The Berlin Film Festival has begun in the German capital, and we're talking about the most high-profile films of the program: from the star-studded film “The Rosebush” with Pamela Anderson to the Ukrainian documentary “Traces” about victims of wartime sexual violence.
“Josephine” (Josephine)
The film tells the story of a couple (Channing Tatum and Gemma Chan) and their daughter Josephine (newcomer Mason Reeves) as their family grapples with trauma and litigation after the girl accidentally witnesses a sexual assault in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. The film, which director Beth de Araujo has been working on for over a decade, is an uncompromisingly honest, intimate and bold statement about childhood trauma.
“Josephine” became one of the first sensations and favorites of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival.
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“Rosebush Pruning” (“Rosebush Pruning”)
Pamela Anderson, Callum Turner, Elle Fanning, Riley Keough – a star-studded cast has been assembled by director Karim Ainuz in the satirical drama “Pruning the Rosebush”. In a luxurious villa under the Catalan sun, siblings Jack, Ed, Anna and Robert live in wealth and isolation, avoiding communication with their blind and demanding father. When Jack, the older brother and pillar of the family, announces that he is moving in with his girlfriend Martha, blood ties are broken, and the other brother, Ed, is forced to reveal the truth about their mother's death… “Pruning the Rosebush” is a biting satire on the absurdity of the traditional patriarchal family.
“Rose” (Rose)
The events of the film “The Rose” take place in Germany in the 17th century. A strange woman appears in a Protestant village, disguised as a man, who declares herself the heiress of one of the local farms. “The Rose” is a film by Austrian director Markus Schleinzer, a student of Michael Haneke, and the main role in it was played by the brilliant Sandra Güller, a star of European cinema, known for the films “Zone of Interests” and “Anatomy of a Fall”.
“At the Sea”
After rehab, Laura (Amy Adams) returns to her family home on Cape Cod. Once the face of her late father's famous dance company, she now struggles to come to terms with the cost of growing up in his shadow. Laura's functional alcoholism, long ignored by everyone, finally reaches a breaking point after a drunk-driving accident involving her young son. Now sober, she returns home changed, but to a family that isn't ready for it…
“By the Sea” is an intimate portrait of a woman who goes from denial to acceptance, and a talented work by Hungarian director Kornél Mundrúczo.
“The Weight”
The film is set in the United States in the 1930s. Samuel Murphy (Ethan Hawke) is a widower from Oregon who is separated from his daughter due to his prison sentence. Warden Clancy offers Samuel and several other prisoners the opportunity to gain freedom in exchange for participating in a dangerous gold smuggling operation for him.
“The moment”
“Moment” is a mockumentary directed by Aidan Zamiri about a pop star preparing to headline her first headlining tour, where singer Charli XCX plays a fictionalized version of herself. The singer herself says that “Moment” is not a tour documentary or a concert film, but “the most realistic portrayal of the music industry she's ever seen.”
“Queen at Sea”
A film by American director Lance Hammer, in which Juliette Binoche plays a single mother who is called from Newcastle to London to care for her Alzheimer's-stricken mother (Anna Calder-Marshall). After Amanda (Binoche) finds her stepfather (Tom Courtney) in a compromising position, she is forced to make the difficult decision to place her mother in a nursing home. But the experience can be terrifying for an Alzheimer's patient…
“Traces”
The only Ukrainian film in the Berlinale program is the documentary “Traces” by Alisa Kovalenko and Marysa Nikityuk, which tells the story of women who were victims of wartime sexual violence. “Despite the trauma, the six heroines of the film united to resist and demand justice,” say the authors of the film. “Traces” is based on the testimonies of the SEMA Ukraine community, as well as the personal experience of director Alisa Kovalenko.