French films and Unifrance at the 75th Berlinale

13 FEBRUARY 2025

The 75th Berlin International Film Festival runs from February 13 to 23. This will be Tricia Tuttle's first edition as Festival Director and Tanja Meissner's first as European Film Market Director.

Two French women directors will be flying the flag for France in the Competition at the 75th edition: Léonor Serraille will be presenting her third feature, Ari, which traces the chaotic journey of a young man (played by Andranic Manet) who is plagued by strange visions, while Lucile Hadzihalilovic's The Ice Tower offers another character adrift, a young orphan who falls under the spell of a film star, played by Marion Cotillard, in a fairytale world. Two highly personal worlds from two filmmakers selected in the Berlinale lineup for the first time

Ari

French productions will also be represented by three other minority-French films in Competition, including the Cattet/Forzani duo and Swiss filmmaker Lionel Baier, who, with The Safe House, offered Michel Blanc one of his final roles.

Sébastien Betbeder's latest film The Incredible Snow Woman, shot in Greenland and starring Blanche Gardin in the title role, will be presented in the Panorama section, while the Berlinale Special section will feature Guillaume Ribot's documentary All I Had Was Nothingness, a look back at the making of Shoah, Claude Lanzmann's seminal film, which will be shown in the same strand.

Last but not least, two other majority-French films will be presented: Michel Gondry's Maya, donne-moi un titre in Generation Kplus, and Valentine Cadic's debut feature That Summer in Paris, starring India Hair, in the new Perspectives strand.

The Ice Tower

On the short film front, four French shorts feature in International Competition, including the new film by Jonathan Vinel and Caroline Poggi, the animated How Are You?. The duo made a name for themselves at the Berlinale in 2014, winning the Golden Bear for Short Film with As Long as Shotguns Remain, which will be reprogrammed this year in the Special Program, which also includes Justine Triet's short Two Ships, from 2012.

Delegation and events

Numerous filmmakers and artists will travel to the event, including (subject to change): Léonor Serraille, Andranic Manet, Théo Delezenne, Éva Lallier-Juan, Clyde Yeguete (Ari), Lucile Hadzihalilovic, Marion Cotillard, Clara Pacini, August Diehl, Gaspar Noé, Mikaël-Don Giancarli, Ryad Ferrad et Dounia Sichov (The Ice Tower), Hélène Cattet, Bruno Forzani, Fabio Testi, Yannick Renier et Thi-Mai Nguyen (Reflection in a Dead Diamond), Dominique Reymond et William Lebghil (The Safe House), Çagla Zencirci, Guillaume Giovanetti et Saadet Isil Aksoy (Confidante), Sébastien Betbeder, Blanche Gardin, Philippe Katerine (The Incredible Snow Woman), Guillaume Ribot (All I Had Was Nothingness), Vincent Macaigne (Cicadas), Dominique Lanzmann (Shoah), Michel Gondry, Maya Gondry (Maya, donne-moi un titre), Valentine Cadic, Blandine Madec, India Hair, Arcadi Radeff (That Summer in Paris), Vasilis Kekatos, Daphné Patakia (Our Wildest Days), Siphiwe Nzima, Lemohang Mosese (Ancestral Visions Of The Future).

On the evening of February 14, Unifrance will host its traditional festival and market opening cocktail reception for distributors, sales agents, and French delegations.

On February 17, the Soirée Française du Cinéma will take place at the Ambassade de France in Germany. During this event, François Delattre, Ambassadeur de France in Germany, will present the insignia of Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres to Peter Dinges, Managing Director of Filmförderungsanstalt (FFA).
On the afternoon of Friday 14 February, the Académie Franco-Allemande du Cinéma is also organizing a reception with the Saarland representatives in Berlin, at the latter's headquarters.

