The 2023 Berlin International Film Festival, the Berlinale, kicks off Thursday morning, and all eyes will be on Kristen Stewart.
The Twilight star, who, with films like Olivier Assayas’ Personal Shopper, Pablo Larraín’s Spencer, and David Cronenberg’s Crimes of the Future, has become a darling of European and independent cinema, is president of the Berlinale jury this year, and will be leading the team of five women and two men judging the films in the 2023 competition.
Stewart is the only bold-faced Hollywood name on this year’s jury, which includes the last two Golden Bear winners — Romanian filmmaker Radu Jude, whose wild satire Bad Luck Banging or Looney Porn took Berlin’s top prize in 2021, and Carla Simón, who won Berlin last year with her Catalan family drama Alcarràs. Also on the jury are veteran Hong Kong director Johnnie To (Election, Vengeance), Iranian-French actress Golshifteh Farahani (Paterson), German filmmaker Valeska Grisebach (Western) and U.S. casting director and producer Francine Maisler (12 Years a Slave, Babylon).
Stewart and her jury are holding their first Berlinale press conference this morning, to introduce themselves and field journalists’ questions about the festival lineup and what we can expect from the next 10 days of cinema.
The press conference starts at 10:30 local Berlin time, 1:30 a.m. PT and 4:30 a.m. ET.
You can watch it live below.
