a man, who lands in a secluded Protestant village.
Two-time Silver Bear winner, German director Angela Schanelec, returns to the competition with "My Wife Cries."
Meanwhile, Ilker Catak, whose 2023 drama "The Teachers' Lounge" was Germany's submission for best international film at the Oscars, is in the run with "Yellow Letters," which tackles Turkey's repression of artistic freedom.
The competition also features diverse genres, including a biopic on renowned jazz pianist Bill Evans; an anime film, Yoshitoshi Shinomiya's "A New Dawn"; and a documentary on friendship, grief and creativity portrayed through director Anna Fitch's decade-long project, "Yo (Love Is a Rebellious Bird)."
Advertisement
The international jury
The winners of the Golden and Silver Bears, to be revealed on February 21, will be selected by a jury led by acclaimed German filmmaker Wim Wenders.
On opening night, the festival will also award an Honorary Golden Bear to Academy Award-winning Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh, in recognition of her outstanding achievements in cinema, which include her roles in "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" (2000) and "Everything Everywhere All at Once" (2022).
A tribute event for Honorary Golden Bear winner, Michelle Yeoh (center), will include a screening of 'Everything Everywhere All At Once'Image: Allyson Riggs/A24/AP/picture alliance
Beyond the main competition, the festival recognizes talent through various other awards.
The Teddy Award, for example, honors works exploring LGBTQ+ topics; a pioneering accolade in this category, it is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year.
Meanwhile, the Perspectives section brings together 14 feature film debuts. This "first feature competition" was created last year, as part of changes introduced by Tricia Tuttle in her first year as the director of the Berlinale.
"Festivals have a hugely important role to play in enabling the discovery of the next generation of major talents," said Tuttle. Noting how audiences and professional guests embraced the new competition last year, she announced that this year's line-up once again features "dazzling talent, and films full of heart and breathtaking creativity" — a reason, she added, to be "excited by the future."
