<p>The 69th&nbsp;<a href="https://www.berlinale.de/de/HomePage.html">Berlin International Film Festival</a>&nbsp;has announced its opening film. The world premiere of&nbsp;<strong>Lone Scherfig</strong>'s latest film&nbsp;<a href="https://cineuropa.org/film/364267/"><em>The Kindness of Strangers</em></a>&nbsp;will open the event programme on 7 February, participating in the international competition.</p>

<p><em>The Kindness of Strangers</em>&nbsp;(formerly known as&nbsp;<em>Secrets of the Russian Tea Room</em>&nbsp;– read the&nbsp;<a href="https://cineuropa.org/newsdetail/352505/">news</a>) is a contemporary drama following a disparate ensemble of characters, all struggling to survive a New York City winter in their own way, who find laughter, love and kindness in each other.&nbsp;Starring&nbsp;<strong>Zoe Kazan</strong>,&nbsp;<strong>Tahar Rahim</strong>,&nbsp;<strong>Andrea Riseborough</strong> and&nbsp;<strong>Caleb Landry Jones</strong>, with&nbsp;<strong>Jay Baruchel</strong>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<strong>Bill Nighy</strong>,&nbsp;the English-language drama was written by Lone Scherfig herself, and was filmed in Toronto, Copenhagen and New York.&nbsp;<em>The Kindness of Strangers</em>&nbsp;is a production between Denmark (<a href="https://cineuropa.org/prodcompany/352503/">Creative Alliance</a>) and Canada (Strada Films),&nbsp;with the participation of the&nbsp;<a href="https://cineuropa.org/prodcompany/8088/">Danish Film Institute</a>&nbsp;and Telefilm Canada, Danmarks Radio, Ontario Creates,&nbsp;<a href="http://cphfilmfund.com/en/">Copenhagen Film Fund</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://cineuropa.org/prodcompany/8452/">Swedish Film Institute</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://cineuropa.org/prodcompany/21962/">Nordisk Film &amp; TV Fond</a>, Entertainment One and Ingenious Senior Film Fund/Apollo Media, in co-production with Sweden's&nbsp;<a href="https://cineuropa.org/prodcompany/8760/">Unlimited Stories</a>, Germany's Nadcon and France's D'Artagnan,&nbsp;<a href="https://cineuropa.org/prodcompany/8451/">Film i Väst</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://cineuropa.org/prodcompany/8871/">WDR</a>/<a href="https://cineuropa.org/prodcompany/82649/">ARTE</a>&nbsp;Grand Accord and&nbsp;<a href="https://cineuropa.org/prodcompany/8020/">ARTE France Cinéma</a>. The film is being&nbsp;sold worldwide by&nbsp;<a href="https://cineuropa.org/intsale/8953/">HanWay Films</a>,&nbsp;backed by Ingenious Media and Apollo Media.</p>

<p>Scherfig is no stranger to the Berlinale.&nbsp;She presented&nbsp;<em>The Birthday Trip</em>&nbsp;in the Panorama section in 1990, and&nbsp;<em>On Our Own</em>&nbsp;in&nbsp;the Kinderfilmfest (now known as Generation)&nbsp;in 1998. Her breakthrough film was&nbsp;<a href="https://cineuropa.org/film/31192/"><em>Italian For Beginners</em></a>, a Dogme film which won the Jury Prize Silver Bear in 2001. Later on, she presented&nbsp;<a href="https://cineuropa.org/film/2561/"><em>Wilbur Wants To Kill Himself</em></a>&nbsp;<span>[<span>+</span>]</span>&nbsp;as a Special Screening and&nbsp;<a href="https://cineuropa.org/film/84816/"><em>An Education</em></a>&nbsp;<span>[<span>+</span>]</span> in the Berlinale Special section in 2009, before receiving three nominations for the Academy Awards. Her latest European productions,&nbsp;<a href="https://cineuropa.org/film/262764/"><em>The Riot Club</em></a>&nbsp;<span>[<span>+</span>]</span>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://cineuropa.org/film/314086/"><em>Their Finest</em></a>&nbsp;<span>[<span>+</span>]</span>, premiered at Toronto.</p>

<p>"Lone Scherfig's feel for characters, strong emotions and subtle humour promises a wonderful start to the festival," said&nbsp;<strong>Dieter Kosslick</strong>, for whom this&nbsp;69th edition&nbsp;(7-17 February)&nbsp;will be his last as festival director.</p>
