Skip to main content

Berlin International Film Festival · 2021

Berlin International Film Festival 2021

Berlinale Special

Programme

11 films · 4 reviews

Jump to a film

Best Sellers

A has-been autho is on a book tour with a young editor who is trying to save her family's publishers.

(Country: Canada, US; Year: 2021; Director: Lina Roessler; Writer: Anthony Grieco; Stars: Aubrey Plaza, Cary Elwes, Michael Caine, Scott Speedman, Ellen Wong, Veronica Ferres, Victoria Sanchez, Elana Dunkelman, Frank Schorpion, Max Laferriere, Christopher Hayes, Alexandra Petrachuk, Susan Almgren, Frank Fiola, Elisabeth Etienne)

Courage

Review preview for Courage

There is something optimistic about joining this wave of humanity, from all walks of life, as they brandish flowers in the air and peacefully demonstrate against the regime.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
Documentary about the protests in Belarus.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2021; Director: Aliaksei Paluyan)

Full review

For Lucio (Per Lucio)

Documentary about Italian singer-songwriter Lucio Dalla.

(Country: Italy; Year: 2021; Director: Pietro Marcello; Writer: Pietro Marcello; Stars: Lucio Dalla, Lucio Dalla)

French Exit

Review preview for French Exit

Pfeiffer’s delivery is fantastically inscrutable.

Anne-Katrin Titze · 5 out of 5
A Manhattan socialite whose inheritance is running out moves to a borrowed apartment in Paris with her son and cat.

(Country: Canada, UK; Year: 2020; Director: Azazel Jacobs; Writer: Patrick deWitt; Stars: Michelle Pfeiffer, Lucas Hedges, Valerie Mahaffey, Susan Coyne, Danielle Macdonald, Imogen Poots, Isaach De Bankolé, Daniel di Tomasso, Christopher B MacCabe, Robert Higden, Larry Day, Bruce Dinsmore, Eddie Holland, Benoit Mauffette)

Full review See: Michelle Pfeiffer and Lucas Hedges on a scene in Azazel Jacobs’ French Exit

Je Suis Karl

A terror attack survivor joins a youth movement in a bid to seize power.

(Country: Germany, Czech Republic; Year: 2021; Director: Christian Schwochow; Writer: Thomas Wendrich; Stars: Luna Wedler, Jannis Niewöhner, Milan Peschel, Fleur Geffrier, Edin Hasanovic, Elizaveta Maximová, Marlon Boess, Anna Fialová, Veronika Bellová, Aziz Dyab, Daniela Hirsh, Mélanie Fouché, Victor Boccard, Hendrik Voß, Laurence Gercke)

Language Lessons

A Spanish teacher and her student develop an unexpected friendship.

(Country: US; Year: 2021; Director: Natalie Morales; Writer: Mark Duplass, Natalie Morales; Stars: Natalie Morales, Mark Duplass, Desean Terry, Christine Quesada)

Limbo

A rookie policeman his veteran cop partner, are pursuing an obsessive and especially brutal murderer of women, using a criminal's family as bait.

(Country: Hong Kong, China; Year: 2021; Director: Soi Cheang; Writer: Au Kin Yee; Stars: Lam Ka Tung, Liu Cya, Mason Lee, Hiroyuki Ikeuchi)

The Mauritanian

Review preview for The Mauritanian

Despite Rahim's excellent work, the real standout here is Benedict Cumberbatch.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
A detainee at the US military's Guantanamo Bay detention centre is held without charges for over a decade and seeks help from a defence attorney for his release.

(Country: UK, US; Year: 2021; Director: Kevin Macdonald; Writer: Michael Bronner; Stars: Tahar Rahim, Shailene Woodley, Benedict Cumberbatch, Zachary Levi, Jodie Foster)

Full review See: Interview with Kevin Macdonald about The Mauritanian

Tides

Some time after Earth has been hit by a global catastrophe, the Kepler space colony organises a mission to examine the planet’s living conditions. After a difficult landing, a young astronaut ends up alone in a desolate environment.

(Country: Germany, Switzerland; Year: 2021; Director: Tim Fehlbaum; Writer: Tim Fehlbaum, Mariko Minoguchi, Jo Rogers; Stars: Nora Arnezeder, Sarah-Sofie Boussnina, Iain Glen, Sope Dirisu, Joel Basman, Sebastian Roché, Bella Bading, Hong Indira Rieck, Luna Mwezi, Eden Gough, Nicola Perot, Cloé Heinrich, Stanley I. Walker Jr., Mabô Kouyaté, Frank Richartz)

Tina

Review preview for Tina

Right from the outset, this film zeroes in on Tina's natural charisma.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
A documentary celebration of Tina Turner.

(Country: US; Year: 2021; Director: Daniel Lindsay, TJ Martin; Writer: Daniel Lindsay, TJ Martin; Stars: Angela Bassett, Oprah Winfrey, Tina Turner, Katori Hall, Kurt Loder)

Full review

Who We Were

A cinematic essay - inspired by the book "who we were" by Roger Willemsen.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2021; Director: Marc Bauder; Writer: Marc Bauder; Stars: Manfred Zapatka, Sylvia Earle, Alexander Gerst, Janina Loh, Dennis J. Snower, Felwine Sarr, Matthieu Ricard)