To be honest, thus far the lineup for the 2017 Berlin International Film Festival has been kind of… quiet. Unlike starry opening films of the past few years, things kick off in February with “Django,” a biopic about the great jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt. And pictures we might’ve expected in Berlin like Terrence Malick‘s “Song To Song” have opted to landed elsewhere instead (that movie will launching SXSW). But this morning, organizers in Berlin finally put something truly exiting movies on the docket.
The big surprise is the World Premiere of “Logan,” Hugh Jackman‘s probably no longer last turn as Wolverine. Superhero movies rarely get film festival bows, less so somewhere like Berlin, which usually leans very heavily arthouse, so this is pretty notable. And it certainly shows that 20th Century Fox has big confidence in James Mangold‘s R-rated vision for the hero.
Another big movie landing in Berlin is the highly anticipated “T2 Trainspotting.” We’d been wondering about this one, and thought maybe it might sneak at Sundance, and were frankly a bit concerned given that Sony seemed to be quiet about the picture. But it looks like they were just getting their ducks in a row, and I can only imagine that Danny Boyle is under the wire to get it done, considering filming got underway just last summer.
And we’re also pretty happy to see new movies by Hong Sangsoo and Volker Schlondorff in the lineup.
The Berlin Film Festival runs from February 9th to 19th.
Browse through all our coverage of the 2017 Berlin International Film Festival by clicking here.
amui haebyun-eoseo honja (On the Beach at Night Alone)
South Korea
By Hong Sangsoo (Nobody’s Daughter Haewon, Right Now, Wrong Then)
With Kim Minhee, Seo Younghwa, Jung Jaeyoung, Moon Sungkeun, Kwon Haehyo, Song Seonmi, Ahn Jaehong, Park Yeaju
World premiere
El Bar (The Bar)
Spain
By Álex de la Iglesia (Mad Circus, The Day of the Beast, The Oxford Murders)
With Blanca Suárez, Mario Casas, Carmen Machi, Terele Pávez, Secun de la Rosa, Alejandro Awada, Joaquín Climent, Jaime Ordóñez
World premiere – Out of competition
Helle Nächte (Bright Nights)
Germany / Norway
By Thomas Arslan (Dealer, Vacation, In the Shadows, Gold)
With Georg Friedrich, Tristan Göbel, Marie Leuenberger, Hanna Karlberg
World premiere
Joaquim
Brazil / Portugal
By Marcelo Gomes (Cinema, Aspirins and Vultures, The Man of the Crowd, I Travel Because I Have to, I Come Back Because I Love You)
With Julio Machado, Isabél Zuaa, Nuno Lopes, Rômulo Braga, Welket Bungué, Karay Rya Pua
World premiere
Logan
USA
By James Mangold (Girl, Interrupted, Walk The Line, The Wolverine)
With mit Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Boyd Holbrook, Stephen Merchant, Doris Morgado, Sienna Novikov, Elizabeth Rodriguez
World premiere – Out of competition
Mr. Long
Japan / Germany / Hong Kong, China / Taiwan
By Sabu (Monday, Chasuke’s Journey)
With Chen Chang, Sho Aoyagi, Yiti Yao, Junyin Bai
World premiere
Return to Montauk
Germany / France / Ireland
By Volker Schlöndorff (The Tin Drum, Diplomatie)
With Stellan Skarsgård, Nina Hoss, Susanne Wolff, Niels Arestrup
World premiere
T2 Trainspotting
United Kingdom
By Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, The Beach, Slumdog Millionaire)
With Ewan McGregor, Robert Carlyle, Jonny Lee Miller, Ewen Bremner
International premiere – Out of competition
Viceroy’s House
India / United Kingdom
By Gurinder Chadha (Bend it like Beckham, What’s Cooking)
With Hugh Bonneville, Gillian Anderson, Manish Dayal, Huma Qureshi
World premiere – Out of competition
Wilde Maus (Wild Mouse)
Austria
By Josef Hader
With Josef Hader, Pia Hierzegger, Georg Friedrich, Jörg Hartmann, Denis Moschitto
World premiere – First Feature
Berlinale Special Gala at the Friedrichstadt-Palast
Es war einmal in Deutschland… (Bye Bye Germany)
Germany / Luxemburg / Belgium
By Sam Garbarski (The Rashevski’s Tango, Irina Palm, Quartier Lointain)
With Moritz Bleibtreu, Antje Traue, Mark Ivanir, Tim Seyfi, Hans Löw, Anatol Taubman, Pál Mácsai, Vaclav Jakoubek
World premiere
Berlinale Special Gala at the Zoo Palast
In Zeiten des abnehmenden Lichts (In Times of Fading Light)
Germany
By Matti Geschonneck (Boxhagener Platz, Das Zeugenhaus)
In collaboration with Wolfgang Kohlhaase
With Bruno Ganz, Hildegard Schmahl, Sylvester Groth, Evgenia Dodina, Natalia Belitski, Alexander Fehling, Gabriela Maria Schmeide
World premiere
Berlinale Special at Kino International
Masaryk (A Prominent Patient)
Czech Republic / Slovakia
By Julius Sevcík (Restart, Normal – The Düsseldorf Ripper)
With Karel Roden, Hanns Zischler, Arly Jover, Oldrich Kaiser, Dermot Crowley, Milton Welsch, Eva Herzigová
World premiere