BERLIN, Feb. 12 — The 76th Berlin International Film Festival opened Thursday, launching 11 days of screenings in the German capital and beginning with the opening-night film “No Good Men.”
The red-carpet ceremony at the Berlinale Palast included the Honorary Golden Bear for Michelle Yeoh, with filmmaker Sean Baker delivering the tribute, and festival director Tricia Tuttle and jury president Wim Wenders welcoming guests, according to opening-night details.
Opening-night spotlight
“No Good Men,” written and directed by Shahrbanoo Sadat, is a comedy set in Kabul in 2021 and was largely filmed in northern Germany, according to NDR. Sadat, who lives in Hamburg after fleeing Afghanistan, also appears on screen.
The opening film underscores a broader Berlinale theme this year: giving prominent space to artists in exile, a focus highlighted by Tagesschau’s opening-day coverage.
Competition and calendar
The festival runs Feb. 12–22 and features 22 films vying for the Golden Bear, with winners announced Feb. 21; those dates and the competition slate are outlined in a Reuters festival factbox.
Beyond the main competition, the Berlinale Special section and the accompanying European Film Market draw thousands of industry buyers and sellers, reinforcing the event’s status as a key early-year marketplace, as Reuters noted.
Why it matters
Berlin stands alongside Cannes and Venice as one of the industry’s most influential festivals, with a reputation for serious, politically engaged cinema — a history Reuters traces to its Cold War-era origins.
This year’s opening-night mix of red-carpet glamour and a story centered on Afghan life signals a festival intent on balancing star power with broader cultural storytelling.
With the opening gala complete and the competition underway, the next 10 days will test how that balance resonates with audiences and juries alike.
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Image: “Berlinale Palast and Red Carpet” by Tuluqaruk, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:20150208_-_Berlinale_Palast_and_Red_Carpet.JPG. Changes: cropped to 16:9 and resized to 1920×1080.
