For the first time in 25 years, a Ukrainian film will be in the main program of the Berlinale
13 February 11:49
the 75th Berlin International Film Festival will take place from February 13 to 23, 2025. The main competition program features 19 films from Germany, France, the United States, Brazil, China, Jordan, and other countries. This was reported by the State Film Agency of Ukraine, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.
In total, more than 200 films will be screened as part of the festival’s various programs. Among them are several Ukrainian films.
For the first time in 25 years, a Ukrainian film has been selected for the main competition program of the festival – “Time Tape” by Kateryna Hornostai.
The last person to represent Ukrainian filmmaking in the main competition of the festival was Kira Muratova with her film Three Stories in 1997.
What is the movie “The Time Tape” about?
This is a chronicle of the life of Ukrainian schools during the full-scale war: from Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia to Kyiv, Chernihiv, Cherkasy, Odesa, Mykolaiv, Ochakiv, and Kamianske. This is a documentary about teachers and students who continue to teach and study during the war, including in the de-occupied and frontline territories. The director shows how living under constant threat affects the daily lives of students and teachers.
The film was executive produced by the Osvitoria NGO and produced by 2Brave Productions. The film was co-produced by François Le Gaulle and Marion Gut from a_BAHN (Luxembourg), Rinske Raap from RINKEL DOCS (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) and Victor Ede from CINEPHAGE PRODUCTIONS (Marseille, France).
The funds from the international screening campaign are planned to be used to rebuild schools destroyed by the war.
As DW reminds, this is not the first time Kateryna Hornostai has been to Berlinale. The Kyivan’s debut feature film based on her own script, Stop-Earth, about teenage friendship and love, was presented at the film festival in the Generation 14plus program in 2021 and received the Crystal Bear, a special award given to the winners of the section by the youth jury.
What else will Ukrainians present in Berlin?
Other Ukrainian films that will be shown at the Berlinale also touch upon the topic of the country’s existence in wartime realities. According to DW, two films will be shown in the Forum program. These are When Lightning Flashes Over the Sea by Eva Naimann, a filmmaker from Zaporizhzhia who lives in Germany, which tells the story of the everyday resilience of Odesa residents through the personal stories of citizens, from sailors to artists.
This is the second time since the beginning of the war that Vitaliy Mansky has presented a Ukrainian topic at the Berlinale: in 2023, a film about the Eastern Front paramedic battalion was screened in Berlin, which was made by the director together with Odesa filmmaker and military volunteer Yevhen Titarenko. This year, Mansky is presenting at Berlinale his documentary The Time of Approach, a film about his native Lviv, which is fighting for a peaceful life interrupted by enemy missiles.
The Forum Expanded program will screen the documentary Special Operation, based on the CCTV footage of the Chornobyl nuclear power plant, which was seized and turned into a military base for Russian troops in February 2022. It was directed by Kyiv-based filmmaker Oleksiy Radynsky.
Many premieres await moviegoers in Berlin
Today, on the opening day of the Berlin International Film Festival, the world premiere of the classic German film by Tom Tykwer, “The Light,” will take place after the gala concert. This is a story about an ordinary middle-class German family who hire a housekeeper from Syria, which leads to a series of strange and even supernatural events.
The main program includes a film by Mexican director Michel Franco. He will present his new work Dreams at the Berlinale. This film tells the story of an atypical couple: a young Mexican dancer (Isaac Hernandez) flees the country to his beloved (Jessica Chastain) in the United States. She holds a high position in society, and it is unclear what attracts him more – dreams of a new life or feelings. The film was produced by Ukrainian filmmaker Oleksandr Rodnyansky.
Moviegoers are also looking forward to the premiere of a new work by Korean director Hong Sang-soo, What This Nature Tells You. As in his previous films, a meditative, unhurried love story unfolds over a chat and tea party.
The non-competition program will also offer high-profile premieres
Pong Joon-ho’s space sci-fi film Mickey 17, starring Robert Pattinson, will be one of the most anticipated blockbusters of the festival. The American-French actor Timothée Chalamet will transform into Bob Dylan in James Mangold’s musical biopic “A Complete Stranger”, and Benedict Cumberbatch will play the lead role in the British director Dylan Southern’s drama “The Thing with Feathers”.
The Berlin International Film Festival is an international film festival of category A, which is considered one of the most prestigious film festivals in Europe and the world. It has been held annually since 1951 in February. This year’s award ceremony will take place on February 22, 2025.