Launching Club Unifrance

For the first time, Unifrance will launch at the Berlinale the Club Unifrance, a space dedicated to welcoming the teams of selected French films to meet the international press and record interviews. This scheme, designed to boost media coverage of French films, has been made possible thanks to increased support from the CNC for 2025 and the Unifrance Endowment Fund, and may be replicated at other leading festivals over the coming year.

Unifrance at the EFM

Numerous French sales agents will also be attending the EFM. A total of 15 French international sales companies, as well as the CNC and the Institut Français - Germany, will be hosted at the Unifrance stand:

Gen Z Audience Award

Unifrance has partnered with the EFM, OFAJ (Office Franco-Allemand pour la Jeunesse), and the Université Paris 8 Vincennes – Saint-Denis, for the first Gen Z Audience Award.

Two students from Paris 8, selected by Unifrance in collaboration with the University and OFAJ, will take part in a Franco-German jury (made up of five students in total) which will award, from the Berlinale Co-Production Market, a feature film project in the development or financing phase which is particularly aimed at young people, and which promises to reach and move a large audience in this sector.
The Gen Z Audience Award is accompanied by a €5,000 grant from the OFAJ.

From short to feature

As part of its strategy to support producers and emerging talents, Unifrance is once again a partner of EFM Toolbox, which has selected producer and director Johanna Makabi, lwho will participate in the program's activities with Unifrance's support. Unifrance is also a partner of Berlinale Talents, supporting member producers taking part.

Press screenings

In the run-up to the festival, Unifrance will, as it does every year, organize press screenings of some of the French titles presented at this year's festival, for international journalists based in Paris.

The talents of the Unifrance 10 to Watch 2025 will be showcased at the Unifrance stand at the EFM via a dedicated display. This operation will also be the subject of a focus by Screen International as part of its Berlinale dailies.

All the French films at the 75th Berlinale

Competition

Ari by Léonor Serraille
The Ice Tower by Lucile Hadzihalilovic
Timestamp by Kateryna Gornostai (minority-French co-production)
The Safe House by Lionel Baier (minority-French co-production)
Reflection in a Dead Diamond by Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani (minority-French co-production)

Panorama

The Incredible Snow Woman by Sébastien Betbeder
Cicadas by Ina Weisse (French co-production shares not specified)
Confidante by Çagla Zencirci and Guillaume Giovanetti (French co-production shares not specified)

Panorama Dokumente

Under The Flags, The Sun, by Juanjo Pereira

Berlinale Special

All I Had Was Nothingness by Guillaume Ribot
Shoah by Claude Lanzmann
No Beast. So Fierce by Burhan Qurbani (French co-production shares not specified)
Ancestral Visions Of The Future by Lemohang Mosese (French co-production shares not specified)
La Lumière by Tom Tykwer (minority-French co-production)

Generation Kplus

Tales From the Magic Garden by Patrik Pašš, David Súkup, Leon Vidmar, and Jean-Claude Rozec
Maya, donne-moi un titre by Michel Gondry

Forum Special

Nudity by Sabina Bakaeva (short film)
My Armenian Phantoms by Tamara Stepanyan (French co-production shares not specified)

Perspectives

That Summer in Paris by Valentine Cadic
The Settlement by Mohamed Rashad (French co-production shares not specified)
Shadowbox by Tanushree Das and Saumyananda Sahi (French co-production shares not specified)

Generation 14Plus

Our Wildest Days by Vasilis Kekatos (minority-French co-production)

Media Gallery

Photos

French films and Unifrance at the 75th Berlinale - © Geko Films - Blue Monday Productions - ARTE France - Pictanovo - Wrong Men

In connection with this news

Movies(31)

All I Had Was Nothingness

(2025)

from 13/02/2025
to 23/02/2025

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Berlin International Film Festival - 2025

Persons(68)

Kevin Aubert

Companies(22)

Académie Franco-Allemande du Cinéma
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Alfama Films Production
Activities : Film exports/foreign sales, Executive Producer, Co-production, French distribution
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