San Francisco Frontiers - Syrian migrant drama opens Berlin film festival

"The Light", showing out of competition at the 75th edition of the festival, tells the story of a middle-class Berlin family whose lives are upended when they hire a new domestic worker.

The movie marks a return to feature filmmaking after a long hiatus for Tykwer, 59, who has been focusing on the acclaimed Netflix series "Babylon Berlin".

The Berlinale, as the festival is known, winds up on February 23 -- the same day as Germany's snap election, called after the collapse of Chancellor Olaf Scholz's ruling coalition late last year.

With the far-right, anti-immigration AfD party surging in the polls, migration has been high on the campaign agenda in the run-up to the hotly contested vote.

The Berlinale, which ranks with Cannes and Venice among Europe's top festivals, serves as a key launchpad for films from around the world.

US writer and director Todd Haynes will head up the jury at this year's edition, with 19 pictures vying for the festival's Golden Bear top prize.

They include "Blue Moon", Hollywood director Richard Linklater's latest movie, starring Ethan Hawke, 11 years after Linklater won Berlin's Silver Bear for Best Director for "Boyhood".

- 'Beauty and joy' -

South Korean director Bong Joon-ho will present his new film "Mickey 17" with Robert Pattinson out of competition, while British actor Tilda Swinton will receive a lifetime achievement award.

Jessica Chastain and Timothee Chalamet are also expected to grace the red carpet.

Opening film "The Light", with a mostly German cast, tells the story of a complex modern family living in a Berlin apartment.

When the enigmatic Farrah -– recently arrived from Syria –- is placed in their home as the new housekeeper, the Engels family find themselves questioning their way of life and hidden feelings come to light.

"Tom Tykwer finds beauty and joy in our often fractured and challenging world, and magically captures the essence of our modern life on screen," Berlinale director Tricia Tuttle said of the film.

The mass arrival of Syrian refugees and other migrants in Germany in 2015-2016 has helped fuel support for the AfD, which is forecast to emerge as one of the biggest parties in Germany's election.

Last year, Berlinale organisers made headlines by barring five previously invited AfD politicians and telling them they were "not welcome".

- Arthouse favourite -

Tuttle, who took over as director of the Berlinale in April last year, said that despite the political themes of the opening film, she wanted to keep the festival as "insulated" from the news as possible.

"The festival wants to not have that overshadow the films and filmmakers," Tuttle said in an interview with AFP.

"I really want people talking about cinema. The news agenda has dominated every cultural event all over the world, particularly music... Filmmakers look at how troubled the world is and reflect that back to us," she said.

"I would love to have the films do the talking because I think that films can communicate with a complexity that we often lose in words."

Other films in competition at the Berlinale include "Dreams", from Mexican director Michael Franco, about a Mexican ballet dancer, and "What Does that Nature Say to You", from South Korean arthouse favourite Hong Sang-soo.

Romanian director Radu Jude, who won the Golden Bear in 2021 with "Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn", is in the running with "Kontinental '25", a dark comedy about the rise of nationalism.

And France's Lucile Hadzihalilovic will present "The Ice Tower", a fantasy drama starring Marion Cotillard.

Z.Sanchez--SFF