Minister of State and Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media Prof. Monika Grütters, the Governing Mayor of Berlin Michael Müller, Jury President Tom Tykwer and Berlinale Director Dieter Kosslick will open the 68th Berlin International Film Festival at the Berlinale Palast at 7.30 pm on February 15. During the Opening Gala, the International Jury will be introduced. Besides director, screenwriter, film composer, and producer Tom Tykwer (Germany), the International Jury includes actress Cécile de France (Belgium), photographer and former director of the Filmoteca Española Chema Prado (Spain), producer Adele Romanski (USA), composer Ryūichi Sakamoto (Japan), and film critic Stephanie Zacharek (USA). Anke Engelke will host the evening. The event will be broadcast live by ZDF/3sat and streamed live at www.berlinale.de.
Following the Opening Gala, Wes Anderson’s animated film Isle of Dogs will have its world premiere. The director and his film team, including Bryan Cranston, Greta Gerwig, Bill Murray, Jeff Goldblum, Kunichi Nomura, Liev Schreiber, Koyu Rankin, Bob Balaban, Tilda Swinton, Akira Takayama, Yojiro Noda, Mari Natsuki, who voiced some of the characters, and the screenwriters Roman Coppola and Jason Schwartzman will present the film in the Berlinale Palast.
In addition to the members of the International Jury, the GWFF Best First Feature Award jury are expected on the Red Carpet. This year’s members include director and screenwriter Jonas Carpignano (Italy), director, screenwriter, and producer Călin Peter Netzer (Romania), and director of the Jerusalem Cinematheque Noa Regev (Israel). Attending as well are the three members of the Glashütte Original ― Documentary Award jury: curator and co-director of the Doclisboa Cíntia Gil (Portugal), director, painter and photographer Ulrike Ottinger (Germany), and author, producer and director Eric Schlosser (USA).
Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier as well as numerous other German politicians and ambassadors will also be attending the opening of the Berlinale.
Other international and national guests are anticipated: Mario Adorf, Fatih Akin, Feo Aladag, Thomas Arslan, Emily Atef, Harry Baer, Marie Bäumer, Jasna Fritzi Bauer, Hartmut Becker, Meret Becker, Wolfgang Becker, Anna Bederke, Paula Beer, Bibiana Beglau, Iris Berben, Edward Berger, Senta Berger, Christian Berkel, Anne Zohra Berrached, Alexander Beyer, Moritz Bleibtreu, Hark Bohm, Achim von Borries, Ulrich Friedrich Brandhoff, Matthias Brandt, Ana Brun, Natja Brunckhorst, Anna Brüggemann, Dietrich Brüggemann, Daniel Brühl, Detlev Buck, Klaus Bueb, Christel Buschmann, Ingrid Caven, Sung-Hyung Cho, Patricia Clarkson, Clueso, Didi Danquart, Pepe Danquart, Justus von Dohnányi, Can Dündar, Léonore Ekstrand, Uli Edel, Katja Eichinger, Lars Eidinger, Olafur Eliasson, Elle Fanning, Florian David Fitz, Inka Friedrich, Maria Furtwängler, Benno Fürmann, Florian Gallenberger, Toni Garrn, Hans W. Geißendörfer, Jan-Ole Gerster, Godehard Giese, Nina Grosse, Herbert Grönemeyer, Philip Gröning, Monika Hansen-Sander, Corinna Harfouch, Leander Haußmann, André M. Hennicke, Annette Hess, Klaus Hoffmann, Henry Hübchen, Sandra Hüller, Markus Imhoof, Hannes Jaenicke, Peter Keglevic, Nicole Kellerhals, Friederike Kempter, Nikolai Kinski, Michael Klier, Herbert Knaup, Sebastian Koch, Wolfgang Kohlhaase, Lars Kraume, Chris Kraus, Thomas Kretschmann, Marco Kreuzpaintner, Maren Kroymann, Joachim Król, Peter Kurth, Steffi Kühnert, Frederick Lau, Alina Levshin, Dani Levy, Peter Lohmeyer, Florian Lukas, Andreas Lust, Angelina Maccarone, Elyas M’Barek, Heike Makatsch, Leslie Malton, Monika Maron, Marcelo Martinessi, Ulrich Matthes, Axel Milberg, Helke Misselwitz, Nele Mueller-Stöfen, Bjarne Mädel, Helen Mirren, Wotan Wilke Möhring, Jannis Niewöhner, Christiane Paul, Axel Petersén, Franziska Petri, Nina Petri, Christian Petzold, Anne Ratte-Polle, Kida Ramadan, Wolfgang Richter, Oskar Roehler, Franz Rogowski, Lars Rudolph, Benjamin Sadler, Nesrin Samdereli, Yasemin Samdereli, Udo Samel, Helke Sander, Andrea Sawatzki, Clemens Schick, Tom Schilling, Jenny Schily, Sebastian Schipper, Mark Schlichter, Hans-Christian Schmid, Maria Schrader, Karoline Schuch, Jessica Schwarz, Hanna Schygulla, Emilia Schüle, Marie-Lou Sellem, Fernando E. Solanas, Jan Henrik Stahlberg, Florian Stetter, Isabelle Stever, Ula Stöckl, Lena Stolze, Jasmin Tabatabai, Aylin Tezel, Anna Thalbach, Robert Thalheim, Rosalie Thomass, Margarethe von Trotta, Andres Veiel, Simon Verhoeven, Joseph Vilsmaier, Katharina Wackernagel, Nora Waldstätten, Connie Walther, Hans Weingartner, Wim Wenders, Lavinia Wilson, Johanna Wokalek, Mennan Yapo, Ronald Zehrfeld, Nathan and David Zellner, Hanns Zischler.