The 75th annual Berlin International Film Festival, usually called the Berlinale, took place between 13 and 23 February 2025 in Berlin, Germany. American filmmaker Todd Haynes was named the Jury President for the main competition. It marked the first edition of Tricia Tuttle as the festival's artistic director after Carlo Chatrian and Mariette Rissenbeek stepped down after the 2024 edition.
Dreams (Sex Love) directed by Dag Johan Haugerud won the Golden Bear. The Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize was awarded to The Blue Trail by Gabriel Mascaro. While the Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance was awarded to Rose Byrne for If I Had Legs I'd Kick You.
The festival opened with German drama film The Light by Tom Tykwer. During the opening ceremony, British actress Tilda Swinton was awarded the Honorary Golden Bear.
Juries
Main Competition Todd Haynes, American filmmaker – Jury President Fan Bingbing, Chinese actress Maria Schrader, German actress and filmmaker Rodrigo Moreno, Argentinian filmmaker Nabil Ayouch, Franco-Moroccan filmmaker Bina Daigeler, German costume designer Amy Nicholson, American film critic and author
Perspectives Jury (GWFF Best First Feature Award) Meryam Joobeur, Tunisian filmmaker Aïssa Maïga, French actress María Zamora, Spanish producer
Short Film Competition Dascha Dauenhauer, German composer Jing Haase, Danish producer Phạm Ngọc Lân, Vietnamese filmmaker and producer
Generation Jury Emma Branderhorst, Dutch filmmaker Ikoro Sekai, Canadian film curator at the Toronto International Film Festival Aslı Özarslan, German filmmaker
Berlinale Documentary Award Jury Petra Costa, Brazilian filmmaker Lea Glob, Danish filmmaker Kazuhiro Soda, Japanese filmmaker
Official Sections
Main Competition The following films were selected for the main competition for the Golden Bear on 21 January 2025: English Title Original Title Director(s) Production Country Ari Léonor Serraille France, BelgiumBlue Moon Richard Linklater United States, Ireland The Blue Trail O Último Azul Gabriel Mascaro Brazil, Mexico, Chile, NetherlandsDreams Michel Franco Mexico, United States Dreams (Sex Love) Drømmer Dag Johan Haugerud Norway Girls on Wire 想飞的女孩 Vivian Qu ChinaHot Milk Rebecca Lenkiewicz United Kingdom, GreeceThe Ice TowerLa Tour de Glace Lucile Hadžihalilović France, Germany, ItalyIf I Had Legs I'd Kick You Mary Bronstein United States Kontinental '25 Radu Jude Romania, Brazil, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Luxembourg Living the Land 生息之地 Huo Meng China The Message El mensaje Iván Fund Argentina, Spain Mother's Baby Johanna Moder Austria, Switzerland, Germany Reflection in a Dead Diamond Reflet dans un diamant mortHélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani Belgium, Luxembourg, Italy, France The Safe House La cache Lionel Baier Switzerland, Luxembourg, France Timestamp Стрічка часу Kateryna Gornostai Ukraine, Luxembourg, Netherlands, France What Marielle Knows Was Marielle weiß Frédéric Hambalek Germany What Does That Nature Say to You 그 자연이 네게 뭐라고 하니 Hong Sang-soo South Korea Yunanيونان Ameer Fakher Eldin Germany, Canada, Italy, Palestine, Qatar, Jordan, Saudi Arabia
Berlinale Special The following films are selected for the Berlinale Special screening: English Title Original Title Director(s) Production CountryBerlinale Special GalaAfter This DeathLucio CastroUnited StatesA Complete UnknownJames MangoldKöln 75Ido FlukGermany, Poland, BelgiumThe Light (opening film)Das LichtTom TykwerGermany, France Late Shift Heldin Petra Volpe Switzerland, GermanyLurker Alex Russell United States, ItalyMickey 17Bong Joon HoUnited States, South KoreaThe Narrow Road to the Deep North (series)Justin KurzelAustralia The Thing with FeathersDylan SouthernUnited KingdomBerlinale SpecialAll I Had Was NothingnessJe n’avais que le néant – "Shoah" par LanzmannGuillaume RibotFrance Ancestral Visions of the FutureLemohang Jeremiah MoseseFrance, Lesotho, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Qatar The Best Mother in the World A melhor mãe do mundo Anna Muylaert Brazil, ArgentinaDas Deutsche VolkMarcin WierzchowskiGermany Friendship's Death (1987)Peter WollenUnited KingdomHoney BunchMadeleine Sims-Fewer and Dusty MancinelliCanadaA Letter to DavidMichtav Le'DavidTom ShovalIsrael, United StatesIslandsJan-Ole Gerster Germany Leibniz – Chronicle of a Lost PaintingLeibniz – Chronik eines verschollenen BildesEdgar Reitz and Anatol SchusterMy Undesirable Friends: Part I — Last Air in MoscowJulia LoktevUnited States No Beast. So Fierce. Kein Tier. So Wild. Burhan Qurbani Germany, Poland, France The Old Woman with the Knife 파과 Min Kyu-dong South KoreaShoah (1985)Claude LanzmannFrance
