Festive Opening of the 76th Berlinale

The start of the 76th Berlin International Film Festival will be celebrated at the Berlinale Palast. Festival Director Tricia Tuttle and Jury President Wim Wenders will kick off the Berlinale with a festive opening. During the Opening Gala, the International Jury will be introduced and the Honorary Golden Bear will be awarded to Michelle Yeoh, one of the most versatile and influential actors of her generation. Academy Award winner Sean Baker (Anora) will deliver the laudatory speech. The evening will be hosted by Désirée Nosbusch.

Following the Gala, the world premiere of No Good Men by award-winning Afghan director Shahrbanoo Sadat will be presented as the Opening Film of the 76th Berlinale.

Minister of State for Culture and the Media Wolfram Weimer, Governing Mayor of Berlin Kai Wegner and Honorary Golden Bear recipient Michelle Yeoh will be welcomed as guests of honour on the Red Carpet, as well as members of the International Jury, the Perspectives jury, the jury of the Berlinale Documentary Film Award, the International Short Film Jury and the International Jury of Generation as well as numerous other prominent national and international guests.

Please find enclosed a list (223 KB) of the guests who are expected to attend the opening, including Sean Baker, Bella Ramsey, Siri Hustvedt, Karim Aïnouz, Neil Patrick Harris, Radu Jude, Anwar Hashimi, Iris Berben, Daniel Brühl, İlker Çatak, August Diehl, Lars Eidinger, Maren Eggert, Mala Emde, Jan Ole Gerster, Jella Haase, Tom Tykwer, Edin Hasanovic, Damian Hardung, Karoline Herfurth, Andreas Kleinert, Frederick Lau, Susanne Wolff, Oliver Masucci, Jannis Niewöhner, Christian Petzold, Max Riemelt, Emilia Schüle, Jannik Schümann, Matthias Schweighöfer, Ruby O. Fee and many more.

The opening event begins on February 12 at 7.00 pm and will be streamed live on berlinale.de and YouTube and transmitted later on the same evening by Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (rbb, February 12 at 10.20 pm) and ZDF/3sat (February 13 at 00.10 am).