The first film festival of the year in Europe, which wants to be involved in current affairs and social debates, will let Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky open the event with a video intervention.
Nearly a year after the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, actor and director Sean Penn's presentation on Saturday of his documentary "Superpower", shot close to Volodymyr Zelensky, will be one of the highlights of the demonstration.
But eyes will also be on the arrival of the first stars.
And in particular that of the American actress Kristen Stewart, youngest president of the jury of the 73rd Berlin festival, the third in Europe behind Cannes and Venice.
American actress Kristen Stewart, youngest president of the Berlinale jury, on May 24, 2022 during the Cannes Film Festival, in France © PATRICIA DE MELO MOREIRA / AFP/Archives
The one who went from the "Twilight" series to independent cinema, notably with Olivier Assayas, will give her first press conference during the day, alongside the other members of a mostly female jury.
These jurors, including also the Iranian actress exiled in France Golshifteh Farahani, seen in Hollywood in particular in "Paterson", or the Spaniard Carla Simon, winner of the Golden Bear 2022 with "Our suns", will have to decide between 19 films in competition, before the awards ceremony on February 25.
Among these films, "Manodrome", with Jesse Eisenberg ("The social network" and Adrien Brody ("The pianist"), a film about a bodybuilder VTC driver and his "repressed desires", or a biopic about the Austrian poet Ingeborg Bachmann, played by the Luxembourg actress, Vicky Krieps.
Three French films are in the running: "Sur l'Adamant" by Nicolas Philibert, documentary filmmaker of "Being and Having", which plunges back into the world of psychiatry after "The least of things", "Le grand chariot" by Philippe Garrel , with his three children, Louis, Esther and Léna and "Disco Boy", by the Italian Giacomo Abbruzzese, on the Foreign Legion, a feature film co-produced mainly by France.
- Break the ice -
Before the race for the Golden Bear, festival-goers will break the Berlin ice on Thursday evening with a romantic comedy (out of competition) by Rebecca Miller ("The private lives of Pippa Lee", "Maggie has a plan").
'She Came To Me', which officially opens, bills itself as a choir film about love starring American Anne Hathaway, one of 'Game of Thrones' lead actresses Peter Dinklage, and Marisa Tomei , seen in particular in several films of the Marvel universe.
This film is a "magical ode to freedom of expression", "an irresistible comedy about the conflicts of everyday life in Western society", according to the directors of the Berlinale Mariette Rissenbeek and Carlo Chatrian, before an edition with a probably very dark tone. , marked by the war in Ukraine, a year after the Russian invasion, and the ongoing repression in Iran.
A brooch in the shape of a bear, symbol of the Berlinale, in the colors of Ukraine, on January 23, 2023 in Berlin during the presentation conference of the 73rd edition of the Berlin Film Festival, in Germany © Tobias Schwarz / AFP /Archives
The cinemas of these two countries will be honored throughout the festival.
In addition to Sean Penn's documentary, many films will deal with the life of Ukrainians in wartime.
Iran, where director Jafar Panahi has just been released on bail after seven months in prison, will also have a good place in a Berlinale which aims to be the voice of artists in resistance.
Saturday, an exceptional climb of the steps is planned, in solidarity with the Iranians.
"This year, more than ever, being part of the Berlinale means supporting those who struggle to express their ideas, and those who refuse to submit to a conformist version of reality that dictates what can and must be said," said said Carlo Chatrian.
© 2023 AFP