Perspectives 14 films will be competing for the Best First Feature Award. The following films were selected for the first edition of the Perspectives section: English Title Original Title Director(s) Production CountryBLKNWS: Terms & ConditionsKahlil Joseph United States The Devil Smokes (and Saves the Burnt Matches in the Same Box)El Diablo Fuma (y guarda las cabezas de los cerillos quemados en la misma caja)Ernesto Martínez BucioMexicoEel河鰻Chu Chun-TengTaiwan Growing DownMinden RendbenBálint Dániel SósHungary How to Be Normal and the Oddness of the Other World Wie man normal ist und die Merkwürdigkeiten der anderen Welt Florian Pochlatko Austria Little Trouble Girls Kaj ti je deklica Urška Djukić Slovenia, Italy, Croatia, SerbiaMad Bills to Pay (or Destiny, dile que no soy malo)Joel Alfonso VargasUnited States Punching the World Mit der Faust in die Welt schlagen Constanze Klaue Germany The SettlementالمستعمرةMohamed RashadEgypt, France, Germany, Qatar, Saudi ArabiaShadowboxবাক্স বন্দিTanushree Das and Saumyananda SahiIndia, France, United States, Spain That Summer in Paris Le rendez-vous de l'été Valentine Cadic France Two Times João LiberadaDuas vezes João LiberadaPaula Tomás MarquesPortugal We Believe You On vous croit Arnaud Dufeys and Charlotte Devillers Belgium Where the Night Stands StillCome la notteLiryc Dela CruzItaly, Philippines
Berlinale Short Film Competition The following films are selected for the Berlinale's Short Film Golden Bear Competition section: English Title Original Title Director(s) Production CountryAfter ColossusTimoteus Anggawan KusnoItaly, Indonesia, Netherlands Anba dloLuiza Calagian and Rosa CaldeiraCuba, Brazil, HaitiBecause of (U)Tohé CommaretFranceCasa chica Lau Charles Mexico Ceasefire Prekid vatre Jakob Krese Germany, Italy, SloveniaChildren's DayGiselle LinSingaporeCitizen-InmateDar bandHesam EslamiIranClose to SeptemberCasi septiembreLucía G. RomeroSpainExtracurricular Activity课外活动Dean Wei and Xu YidanChina How Are You? Comment ça va? Caroline Poggi and Jonathan Vinel FranceIn RetrospectRückblickend BetrachtetDaniel Asadi Faezi and Mila ZhluktenkoGermanyKoki, CiaoQuenton MillerNetherlandsLiving StonesÉlő kövekJakob Ladányi JancsóHungaryLloyd Wong, Unfinished Lesley Loksi Chan Canada Ordinary Life 普通の生活 Yoriko Mizushiri France, JapanMother's ChildNaomi NoirNetherlandsSammi, Who Can Detach His Body PartsRein MaychaelsonIndonesia Stone of Destiny Kámen Osudu Julie Černá CzechiaTheir EyesNicolas GouraultFranceThrough Your Eyes夏威夷见Nelson YeoSingaporeBerlinale Shorts SpecialAs Long as Shotguns Remain (2014)Tant qu'il nous reste des fusils à pompeCaroline Poggi and Jonathan VinelFranceHappy Doom (2023)Billy RoiszAustriaNight Fishing (2011)파란만장Park Chan-wook and Park Chan-kyongSouth KoreaThree Stones for Jean Genet (2014)Frieder SchlaichGermanyTwo Ships (2012)Vilaine fille mauvais garçonJustine TrietFranceVita Lakamaya (2016)Akihito IzuharaJapan
Panorama The following films were selected for the Panorama section: English Title Original Title Director(s) Production Country1001 FramesMehrnoush AliaUnited StatesBeginningsBegyndelserJeanette NordahlDenmark, Sweden, Belgium Cicadas Zikaden Ina Weisse Germany, FranceConfidanteConfidenteÇağla Zencirci and Guillaume GiovanettiTurkey, France, LuxembourgDeafSordaEva LibertadSpain Delicious Nele Mueller-Stöfen Germany Dreamers Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor United KingdomDreams in NightmaresShatara Michelle FordUnited States, Taiwan, United KingdomThe Good SisterSchwesterherzSarah Miro FischerGermany, SpainThe Heart Is a MuscleImran HamdulaySouth Africa, Saudi ArabiaHome Sweet HomeHjem kaere hjemFrelle PetersenDenmark Hysteria Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay Germany The Incredible Snow WomanL' Incroyable femme des neigesSébastien BetbederFrance Lesbian Space PrincessEmma Hough Hobbs and Leela VargheseAustraliaLooking for Langston (1989)Isaac JulienUnited KingdomThe LongingミックスモダンToshizo FujiwaraJapan Magic FarmAmalia UlmanUnited States, Argentina The Moelln Letters Die Möllner Briefe Martina Priessner Germany Night Stage Ato Noturno Marcio Reolon and Filipe Matzembacher BrazilOlmo Fernando Eimbcke United States, MexicoOnce Again... (Statues Never Die)Isaac JulienUnited KingdomOther People's Money (series)Die Affäre Cum-EXDustin Loose and Kaspar MunkGermany, Denmark, AustriaPeter Hujar's DayIra SachsUnited States, Germany Queerpanorama眾生相Jun LiUnited States, Hong Kong, China Silent Sparks愛作歹Ping ChuTaiwan The Ugly StepsisterDen stygge stesøsterenEmilie BlichfeldtNorway, Poland, Sweden, DenmarkWelcome Home Baby Andreas Prochaska Austria, GermanyPanorama DokumenteBedrockKinga MichalskaCanada I Want It AllIch will alles. Hildegard KnefLuzia SchmidGermany KhartoumAnas Saeed, Rawia Alhag, Ibrahim Snoopy, Timeea M Ahmed and Phil CoxSudan, United Kingdom, Germany, QatarLetters from Wolf StreetListy z WilczejArjun TalwarPoland, GermanyMonk in Pieces Billy Shebar United StatesPaulDenis CôtéCanada Satanic Sow Satanische Sau Rosa von Praunheim Germany Under the Flags, the SunBajo las banderas, el solJuanjo PereiraParaguay, Argentina, United States, France, GermanyYalla Parkour Areeb ZuaiterPalestine, Sweden. Qatar, Saudi Arabia
Forum The following films were selected for the Forum section: