 The 58th edition of the Berlin Film Festival will kick off on February 7 with the world premiere of the US-produced Rolling Stones concert film Shine a Light, directed by Oscar-winning director Martin Scorcese. The Berlinale Competition programme counts a total of 23 titles, including the closing film Be Kind Rewind, another US production by French director Michel Gondry. Besides the US, most titles come from France with three, while host country Germany has only two titles in Competition. In the parallel Berlinale Specials section, another twelve films are presented, including half a dozen documentaries and new work from directors such as Amos Gitai and Simon Staho. The festival runs through February 17. OPENING FILM - Shine a Light, USA, by Martin Scorcese and with the Rolling Stones
IN COMPETITION
- Avaze Gonjeshk-ha (The Song of Sparrows), Iran, by Majid Majidi
- Ballast, USA, by Lance Hammer and with Micheal J. Smith, Jim Myron Ross, Tarra Riggs
- Bam gua Nat (Night and Day), Republic of Korea, by Hong Sangsoo and with Kim Youngho, Park Eunhye, Hwang Soojung
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Caos calmo (Quiet Chaos), Italy, by Antonello Grimaldi and with Nanni Moretti, Isabella Ferrari, Alessandro Gassman, Valeria Golino -
Elegy, USA, by Isabel Coixet and with Penélope Cruz, Ben Kingsley, Dennis Hopper -
Feuerherz (Heart of Fire), Germany/Austria by Luigi Falorni and with Letekidan Micael - Gardens of the Night, Great Britain/USA, by Damian Harris and with Gillian Jacobs, Evan Ross, Tom Arnold, John Malkovich
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Happy-Go-Lucky, UK, by Mike Leigh and with Sally Hawkins, Alexis Zegerman, Eddie Marsan, Samuel Roukin - Il y a longtemps que je t’aime (I’ve Loved You So Long), France/Germany, by Philippe Claudel and with Kristin Scott Thomas, Elsa Zylberstein, Serge Hazanavicius, Laurent Grevill
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Julia, France, by Erick Zonca and with Tilda Swinton, Aidan Gould, Saúl Rubinek -
Kabei (Kabei – Our Mother), Japan, by Yoji Yamada and with Sayuri Yoshinaga, Mitsugoro Bando, Tadanobu Asano - Kirschblüten - Hanami, Germany, by Doris Dörrie and with Elmar Wepper, Hannelore Elsner
Lady Jane, France, by Robert Guédiguian and with Ariane Ascaride, Gérard Meylan, Frédérique Bonnal - Lake Tahoe, Mexico, by Fernando Eimbcke and with Diego Cataño, Héctor Herrera, Daniela Valentine, Juan Carlos Lara
- Musta Jaä (Black Ice), Finland/Germany, by Petri Kotwica and with Outi Mäenpää, Ria Kataja, Martti Suosala, Ville Virtanen
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Restless, Israel/Germany/Canada/France/Belgium, by Amos Kollek and with Moshe Ivgy, Ran Danker, Karen Young, Phyllis Sommerville - S.O.P. Standard Operating Procedure, USA, by Errol Morris
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Sparrow, Hong Kong/China, by Johnnie To and with Simon Yam Tat Wah, Kelly Lin Hsi Lei, Gordon Lam Ka Tung, Lam Suet - There Will Be Blood, USA, by Paul Thomas Anderson and with Daniel Day-Lewis, Paul Dano, Kevin J. O'Connor
- Tropa de Elite (The Elite Squad), Brazil, by José Padilha and with Wagner Moura, Caio Junqueira, André Ramiro
- Zuo You (In Love We Trust), China, by Wang Xiaoshuai and with Liu Weiwei, Zhang Jiayu, Yu Nan
CLOSING FILM
- Be Kind Rewind, USA, by Michel Gondry and with Jack Black, Mos Def, Danny Glover, Mia Farrow, Signourney Weaver
OUT OF COMPETITION - Fireflies in the Garden, USA, by Dennis Lee and with Julia Roberts, Ryan Reynolds, Willem Dafoe, Emily Watson
- Katyn, Poland, by Andrzej Wajda and with Maja Ostaszewska, Artur Zmijewski, Andrzej Chyra
- The Other Boleyn Girl, USA/Great Britain, by Justin Chadwick and with Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson, Eric Bana
BERLINALE SPECIALS - 1000 Journals, USA, by Andrea Kreuzhage
- Auge in Auge -- eine deutsche Filmgeschichte (Eye to Eye – all about German Film…), Germany, by Hans Helmut Prinzler, Michael Althen
- CSNY Déjà vu, USA, by Bernard Shakey (Neil Young)
- El pollo, el pez y el cangrejo real (The Chicken, The Fish And The King Crab), Spain, by José Luis López Linares
- Himlens hjärta (Heaven's Heart), Sweden/Denmark, by Simon Staho and with Mikael Persbrandt, Lena Endre, Jakob Eklund, Maria Lundquist
- Nerakhoon (Betrayal), USA, by Ellen Kuras and Thavisouk Phrasavath
- Om Shanti Om, India/UK, by Farah Khan and with Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone, Shreyas Talpade
- Plus tard tu comprendras, France/Germany, by Amos Gitai and with Jeanne Moreau, Dominique Blanc, Hippolite Girardot
- Steal a Pencil for Me, USA, by Michèle Ohayon
- Trip to Asia. Die Suche nach dem Einklang (Trip to Asia. The Quest for Harmony), Germany, by Thomas Grube
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