The Berlin Film Festival unveiled this morning the main lineup for its 75th edition, which includes the world premiere of three films by Latin American directors in the Golden Bear main competition: Dreams by Mexican director Michel Franco; The Message / El mensaje by Argentine director Iván Fund, and The Blue Trail / O último azul by Gabriel Mascaro.
Franco pairs again with American actress Jessica Chastain—following their collaboration on Memory in 2023—in Dreams, which tells the story of Fernando, a young ballet dancer from Mexico who crosses the border to pursue his dreams in San Francisco, believing his lover will support him. But as ambition and love clash with harsh realities, he must face the true nature of their relationship. Mexican ballet dancer, actor, and guest artist of the American Ballet Theatre, Isaac Hernández, stars as Fernando.
Starring Mara Bestelli, Marcelo Subiotto, Anika Bootz, and Betania Cappato, and set in the Argentine countryside, Iván Fund’s The Message follows a child with a special gift whose opportunistic guardians devise a plan to offer consultations with an animal medium to make a living.
The latest film by Mascaro, starring Denise Weinberg, Rodrigo Santoro, Miriam Socorrás, and Adanilo, is set in the near future, where the elderly must relocate to remote retirement colonies so that the younger generations can go about their work undisturbed. The 77-year-old Tereza refuses and instead embarks on a life-changing journey through the Amazon.
The Berlinale will also host the world premiere of Argentine director Lucio Castro’s second feature film (End of Century), After This Death as a Special Gala. Starring Mia Maestro, Lee Pace, Rupert Friend, Gwendoline Christie, and Philip Ettinger, the film follows a woman whose affair with an enigmatic underground musician throws her life into chaos when he disappears. As she fends off his obsessive fans, she must also confront her fractured marriage and reclaim her identity and futur
The Best Mother in the World / A melhor mãe do mundo, the latest film by Brazilian director Anna Muylaert (The Second Mother), will have its world premiere in the Berlinale Special section. Starring Shirley Cruz, Seu Jorge, Rihanna Barbosa, and BeninAyo, the film tells the story of Gal, who escapes an abusive relationship by putting her two young children into the recycling cart she uses to collect trash on the city streets and running away. Alone and facing the perils of homelessness, she convinces her children that they are on an adventure.
And Perspectives, the new competitive section at the Berlinale entirely dedicated to first and second feature films, will host the world premiere of the Mexican film The Devil Smokes (and Saves the Burnt Matches in the Same Box / El diablo fuma (y guarda las cabezas de los cerillos quemados en la misma caja), the debut feature by Ernesto Martinez Bucio; and the international premiere of Mad Bills to Pay (or Destiny, dile que no soy malo), the debut feature by Dominican-American director Joel Alfonso Vargas, which is having its world premiere at Sundance this week.
In The Devil Smokes (and Saves the Burnt Matches in the Same Box), the fears of five stoic young siblings, abandoned by their parents, intertwine with those of their schizophrenic grandmother, who now cares for them. The lines between reality and imagination blur and gradually dissolve.
In Mad Bills to Pay (or Destiny, dile que no soy malo), Rico’s summer is a whirlwind of chasing girls and selling homemade cocktails out of a cool box on Orchard Beach in the Bronx. However, his carefree days come to an abrupt end when circumstances force his teenage girlfriend, Destiny, to move in with his family.
