The five most exciting directors to see at the Berlin Film Festival
The turn of a new year brings with it a whole not slate of movies hoping to claim your attention, and as the Academy Awards prepares to roll out the red carpet, so too does the Berlin Film Festival, one of the first major film festivals across the world. Opening its doors every February, Berlinale, as it is more commonly known, plays host to some of the industry’s greatest directors and the brightest emerging talents.
2024’s slate is certainly no different, welcoming an array of highly-anticipated new movies, from Tim Mielants’ Small Things Like These, starring Cillian Murphy, to Tilman Singer’s Cuckoo, with Hunter Schafer. Yet, this merely scratches the surface of the sheer number of films on offer at the festival, with countless debuts hitting the German capital along with the 20 competition films.
The race for the coveted Golden Bear award, which recognises the best film of the festival, will, indeed, be well-contested, with Olivier Assayas sure to be in the running thanks to his new release Suspended Time, as well as Mati Diop, the French-Senegalese filmmaker, who is returning with her fascinating documentary Dahomey.
Explore below five of the most exciting directors who will be showing their latest projects at the Berlin Film Festival, including those included in the competition category and beyond.
The most exciting directors at the Berlin Film Festival:
Rose Glass – Love Lies Bleeding
Back in 2019, British filmmaker Rose Glass changed the face of contemporary horror with her magnificent indie debut, Saint Maud, released through A24. A marvellous study of existential loneliness, Glass immediately became one of British cinema’s hottest prospects, so upon her return with Love Lies Bleeding, all eyes are on the filmmaker hoping for a sophomore success.
Starring Katy O’Brian and Kristen Stewart, the film, co-written by Glass and Weronika Tofilska, tells the story of a turbulent relationship that unfolds at the forefront of the pursuit of the American Dream.
Hong Sang-soo – A Traveler’s Needs
An acclaimed South Korean filmmaker and Cannes regular known for his passion for slow-paced dramas, often focusing on forbidden love affairs, Hong Sang-soo is one of cinema’s most underappreciated talents. Having penned and directed such modern classics as 2015’s Right Now, Wrong Then and 2021’s In Front of Your Face, the veteran filmmaker is back with A Traveler’s Needs at Berlinale 2024.
Included in the competition category, Sang-soo’s film stars Isabelle Huppert as a French woman in Korea who loses her only source of income and begins to teach French classes.
Aaron Schimberg – A Different Man
Not a whole lot is known about the American filmmaker Aaron Schimberg, yet his film A Different Man, which debuted at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, is being touted as one of the year’s most exciting releases. Telling the story of Edward, a man who goes under facial reconstructive surgery before becoming obsessed with the actor who portrays him in a stage play about his former life, A Different Man is a thriller unlike any other, starring Sebastian Stan of Marvel fame and Adam Pearson, who’s best known for Jonathan Glazer’s sci-fi Under the Skin.
Though he only has two other feature films to his name, there is enough variation and creativity in his filmography so far to suggest that Schimberg will become a formidable talent.
Jane Schoenburn – I Saw the TV Glow
Few films have better defined the weird world of modern internet culture better than Jane Schoenburn’s unsettling 2021 film We’re All Going to the World’s Fair, with the indie genre flick stirring genuine ingenuity in the world of modern horror. Thanks to how firmly their finger was on the pulse of the contemporary internet zeitgeist, it’s no surprise how quickly fans and critics alike have taken to their latest work.
I Saw the TV Glow looks to continue this dialogue regarding the digital world, following the story of two teenagers whose relationship forms thanks to their mutual love of a supernatural TV show, but when this programme is abruptly cancelled, their reality begins to crumble.
David Zellner – Sasquatch Sunset
Plugging away since the 1990s with his own idiosyncratic films, David Zellner is the very definition of an indie director, yet he has also had a hand in helming some of the last decade’s most fascinating projects. The curious 2014 film Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter, a meta love letter to the Coen brothers’ Fargo, was maybe his first significant hit, but his recent hand in helping to direct Nathan Fielder’s The Curse certainly consolidates his talents.
His Berlin offering Sasquatch Sunset very much continues in this idiosyncratic vein, with the intriguing story following a year in the life of the Sasquatch family, starring Jesse Eisenberg and Riley Keough.
