The critic has applauded the performance of Juliette Binoche in Double lives Olivier Assayas, which is currently displayed. In three weeks, the actress from the other side of the screen. She will preside over the 69th edition of the Berlinale from 7 to 17 February. “We have a particular link with it,” breath Dieter Kosslick, the president. Juliette Binoche won a silver Bear in 1997 for The English Patient . This year, the golden Bear of honour will be Charlotte Rampling, unforgettable in night Porter of Liliana Cavani in 1974.

The German event has unveiled its full program for this Friday, bringing to 17 the number of feature films selected in competition. In the press release, Dieter Kosslick states that seven films are made by women. Last year, he had had to put the event under the banner of respect for the woman, in the wake of the scandals of sexual assault in the 7th item

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Zoe Kazan, Tahar Rahim in “The Kindness of Strangers”. Per Arnesen

The Kindness of Strangers , “the kindness of strangers”, from Danish director Lone Scherfig, has been chosen for the prestigious opening. To the poster of this drama, the British Bill Nighy, the French Tahar Rahim – César of the best actor in 2010 for A Prophet – and the American Zoe Kazan, the actress revealed in It is called Ruby in 2012.

Two feature-length films will represent the hexagon. Thanks to God of François Ozon has already done much about him. It evokes the fate of child victims of sexual assault in the 1980s by the priest Bernard Preynat, and the release of their word. The film resonates with the trial opened Monday, January 7, cardinal Philippe Barbarin, who was accused of “not reporting sexual assault on minors 15 years of age”. The audience of the Berlinale should not be indifferent. The German Church is in turmoil, after a study revealed last September that thousands of acts of pedophilia have been committed for sixty years.

Nadav Ladip will present a production of the franco-German-israeli titled Synonyms . Cryptic, the synopsis mentions “a young Israeli who lands in Paris with the hope that France and the French escape from the madness of his country, personified by Tom Mercier, which this will be the first time headlining. Quentin Dolmaire, revealed in Three memories of my youth of Arnaud Desplechin in 2015, gives him the replica.

Presented out of competition , Vice , biopic signed Adam McKay, stirs all the curiosities. The director is a cruel satire of Dick Cheney, the former vice-president George W. Bush. Played by a Christian Bale transformed. He has shaved the head and took 20 pounds for the occasion. Crowned in December at the Golden Globes for best comedy actor, Christian Bale thanked “Satan that gave him the inspiration” to portray the politician.

Out-of-competition, France is not at rest. André Téchiné will reveal Farewell to the night , his 26th feature film. Catherine Deneuve’s favorite actress of the director, embodies a woman whose grandson fell into the propaganda of the jihadist, ready to take up arms against France. While she enjoys a beautiful retrospective at the Cinémathèque française until January 28, Agnès Varda will be present, also out of competition, with a documentary titled Varda by Agnès .

After this 69th edition, Dieter Kosslick, 70 years of age, will take its final bow. He remained eighteen years at the head of the event. In 2017, an open letter signed by some eighty German directors criticized his presidency. They demanded in particular a selection more relevant.

The 17 films in competition

Der Boden unter den Füßen , Marie Kreutzer (Austria)

Di jiu tian chang , Wang Xiaoshuai (China)

Elisa y Marcela , Isabel Coixet (Spain)

Der Goldene Handschuh , Fatih Akin (Germany, France)

Gospod postoi, imeto i’ e Petrunija ,Teona Strugar Mitevska (Macedonia, Belgium, Slovenia, Croatia, France)

Thanks to God , François Ozon (France)

Ich war zuhause, aber , Angela Schanelec (Germany, Serbia)

The Kindness of Strangers , Lone Scherfig (Denmark, Canada, Sweden, Germany, France)

the Maiden Kardeşler , Emin Alper (Turkey, Germany, the netherlands, Greece)

Mr. Jones , Agnieszka Holland (Poland, Uk, Ukraine)

Öndög , Wang Quan’year (Mongolia)

La paranza dei bambini , Claudio Giovannesi (Italy)

the Directory of the lost cities , Denis Côté (Canada)

Synonyms , Nadav Lapid (France, Israel, Germany)

Systemsprenger , Nora Fingscheidt (Germany)

Ut og stjæle hester , Hans Petter Moland (Norway, Sweden, Denmark)

Yi miao zhong , Zhang Yimou (China)

● The 6 films out of competition

Farewell to the night , André Téchiné (France, Germany)

Amazing Grace , a documentary by Alan Elliott (United States)

Marighella , Wagner Moura (Brazil)

The Operative , Yuval Adler (Germany, Israel, Usa, France)

Varda by Agnès , a documentary by Agnès Varda (France)

Vice , Adam McKay (United States)