Competition

A selection of Competition films from previous years

Nahuel Pérez Biscayart
El prófugo | The Intruder by Natalia Meta
ARG, MEX 2020, Competition
© Rei Cine SRL, Picnic Producciones SRL

Baran Rasoulof
Sheytan vojud nadarad | There Is No Evil | Es gibt kein Böses by Mohammad Rasoulof
DEU, CZE, IRN 2020, Competition
© Cosmopol Film

Elio Germano
Volevo nascondermi | Hidden Away by Giorgio Diritti
ITA 2019, Competition
© Chico De Luigi

Sidney Flanigan
Never Rarely Sometimes Always by Eliza Hittman
USA 2020, Competition
© 2019 Courtesy of Focus Features

Paula Beer
Undine by Christian Petzold
DEU, FRA 2020, Competition
© Christian Schulz/Schramm Film

Helena Zengel
Systemsprenger | System Crasher by Nora Fingscheidt | Competition 2019
© kineo Film / Weydemann Bros. / Yunus Roy Imer

Ana Brun, Margarita Irún
Las herederas | The Heiresses by Marcelo Martinessi | Competition 2018
© lababosacine

Isle of Dogs | Isle of Dogs – Ataris Reise by Wes Anderson | Competition 2018
© 2017 Twentieth Century Fox

Daniela Vega
Una mujer fantástica | A Fantastic Woman by Sebastián Lelio | Competition 2017

Véro Tshanda Beya
Félicité by Alain Gomis | Competition 2017
© Celine Bozon

Samuele Pucillo
Fuocoammare | Fire at Sea by Gianfranco Rosi | Competition 2016

Laia Costa
Victoria by Sebastian Schipper | Competition 2015
© Senator Film Verleih

Fan Liao
Bai Ri Yan Huo | Black Coal, Thin Ice by Yinan Diao | Competition 2014

Erika Bók
A torinói ló | The Turin Horse by Béla Tarr | Competition 2011

Magaly Solier
La teta asustada | The Milk Of Sorrow by Claudia Llosa | Competition 2009

Paul Dano, Daniel Day-Lewis
There Will Be Blood by Paul Thomas Anderson | Competition 2008

Offside by Jafar Panahi | Competition 2006

Luna Mijović
Grbavica by Jasmila Zbanic | Competition 2006

Jeanne Moreau
La Notte | Die Nacht | The Night by Michelangelo Antonioni | Retrospective 2010
Quelle: Deutsche Kinemathek
The Competition is the centrepiece of the Berlinale and the festival’s calling card. With usually around 20 titles, it provides a detailed picture of the cinema as it is and as it will be. Whether from established or up-and-coming directors, films in the Competition present the best of the year’s selection.
As the festival’s centre of gravity, the Competition concentrates the energy of the Berlinale and catches the world’s attention. It is the focal point of the festival and screens some of the year’s most talked-about films, frequently prompting heated debates. Embracing the diversity of cinema and its extensive production in the 21st century, the Competition aims to surprise, entertain and enrich public audiences and industry professionals alike. It reflects and relates to the world in which we are living: its selection allows viewers to understand their place in it more fully and to recognise and respect the place of others.
The Competition screens a wide-ranging representation of the best of established auteur cinema from around the globe and elevates new directors to the upper echelons of international filmmaking. Smultronstället (Wild Strawberries), Les cousins, La notte, Alphaville, Woschoshdenie (The Ascent), Die Sehnsucht der Veronika Voss, Love Streams, The Thin Red Line, Magnolia, Jodaeiye Nader az Simin (Nader And Simin, A Separation) – these are just some of the Golden Bear winners that have gone down in the annals of film history.
Glamorous and cutting-edge, every film of the Competition is introduced by a red carpet ceremony at the Berlinale Palast that casts a special light on the artists, delighting fans and introducing rising stars to the media and the film world. At the Award Ceremony on the penultimate evening of the festival, a high-profile International Jury bestows those world-famous seals of quality: the Golden and Silver Bears.
The Competition is curated by the Artistic Director of the Berlinale, Carlo Chatrian, supported by a selection committee.

Festival photos from previous years

Christopher Sheppard, Sally Potter, Javier Bardem, Carlo Chatrian, Mark Peranson
At the premiere.
The Roads Not Taken · Competition · Feb 26, 2020

Ileana D'Ambra, Fabio D'Innocenzo, Tommaso Di Cola
Affectionate on the Red Carpet.
Favolacce · Competition · Feb 25, 2020

Clarissa Kiste, Carolina Bianchi
Would you like to dance?
Todos os mortos · Competition · Feb 23, 2020

Franz Rogowski
Stop and smell the flowers! - the actor on the Red Carpet.
Undine · Competition · Feb 23, 2020

Elio Germano, Giorgio Diritti
Thumbs up at the premiere!
Volevo nascondermi · Competition · Feb 21, 2020

Joaquin Phoenix
Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot by Gus Van Sant | Competition 2018
A bath in the crowd.

Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton
Isle of Dogs | Isle of Dogs – Ataris Reise by Wes Anderson | Competition 2018
On the Red Carpet before the Opening.

Gillian Anderson
Viceroy’s House by von Gurinder Chadha | Competition 2017
The actress arriving at the Berlinale Palast.

George Clooney
Hail, Caesar! by Joel & Ethan Coen | Competition 2016
The actor at the Berlinale Palast.

Kirsten Dunst
Midnight Special by Jeff Nichols | Competition 2016
Frenetic welcome.

Michael Shannon
Midnight Special by Jeff Nichols | Competition 2016
His autographs were much sought-after.

Isabelle Huppert
L' avenir | Things to Come by Mia Hansen-Løve | Competition 2016
The actress in the Berlinale Palast.

James Franco
Queen of the Desert by Werner Herzog | Competition 2015
The actor in the Berlinale VIP Club.

Sturla Brandth Grøvlen, Laia Costa
Victoria by Sebastian Schipper | Competition 2015
On the way to the cinema hall.

Natalie Portman
Knight of Cups by Terrence Malick | Competition 2015
Popping of flashbulbs.

Christian Bale
Knight of Cups by Terrence Malick | Competition 2015
Mingling with the crowd.

Forest Whitaker
La voie de l'ennemi | Two Men in Town by Rachid Bouchareb | Competition 2014
The main actor on the Red Carpet.

Lars von Trier, Uma Thurman, Christian Slater
Nymphomaniac Volume I (long version) by Lars von Trier | Competition 2014
The director and his two actors in the Berlinale Palast.

Shia LaBeouf
Nymphomaniac Volume I (long version) by Lars von Trier | Competition 2014
The actor's appearance on the Red Carpet: rather unconventionally.

International Jury
Openening Gala 2014
The International Jury at the opening night.

Jennifer Connelly
Aloft by Claudia Llosa | Competition 2014
The actress on the Red Carpet.

Nina Hoss
Opening Gala 2013
The German actress on the Red Carpet.

Vanessa Redgrave, Gerard Butler, Jessica Chastain, Ralph Fiennes
Coriolanus by Ralph Fiennes | Competition 2011
The actors and actresses of the film on the Red Carpet.

Leonardo DiCaprio
Shutter Island by Martin Scorsese | Competition 2010
Relaxed on the Red Carpet.

Michelle Pfeiffer, Stephen Frears
Chéri by Stephen Frears | Competition 2009
Michelle Pfeiffer directed by Stephen Frears.

Demi Moore
Happy Tears by Mitchell Lichtenstein | Competition 2009
Demi Moore at the premiere of Happy Tears.

Penélope Cruz
Elegy by Isabel Coixet | Competition 2008

Martin Scorsese
Shine A Light by Martin Scorsese | Competition 2008
A welcome guest at the Berlinale.
The Berlinale was born in 1951 with the Competition. The long tradition of this festival section comprises an immense wealth of stories, scandals and successes. From the notorious “Bosom Berlinale” of 1961 and the – still, to this day, unique – abandonment of the festival over the anti-Vietnam War film o.k. in 1970, to the discovery of Chinese cinema for a worldwide audience in 1988. The Competition has been strongly moulded by directors introducing their work in Berlin whose names read like a Who’s Who of film history.
Founded on an initiative from the USA with the openly political aspiration to be a “showcase of the free world”, the Competition has always been, and remains, a seismograph and echo-chamber for the moods, crises and convulsions of world politics. Its own history clearly evidences the sharp division between East and West during the Cold War – as well as the thawing relations and cautious rapprochement between the two opposing blocs – via the art of cinema. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, the political world map began to be redrawn and these developments also had an impact on the Competition – whether in subtle notes throughout the year’s programme or more explicitly. Politics is subject to conditions of visibility, something which the Competition films influence by changing the ways in which social realities are perceived and conceived. And thus the Competition is also a perennial testimony to the state of the world which the filmmakers address in their work. Detailed accounts of each Berlinale edition can be found in the archive.
The International Jury awards the following prizes:
- Golden Bear for Best Film
- Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize
- Silver Bear for Best Director
- Silver Bear for Best Actress
- Silver Bear for Best Actor
- Silver Bear for Best Screenplay
- Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution in the categories camera, editing, music score, costume or set design
Cross-section awards respectively awards of the Independent Juries:
- GWFF Best First Feature Award (endowed with 50,000 Euros)
- Berlinale Documentary Award, funded by rbb and endowed with 40,000 Euros
- TEDDY AWARDS
- Guild Film Prize
- Prizes of the Ecumenical Jury
- Prizes of the FIPRESCI Jury
- Amnesty International Film Award
- Peace Film Prize
- Berliner Morgenpost Readers' Jury Award