No Good Men Opens the 76th Berlin International Film Festival

The Berlinale 2026 kicks off with the world premiere of No Good Men, the third feature film by award-winning Afghan director Shahrbanoo Sadat. No Good Men will open the festival on February 12, 2026 at the Berlinale Palast.

Berlinale Director Tricia Tuttle comments: “Shahrbanoo Sadat is one of the most exciting voices in world cinema and No Good Men really delivers on the promise of her first two features. Sadat continues her vital work spotlighting Afghan women’s lives, here bringing romance and touches of humour to a rousingly political story. That it is based on real events, and the director risked so much to get this film made makes No Good Men even more meaningful as our Opening Gala of the 76th Berlinale”.

No Good Men follows Shahrbanoo Sadat’s acclaimed works Wolf and Sheep (2016) and Parwareshgah (The Orphanage, 2019). Both films screened at Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight and The Orphanage was supported by the Berlinale World Cinema Fund. Shahrbanoo Sadat continues her unique cinematic journey as a director, writer, and actor with a film that is both personal and political. The film is also the third of five planned films based on the autobiographical writings of author and actor Anwar Hashimi. Hashimi stars in the film alongside Shahrbanoo Sadat who is playing the lead role.

Naru (Sadat), the only camerawoman at Kabul TV, is convinced that there are no good men in Afghanistan. But when the reporter Qodrat takes her on assignment just before the Taliban’s return, sparks fly – and she begins to question this belief.

“Growing up in Afghanistan’s deeply patriarchal society, I believed there were no good men - until I found out another reality exists, and I hope this film offers young women hope and young men an example,” says Shahrbanoo Sadat.

No Good Men was produced as an international co-production between Germany, France, Norway, Denmark and Afghanistan. Production companies are Adomeit Film, La Fabrica Nocturna Cinéma, Motlys, Amerikafilm and Wolf Pictures.

German public funding came from MOIN Filmförderung Hamburg-Schleswig-Holstein, German Federal Film Board (FFA) & German French Mini Treaty, German Federal Film Fund (DFFF), Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, nordmedia – Film- und Mediengesellschaft Niedersachsen/Bremen mbH, MV Filmförderung - Film Fund Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.

Filming took place in several locations across Germany.

The German release date is August 27, 2026.

No Good Men will celebrate its world premiere as Berlinale Special Gala at the Berlinale Palast in the presence of cast and crew.