Washington [US], December 17 : The Berlin Film Festival unveiled the first gala screenings for its 2025 edition, which runs from February 13 to 23, 2025.
Islands, the new feature from German director Jan-Ole Gerster is among the highlights. The thriller stars British actor Sam Riley as a once-promising tennis professional now working as a tennis coach for holidaymakers on a resort island, filling his time with alcohol and brief affairs. Stacy Martin, Jack Farthing, and Dylan Torrell co-star, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Koln 75 filmmaker Ido Fluk tells the actual story of Vera Brandes, a teenage patron saint of the 1970s Cologne music scene who risked everything to organise Keith Jarrett's famed Koln Concert, often regarded as the finest solo concert in music history. Mala Emde, a German actress, plays Fluk, alongside John Magaro, Michael Chernus, and Alexander Scheer.
Honey Bunch, a Canadian film directed by Madeleine Sims-Fewer and Dusty Mancinelli, takes place in an experimental trauma clinic deep in the bush, where a lady begins to uncover surprising and deadly secrets about her marriage. Grace Glowicki and Ben Petrie, a real-life couple, co-star alongside Kate Dickie, Jason Isaacs, and India Brown, as per The Hollywood Reporter.
Opening the 75th Berlinale, for the third time, will be acclaimed German director Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run, Cloud Atlas), who will kick things off with the world premiere of his new feature, Das Licht (The Light), screening out of competition.
Trica Tuttle, the former director of the London Film Festival, will lead the Berlin Film Festival for the first time, succeeding co-directors Carlo Chatrian and Mariette Rissenbeek.
In London, Tuttle was known for her close contacts with the U.S. studios, which helped bring many a star-studded premiere to the British capital. Berlin was a bit celebrity-starved in the Chatrian/Rissenbeek years and there are hopes Tuttle and her team will be upping the star quotient for the 75th edition, according to The Hollywood Reporter.