65th Berlin International Film Festival Best First Feature Competition Lineup

Since 2006, when it introduced the Best First Feature Award, the Berlinale has been even more committed to supporting the next generation of film makers. The award is endowed with 50,000 Euros, donated by the GWFF (Gesellschaft zur Wahrnehmung von Film- und Fernsehrecht), a society dedicated to safeguarding film and television rights. The prize money is to be split between the producer and the director of the winning film. Additionally, the director will be awarded with a high-quality viewfinder.

Festival Director Dieter Kosslick and the heads of the Competition, Panorama, Forum, Generation, and Perspektive Deutsches Kino sections have nominated a total of 18 directorial debuts.

Competition (2)
Ixcanul (Ixcanul Volcano), Jayro Bustamante, Guatemala and France
Vergine Giurata (Sworn Virgin), Laura Bispuri, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Albania and Kosovo

Panorama (5)
600 Millas (600 Miles), Gabriel Ripstein, Mexioc
Al-Hob wa Al-Sariqa wa Mashakel Ukhra (Love, Theft and Other Entanglements) Muayad Alayan, Palestine
Paridan az Ertefa Kam (A Minor Leap Down), Hamed Rajabi, Iran and France
Petting Zoo, Micah Magee, Germany, Greece and USA
Pionery-geroi (Pioneer Heroes),Natalia Kudryashova, Russia

Forum (5)
Beira-Mar (Seashore), Filipe Matzembacher and Marcio Reolon, Brazil
Chaiki (The Gulls), Ella Manzheeva, Russia
Der Geldkomplex (The Money Complex), Juan Rodrigáñez, Spain
Koza, Ivan Ostrochovský, Slovakia and Czech Republic
Nefesim kesilene kadar (Until I Lose My Breath), Emine Emel Balcı, Turkey and Germany

Generation (4)
Golden Kingdom, Brian Perkins, USA
Mina Walking, Yosef Baraki, Canada and Afghanistan
Prins (Prince), Sam de Jong, Netherlands
You're Ugly, Too, Mark Noonan, Ireland

Perspektive Deutsches Kino (2)
Im Sommer wohnt er unten (Summers Downstairs), Tom Sommerlatte, Germany and France
Wanja, Carolina Hellsgård, Germany

Jury
Fernando Eimbcke, director, Mexico
Joshua Oppenheimer, director, USA
Olga Kurylenko, actress, Ukraine

Winners will be announced at the official award ceremony in the Berlinale Palast on February 14.