The Japan Times - Main line-up at Berlin film festival

Eighteen pictures will vie for the Golden and Silver Bear prizes at the 11-day event beginning on February 16, with a jury led by US actor Kristen Stewart.

Fifteen of the features in the main showcase are world premieres and one is a feature debut. Six of the movies in competition are by women and three of the directors identify as non-binary.

The Berlinale Special section features other notable films that will have gala screenings.

Here are their titles, directors and production countries.

- Main competition -

"20.000 especies de abejas" (20,000 Species of Bees), Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren (Spain)

"Bai Ta Zhi Guang" (The Shadowless Tower), Zhang Lu (China)

"Bis ans Ende der Nacht" (Till the End of the Night), Christoph Hochhaeusler (Germany)

"BlackBerry", Matt Johnson (Canada)

"Disco Boy", Giacomo Abbruzzese with Franz Rogowski (France/Italy/Poland/Belgium)

"Le grand chariot" (The Plough), Philippe Garrel with Louis Garrel, Esther Garrel, Lena Garrel (France/Switzerland)

"Ingeborg Bachmann – Reise in die Wueste (Ingeborg Bachmann – Journey into the Desert), Margarethe von Trotta with Vicky Krieps (Switzerland/Austria/Germany/Luxembourg)

"Irgendwann werden wir uns alles erzaehlen" (Someday We'll Tell Each Other Everything), Emily Atef (Germany)

"Limbo", Ivan Sen with Simon Baker and Rob Collins (Australia)

"Mal Viver" (Bad Living), Joao Canijo (Portugal/France)

"Manodrome", John Trengove with Jesse Eisenberg, Adrien Brody, Odessa Young (Britain/US)

"Music", Angela Schanelec (Germany/France/Serbia)

"Past Lives", Celine Song (US)

"Roter Himmel" (Afire), Christian Petzold with Thomas Schubert, Paula Beer (Germany)

"Sur l'Adamant" (On the Adamant), Nicolas Philibert, (France/Japan)

"The Survival of Kindness", Rolf de Heer (Australia)

"Suzume", Makoto Shinkai (Japan)

"Totem", Lila Aviles (Mexico/Denmark/France)

- Berlinale Special -

"Golda", Guy Nattiv with Helen Mirren, Camille Cottin, Liev Schreiber (Britain)

"Kiss the Future", Nenad Cicin-Sain (US/Ireland)

"L'ultima notte di Amore" (Last Night of Amore), Andrea Di Stefano (Italy)

"Seneca" (Seneca – On the Creation of Earthquakes), Robert Schwentke with John Malkovich, Louis Hofmann, Geraldine Chaplin (Germany/Morocco)

"She Came to Me", Rebecca Miller with Peter Dinklage, Marisa Tomei, Joanna Kulig, Brian d'Arcy James, Anne Hathaway (US)

"Sonne und Beton" (Sun and Concrete), David Wnendt (Germany)

"Superpower" Sean Penn, Aaron Kaufman with Sean Penn, Volodymyr Zelensky (US)

"TAR", Todd Field with Cate Blanchett, Nina Hoss, Noemie Merlant (US)

Untitled Boris Becker Documentary by Alex Gibney with Boris Becker (Britain/US)

H.Takahashi--JT