Berlin Film Festival Unveils 2024 Lineup

The 74th Berlin Film Festival is unveiling its full competition lineup.

Berlin’s previously announced opener is Ireland-set drama “Small Things Like These” starring “Oppenheimer’s” Cillian Murphy and directed by Tim Mielants (“Peaky Blinders”). In “Small Things,” which is set in the 1980s, Murphy plays a devoted father and coal merchant who discovers shocking truths about Ireland’s horrific Magdalene laundries, the asylums for young “fallen” women run by Roman Catholic institutions from the 1820s until 1996. Eileen Walsh, Michelle Fairley and Emily Watson also star in the drama, ensuring a high-wattage red carpet. 

Previously announced special galas include Netflix’s “Spaceman” starring Adam Sandler and Carey Mulligan; Stephen Fry and Lena Dunham’s father-daughter film “Treasure”; “Cuckoo,” a horror film starring “Euphoria” breakout Hunter Schafer; Italian TV series “Dostoevskij” by twin directors Damiano and Fabio D’Innocenzo; “Sasquatch Sunset” with Riley Keough and Jesse Eisenberg; Amanda Seyfried vehicle “Seven Veils”; and Tsai Ming-liang’s documentary “Wu Suo Zhu” (“Abiding Nowhere”).

Lupita Nyong’o will be heading up this year’s jury, marking the second consecutive year the fest has had a female jury president (last year’s edition featured Kristen Stewart). “Lupita Nyong’o embodies what we like in cinema: versatility in embracing different projects, addressing different audiences, and consistency to one idea that is quite recognisable in her characters, as diverse as they may look,” Berlinale directors Mariëtte Rissenbeek and Carlo Chatrian said in a statement.

“Killers of the Flower Moon” director Martin Scorsese is set to receive the Honorary Golden Bear. Scorsese has a long history with the Berlinale, having screened “Raging Bull,” “Cape Fear,” “Gangs of New York” and “Shutter Island” at the festival.

This year’s edition will mark the last under the leadership of Rissenbeek and Chatrian. Former BFI London Film Festival head Tricia Tuttle will take over starting in 2025.

The Berlin Film Festival will run from Feb. 15 to 25.

ENCOUNTERS

“Arcadia” by Yorgos Zois