Berlin Film Festival drops its official selection.
Here’s a breakdown of our highlights:
Rosebush Pruning
Cast: Callum Turner, Riley Keough, Jamie Bell, Elle Fanning, Pamela Anderson
Synopsis:
In a Spanish villa, American siblings Jack, Ed, Anna and Robert wallow in isolation and their inherited fortune. When Jack wants to move in with his girlfriend and Ed uncovers the truth about their mother’s death, the fabric of the family begins to unravel.
Queen at Sea
Cast: Juliette Binoche
Int. Sales Rep: The Match Factory (The Substance)
Dir/Wri: Lance Hammer (Ballast)
Prod. Co: The Bureau (A Little Chaos)
Synopsis:
As advanced dementia erodes an older woman’s ability to communicate her inner life, her husband and daughter struggle to act in her best interests, navigating love and the fragile boundaries between care, protection and autonomy.
Rose
Cast: Sandra Hüller
Synopsis:
In the early 17th century, a soldier arrives at an isolated Protestant village in Germany claiming to be the heir to an abandoned farmstead. Even though he proves to be a good man, the villagers’ suspicions about his identity grow and they force a reckoning.
Dir: Fernando Eimbcke (Plan B’s Olmo)
Synopsis:
Olga rents out a room to a man whose wife has been admitted to a hospital nearby. However, the man has a nine-year-old son he has been sneaking into the room, which leads to Olga’s carefully controlled world shifting as their lives become intertwined.
At the Sea
Dir: Kornél Mundruczó (White God, Netflix’s Pieces of a Woman)
Cast: Amy Adams, Murray Bartlett, Dan Levy
Synopsis:
After a stint in rehab, a woman returns to her family’s Cape Cod home, where sobriety forces her to confront buried trauma and the terrifying question of who she is without her career as a dancer.
Everybody Digs Bill Evans
Cast: Anders Danielsen Lie, Bill Pullman, Laurie Metcalf
Synopsis:
Legendary jazz pianist Bill Evans forms his perfect trio, recording two groundbreaking albums. Tragically, his bassist dies shortly after, leaving Evans devastated. The story follows Evans' journey to overcome grief and return to music.
Yellow Letters
Dir: Ilker Çatak (dir: SPC’s The Teacher’s Lounge)
Synopsis:
Life is good for Derya and Aziz, a celebrated artist couple from Turkey, until an incident at their play’s premiere. Suddenly targeted by the state and struggling to balance their ideals with life’s necessities, their marriage is pushed to a breaking point.
Tidbits:
Memento Films has French distribution rights on À voix basse (2026). Synopsis: After her uncle dies, Lilia goes back to Tunisia, facing family who don't know her Paris life or relationships. She investigates his mysterious death while confronting family secrets.
Warwick Thornton (dir: The New Boy starring Cate Blanchett) has a new film, Wolfram, about 1930s Australia, the colonial frontier. First look.
Rupert Grint in a horror film. Yes please! First look at Nightborn.
Sundance’s Josephine starring Channing Tatum is alsp playing.
Sales Pickups:
A few weeks out from the Berlin Film Festival, several major sales reps have announced new international acquisitions.
Soumsoum, The Night of The Stars
Int. Sales Rep: Films Boutique (The Seed of the Sacred Fig)
Dir: Mahamet-Saleh Haroun (A Screaming Man)
Prod. Co: Pili Films (A Season In France)
Premiere: Berlin
Synopsis:
A 17-year-old named Kellou discovers unexplained supernatural powers. Meeting Aya transforms her confusion into a mystical journey where visible and invisible realms meet.
YO Love Is a Rebellious Bird
Int. Sales Rep: First Hand Films (Fire Will Come)
Dir: Anna Fitch (prod. Survivors) and Banker White (dir. Refugee All Stars, Sierra Leone’s)
Premiere: Berlin
Synopsis:
Anna creates a small replica of her late friend Yo’s house at 1/3 scale, just big enough to enter, with a puppet of Yo inside. They met when Yo was 73 and Anna was 24.
The Loneliest Man in Town
Int. Sales Rep: Be For Films (Love Me Tender)
Dir: Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel (Vera)
Prod. Co: Filmfonds Wien (The Piano Teacher)
Premiere: Berlin
Synopsis:
When blues musician Al Cook’s memory-filled apartment faces demolition, an old dream emerges from his isolated life.
Berlinale Festival dates: Thu, Feb 12, 2026 – Sun, Feb 22, 2026