The Berlin International Film Festival has unveiled the line-up for its Official Competition and Perspectives section for its 76th edition, which will feature 22 films in competition, the majority of them world premieres.

The Competition will include new feature films by acclaimed filmmakers such as Kornél Mundruczó, Ilker Çatak, Emin Alper, Angela Schanelec, Karim Aïnouz, Warwick Thornton, Anthony Chen and Hanna Bergholm. Of the 22 selected titles, 20 will have their world premieres in Berlin. The exceptions are Josephine, by Beth de Araujo, which comes to Berlin after screening at Sundance, and Wolfram, by Warwick Thornton, which closed the Adelaide Film Festival last year.

The festival will showcase an impressive international cast. Actors appearing in Competition films include Amy Adams, Brett Goldstein, Hiam Abbass, Anders Danielsen Lie, Channing Tatum, Gemma Chan, Juliette Binoche, Tom Courtenay, Sandra Hüller, Callum Turner, Riley Keough, Jamie Bell, Elle Fanning, Pamela Anderson and Rupert Grint.

The line-up also reflects continued progress in representation, with nine films directed or co-directed by women, an increase compared to previous editions.

Hungarian filmmaker Kornél Mundruczó will present his tenth feature film, At The Sea, starring Amy Adams, Murray Bartlett, Chloë East, Brett Goldstein and Dan Levy. The film follows a woman who, after leaving rehab, returns to her family’s home in Cape Cod, where sobriety forces her to confront buried trauma and redefine who she is without her career as a dancer.

Finnish director Hanna Bergholm will compete with Nightborn, her second feature, a thriller about a couple who move to the forest to start a family, only for their seemingly perfect life to turn into a nightmare with the arrival of their child.

In its second edition under the artistic direction of Tricia Tuttle, the festival also confirmed the continuation of its Perspectives section, dedicated to emerging voices in contemporary cinema. The section will present 13 titles, 11 of which are world premieres.

Among them is the Argentine entry El tren fluvial (The River Train), the feature debut by Lorenzo “Toto” Ferro and Lucas Vignale, which will have its world premiere at the Berlinale. Starring Milo Barria, Rita Pauls, Mariano Barria, Fabián Casas and Lucrecia Pazos, the film (Argentina, 2026) follows Milo, a nine-year-old boy living in a remote rural village where he studies malambo, a folk dance known for its bravura and technical skill. Although he is a gifted dancer, Milo’s greatest wish is to escape the countryside by train and reach the Buenos Aires of his dreams.

The Perspectives section also includes two UK titles: Animol, the directorial debut of actor Ashley Walters, and A Prayer For The Dying, a Norway–Greece–UK–Sweden co-production directed by Dara Van Dusen, starring Johnny Flynn, John C. Reilly, Kristine Kujath Thorp and Gustav Lindh.

During the official presentation, Tuttle strongly defended the theatrical experience, emphasizing that going to the cinema is “good for business and for the entire industry,” and called for the protection of the independent film ecosystem.

She also recalled that the Berlinale reached record attendance figures in 2025, with 340,000 public admissions and more than 115,000 industry accreditations.

As previously announced, the festival will open with No Good Men, directed by Shahrbanoo Sadat. Berlinale 2026 will run from February 12 to 22, while the European Film Market will take place from February 12 to 18. The Official Competition jury will be chaired by German filmmaker Wim Wenders.

Competition

At the Sea (USA-Hun), dir. Kornél Mundruczó *

Dao (Fr-Senegal-Guinea-Bissau), dir. Alain Gomis * 

Dust (Bel-Pol-Greece-UK), dir. Anke Blondé *

Everybody Digs Bill Evans (Ire-UK), dir, Grant Gee *

Flies (Mex), dir. Fernando Eimbcke *

Home Stories (Ger), dir. Eva Trobisch *

In A Whisper (Fr-Tunisia), dir. Leyla Bouzid *

Josephine (USA), dir. Beth de Araújo

The Loneliest Man in Town (Austria), dir. Tizza Covi, Rainer Frimmel *

My Wife Cries (Ger-Fr), dir. Angela Schanelec *

A New Dawn (Japan-Fr), dir. Yoshitoshi Shinomiya *

Nightborn (Fin-Lithuania-Fr-UK), dir. Hanna Bergholm *

Nina Roza (Can-It-Bul-Bel), dir. Genevieve Dulude-de Celles *

Queen At Sea (UK), dir. Lance Hammer *

Rosebush Pruning (It-Ger-Sp-UK), dir. Karim Aïnouz *

Rose (Austria-Ger), dir. Markus Schleinzer *

Salvation (Turkey-Fr-Neth-Greece-Swe-Saudi Arabia), dir. Emin Alper *

Soumsoum, The Night Of The Stars (Fr-Chad), dir. Mahamat-Saleh Haroun *

We Are All Strangers (Sing), dir. Anthony Chen *

Wolfram (Australia), dir. Warwick Thornton

Yellow Letters (Ger-Fr-Turkey), dir. İlker Çatak *

YO Love is a Rebellious Bird (USA), dir. Anna Fitch, Banker White *

Perspectives

17 (North Macedonia-Ser-Slovenia), dir. Kosara Mitic *

Animol (UK), dir. Ashley Walters *

A Prayer For The Dying (Nor-Greece-UK-Swe), dir. Dara Van Dusen *

Chronicles From The Siege (Alg-Fr-Pal), dir. Abdallah Alkhatib *

Filipiñana (Sing-UK-Phil-Fr-Neth), dir. Rafael Manuel

Forest High (Belg-Fr), dir. Manon Coubia *

Our Secret (Bra-Port), dir. Grace Passô

The Red Hangar (Chile-Arg-It), dir. Juan Pablo Sallato

The River Train (Arg), dirs. Lorenzo Ferro, Lucas A. Vignale *

Take Me Home (USA), dir. Liz Sargent

Trial Of Hein (Ger), dir. Kai Stänicke *

Truly Naked (Neth-Belg-Fr), dir. Muriel d’Ansembourg

Where To? (Isr-Ger), dir. Assaf Machnes