The Berlin Film Festival has announced the first nine films in its Competition line-up for 2019.
The latest from Denis Côté, François Ozon and Fatih Akin will play at the festival's 69th edition, which runs from February 7 to 17.
Ozon's drama By The Grace Of God (Grâce à dieu), focuses on a real-life Catholic priest sex abuse scandal from the Eighties, while Akin, who won the festival's Golden Bear for Head-On, brings another true-life crime tale, The Golden Glove (Der Goldene Handschuh). Côté's Ghost Town Anthology (Répertoire Des Villes Disparues), inspired by Répertoire Des Villes Disparues by Laurence Olivier, tells of trouble brewing in a small town after a deadly car accident.
Also joining the line-up are Marie Kreutzer's The Ground Beneath My Feet (Der Boden unter den Füßen), Angela Schanelec's I Was Home But (Ich War Zuhause, Aber) and Emin Alper's A Tale Of Three Sisters (Kız Kardeşler).
Three productions for the Berlinale Special section have also been announced, Heinrich Breloer's Brecht, Watergate, by Charles Ferguson and Zoya Akhtar's Gully Boy.
The opening film, The Kindness of Strangers by Lone Scherfig, was previously announced.
Competition
The Ground Beneath My Feet Austria; Dir: Marie Kreutzer; Cast: Valerie Pachner, Pia Hierzegger, Mavie Hörbiger, Michelle Barthel, Marc Benjamin, Axel Sichrovsky, Dominic Marcus Singer, Meo Wulf
The Golden Glove Germany, France; Dir: Fatih Akin; Cast: Jonas Dassler, Margarethe Tiesel, Hark Bohm
By The Grace Of God France; Dir: François Ozon; Cast: Melvil Poupaud, Denis Ménochet, Swann Arlaud, Éric Caravaca, François Marthouret, Bernard Verley, Martine Erhel, Josiane Balasko, Hélène Vincent, François Chattot, Frédéric Pierrot
I Was At Home, But Germany, Serbia; Dir: Angela Schanelec; Cast: Maren Eggert, Franz Rogowski, Lilith Stangenberg, Jakob Lassalle, Clara Möller
A Tale Of Three Sisters Turkey, Germany, Netherlands, Greece; Dir: Emin Alper; Cast: Cemre Ebüzziya, Ece Yüksel, Helin Kandemir, Kayhan Açikgöz, Müfit Kayacan, Kubilay Tunçer
Ghost Town Anthology Canada; Dir: Denis Côté; Cast: Robert Naylor, Josée Deschênes, Jean-Michel Anctil, Larissa Corriveau, Rémi Goulet, Diane Lavallée, Hubert Proulx, Rachel Graton, Normand Carrière, Jocelyne Zucco
Berlinale Special
Gully Boy India; Dir: Zoya Akhtar; Cast: Ranveer Singh, Alia Bhatt, Kalki Koechlin, Siddhant Chaturvedi, Vijay Raaz, Amruta Subhash, Vijay Verma
Brecht Germany, Austria; Dir: Heinrich Breloer; Cast: Burghart Klaußner, Tom Schilling, Adele Neuhauser, Trine Dyrholm, Mala Emde, Franz Hartwig, Friederike Becht, Ernst Stötzner, Lou Strenger
Watergate US; Dir: Charles Ferguson; Featuring: Douglas Hodge, Jill Wine-Banks, Dan Rather, Lesley Stahl, Richard Ben-Veniste
