Nancy Buirski [pictured], Valeria Golino and Hernán Musaluppi to decide on the Best First Feature Award; 18 films are in contention.

Berlinale has unveiled the three-person jury for its Best First Feature Award.

US director and producer Nancy Buirski, Italian actress and director Valeria Golino and Argentinian producer Hernán Musaluppi will decide the award, with the winner announced at the official award ceremony in the Berlinale Palast on Feb 15.

The award comes with a €50,000 prize, donated by the GWFF, and will be split between the producer and director of the winning film, while the director will also be awarded with a high-quality viewfinder.

A total of 18 directorial debuts have been nominated by the heads of the Competition, Panorama, Forum, Generation and Perspektive Deutsches Kino section.

They are:

Competition

´71 - United Kingdom 
By Yann Demange
With Jack O’Connell, Sean Harris, Richard Dormer

Historia del miedo (History of Fear) – Argentina / Uruguay / Germany / France
By Benjamin Naishtat
With Jonathan Da Rosa, César Bordón, Mara Bestelli, Claudia Cantero, Mirella Pascual

Macondo - Austria
By Sudabeh Mortezai
With Ramasan Minkailova, Aslan Elbiev, Kheda Gazieva

Panorama

Güeros - Mexico
By Alonso Ruizpalacios
With Tenoch Huerta, Sebastián Aguirre, Leonardo Ortizgris, Ilse Salas

Patardzlebi (Brides) – Georgia / France
By Tinatin Kajrishvili
With Mari Kitia, Giorgi Maskharashvili

Things People Do - USA
By Saar Klein
With Wes Bentley, Jason Isaacs, Vinessa Shaw, Haley Bennett

Viharsarok (Land of Storms) – Hungary / Germany
By Àdám Czászi
With Andras Sütő, Ádám Varga, Sebastian Urzendowsky

Ye (The Night) - People’s Republic of China
By Zhou Hao
With Zhou Hao, Liu Xiao Xiao, Li Jin Kang, Zhou Feng Qi

Forum

Chilla (40 Days of Silence) – Usbekistan / Tajikistan / Netherlands / Germany / France  
By Saodat Ismailova
With Rushana Sadikova, Saodat Rahimova, Farida Olimovava

Ich will mich nicht künstlich aufregen (Asta Upset) - Germany
By Max Linz
With Sarah Ralfs, Pushpendra Singh, Barbara Heynen, Hannelore Hoger, René Schappach

Los Ángeles – Mexico / Germany  
By Damian John Harper
With Mateo Bautista Matías, Lidia García García, Marcos Rodríguez Ruiz, Daniel Bautista Gutiérrez

She’s Lost Control - USA
By Anja Marquardt
With Brooke Bloom, Marc Menchaca

Generation

Atlántida – Argentina / France
By Inés María Barrionuevo
With Melissa Romero, Sol Zavala, Florencia Decall, Guillermo Pfening

Ciencias Naturales – Argentina / France 
By Matías Lucchesi
With Paula Hertzog, Paola Barrientos, Alvin Astorga, Sergio Boris, Arturo Goetz

Hitono Nozomino Yorokobiyo (Joy of Man’s Desiring) - Japan 
By Masakazu Sugita
With Ayane Ohmori, Riku Ohishi, Naoko Yoshimoto, Koichiro Nishi

Violet – Belgium / Netherlands
By Bas Devos
With César De Sutter, Raf Walschaerts, Koen De Sutter

Perspektive Deutsches Kino

Hüter meines Bruders - Germany
By Maximilian Leo
With Sebastian Zimmler, Nadja Bobyleva, Robert Finster

Lamento - Germany
By Jöns Jönsson
With Gunilla Röör, Hendrik Kraft, Björn Andersson, Elin Söderquist, Sandra Huldt, William Björklund, Andreas Kundler, Ebba Lindgren, Simon J. Berger, Inga Landgré