The Berlin International Film Festival continues to firm up their slate before events kick off next month, and this morning they've announced a handful of special screenings, with a couple drawing particular attention.
First up, Jason Reitman's caustic and funny "Young Adult" will receive it's German premiere at a special gala screening, which will likely be a big ticket event. Another movie we've been quietly keeeping an eye on is "I, Anna" starring Charlotte Rampling, Gabriel Byrne, Hayley Atwell, and Eddie Marsan. The film quietly rolled into production last year, and does seem promising. Based on the novel by Elsa Lewin, it tells a noir story from the perspective of a femme fatal who falls for a detective in the case. Atwell? Femme fatale? We're in. It makes it's world premiere at a special screening.
And while there are not many opportunities when people like Martin Scorsese, David Fincher, Christopher Nolan, Lars Von Trier, Greta Gerwig and more would ever be in the same room together, the documentary "Side By Side" gives us the next best thing. Produced by Keanu Reeves and with interviews conducted by the actor/filmmaker himself, the documentary will get feedback from a variety of folks — also including Lana Wachowski, Vittorio Storaro, Wally Pfister, James Cameron and Steven Soderbergh — on the impact digitalization has had on all aspects of filmmaking from shooting and editing to archiving and distribution. That should be pretty fascinating.
The Berlin Film Festival runs from February 9-19. The list of new movies added below.
Berlinale Special Gala screenings at the Friedrichstadt-Palast
Young Adult
USA
By Jason Reitman (Up In The Air, Juno, Thank You for Smoking)
With Charlize Theron, Patton Oswalt, Patrick Wilson, Elisabeth Reaser
German premiere
Already announced:
Don – The King Is Back (India/Germany) by Farhan Akhtar
Marley (Great Britain/USA) – documentary by Kevin Macdonald
La chispa de la vida (Spain/France) by Álex de la Iglesia
Berlinale Special screenings at the Kino International
Glück (Bliss)
Germany
By Doris Dörrie (Naked, Am I Beautiful?, Cherry Blossoms, The Hairdresser)
With Alba Rohrwacher, Vinzenz Kiefer, Matthias Brandt, Oliver Nägele
World premiere
I, Anna
Great Britain/Germany/France
By Barnaby Southcombe (Feature debut)
With Charlotte Rampling, Gabriel Byrne, Hayley Atwell, Eddie Marsan
World premiere
Matineé
The Life And Death Of Colonel Blimp (1943)
Great Britain
By Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger (The Red Shoes, Black Narcissus)
With Roger Livesey, Deborah Kerr, Anton Walbrook
Restored version
Already announced:
Keyhole (Canada) by Guy Maddin
Berlinale Special screenings at the Haus der Berliner Festspiele
Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry – Documentary
USA
By Alison Klayman
International premiere
Althawra… Khabar (Reporting … A Revolution) – Documentary
Egypt
By Bassam Mortada
International premiere
Anton Corbijn Inside Out – Documentary
Netherlands
By Klaartje Quirijns
World premiere
Hijo de las nubes, la última colonia (Sons Of The Clouds, The Last Colony) – Documentary
Spain
Alvaro Longoria
World premiere
Side by Side – Documentary
USA
By Chris Kenneally (Crazy Legs Conti: Zen and the Art of Competitive Eating)
World premiere
Already announced:
Death Row (USA) – documentary series by Werner Herzog
In The Land Of Blood And Honey (USA) by Angelina Jolie
More Berlinale Special presentations:
To celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the film journal "Positif":
Der Fangschuss (Le coup de grâce, 1975)
Germany
By Volker Schlöndorff (The Tin Drum, Germany in Autumn, The Legend of Rita)
With Matthias Habich, Margarethe von Trotta, Rüdiger Kirschtein, Mathieu Carriere, Valeska Gert
The Story of Film: An Odyssey – Documentary
Great Britain
By Mark Cousins (The First Movie, The New Ten Commandments)
European premiere
Special Screening:
For the “50th Anniversary of the Oberhausen Manifesto”:
Abschied von den Fröschen (Farewell to the Frogs) – Documentary
Germany
By Ulrike Schamoni