Jan 14, 2020
Berlinale Special: Multifaceted Programme

The Berlinale Special is the most multifaceted section of the festival, a space for reflection on what film encompasses. Filmmakers like Agnieszka Holland or Jóhann Jóhannsson, actors like Johnny Depp and contemporary protagonists like Hillary Clinton stand for various cinema models that are all united since their films not only tell of the past, but also create an interpretation of the present.

“Agnieszka Holland and Johnny Depp – two cinema models meet, and not only tell of the past, but also create an interpretation of the present. This is also the case with Jia Zhang-ke and his dialogues with various generations of Chinese writers, and it is similarly so with Hillary Clinton, protagonist of the series of the same name, as is the case with the visionary elegy by Jóhann Jóhannsson,” comments Artistic Director Carlo Chatrian on the newly invited works in the Berlinale Special.

The Berlinale Special is the most multifaceted section of the festival, a space for reflection on what film encompasses. The variety of forms finds its home in different venues of the festival.

Berlinale Special Gala at Berlinale Palast

Charlatan
Czech Republic / Ireland / Poland / Slovakia
by Agnieszka Holland
with Ivan Trojan, Josef Trojan, Juraj Loj, Jaroslava Pokorná
World Premiere

Berlinale Special Gala at Friedrichstadt-Palast

Minamata
United Kingdom
by Andrew Levitas
with Johnny Depp, Hiroyuki Sanada, Minami, Bill Nighy
World premiere

Berlinale Special at Haus der Berliner Festspiele

Hillary
USA
by Nanette Burstein
International premiere / Documentary series

Last and First Men
Iceland
by Jóhann Jóhannsson
Narrated by Tilda Swinton
World premiere / Documentary form

Yi Zhi You Dao Hai Shui Bian Lan (Swimming Out Till The Sea Turns Blue)
People’s Republic of China
by Jia Zhang-ke
World premiere / Documentary form

Press Office
January 14, 2020