It’s that time of year again folks, starting this Thursday February 5th, the eyes and ears of millions of film obsessed fans and industry insiders, will once again fall on Berlin for the next two weeks, as the razzle-dazzle and glamour of the movie business rolls into town for the 65th of the Berlinale International Film Festival. According to the festival’s director Dieter Kosslick,  this year’s general theme will be on indigenous cinema, as well as a special focus on film highlighting issues affecting women.  This is evidenced by the fact that for only the second time in the festival’s long history, a female director’s film, Nobody Wants the Night, directed by  Spain’s Isabelle Coixet, will hold the much vaunted opening night slot. Notable entries into the festival this year include the latest effort from highly respected German director Werner Herzog with Queen of the Desert, starring Nicole Kidman and James Franco,  and Terrence Malick’s Knight of Cups, featuring Christain Bale and Natalie Portman (pictured above).  Fans of Lord of the Rings will also be pleased to see Ian McKellan (Gandalf) take the lead role in Mr.Holmes, a new take on the Sherlock Holmes saga directed by Bill Condon, while perhaps one of the more interesting entrants is Taxi, a quasi-portrait of modern day Tehran by Iranian new wave director, Jafar Panahi. The main prize, the coveted  Golden Bear, will be awarded to one of the 19 competition entrants and will be decided by an international jury panel, led by acclaimed director Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan, The Wrestler), as well as other notable members such as she of Amélie fame – Audrey Tatou,  German actor Daniel Brühle  (Goodbye Lenin, Inglorious Basterds) and the creator of hit TV show Mad Men, Matthew Weiner.  Overall the festival will feature 441 films from 72 different countries, all open for public viewing. Tickets go sale today so click here to find out how to get your tickets now.  For a full list of the films featuring in the main competition see below, although there are many other interesting sections, such as Panorama, Berlinale Short, Generation, Forum which are well worth going to see. Aferim! Romania / Bulgaria / Czech Republic By Radu Jude (Everybody in Our Family) With Teodor Corban, Mihai Comanoiu, Cuzin Toma, Alexandru Dabija World premiere El botón de nácar (The Pearl Button) – documentary France / Chile / Spain By Patricio Guzmán (Nostalgia for the Light) World premiere El Club (The Club) Chile By Pablo Larraín (Tony Manero, No) With Roberto Farias, Antonia Zegers, Alfredo Castro, Alejandro Goic, Alejandro Sieveking, Jaime Vadell, Marcelo Alonso World premiere Elser (13 Minutes) Germany By Oliver Hirschbiegel (Downfall) With Christian Friedel, Katharina Schüttler, Burghart Klaußner, Johann von Bülow, Felix Eitner World premiere – Out of competition Every Thing Will Be Fine Germany / Canada / France / Sweden / Norway By Wim Wenders (PINA, Wings of Desire, The American Friend) With James Franco, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Rachel McAdams, Marie-Josée Croze World premiere – Out of competition Ten no chasuke (Chasuke’s Journey) Japan By Sabu (Kanikosen, Dead Run) With Ken’ichi Matsuyama, Ito Ohno, Ren Ohsugi, Yusuke Iseya, Hiromasa Taguchi, Tina Tamashiro, Susumu Terajima World premiere Vergine giurata (Sworn Virgin) Italy / Switzerland / Germany / Albania / Kosovo By Laura Bispuri – Feature debut With Alba Rohrwacher, Lars Eidinger, Flonja Kodheli, Luan Jaha, Emily Ferratello World premiere 45 Years by Andrew Haigh United Kingdom Als wir träumten (As We Were Dreaming) by Andreas Dresen Germany / France Body by Malgorzata Szumowska Poland Cha và con và (Big Father, Small Father and Other Stories) by Di Phan Dang Vietnam / France / Germany / Netherlands Cinderella by Kenneth Branagh USA – Out of competition Eisenstein in Guanajuato by Peter Greenaway Netherlands / Mexico / Belgium / Finland Ixcanul (Ixcanul Volcano) by Jayro Bustamante Guatemala / France – Feature debut Journal d’une femme de chambre (Diary of a Chambermaid) by Benoit Jacquot France / Belgium Knight of Cups by Terrence Malick USA Mr. Holmes by Bill Condon United Kingdom – Out of competition Nobody Wants the Night by Isabel Coixet – Opening film Spain / France / Bulgaria Pod electricheskimi oblakami (Under Electric Clouds) by Alexey German Russian Federation / Ukraine / Poland Queen of the Desert by Werner Herzog USA Taxi by Jafar Panahi Iran Victoria by Sebastian Schipper Germany Yi bu zhi yao (Gone with the Bullets) by Wen Jiang People’s Republic of China / USA / Hong Kong, China   Photo credit: Melinda Sue Gordon © Dogwood Pictures