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Miami - One of the pleasures of smaller film festivals, where one's viewing is less dutifully structured around competitions and mandatory big-name premieres, is pick-and-mix scheduling -- selecting the day's viewing on a mixture of gut instinct and chance convenience, and seeing what unexpected patterns and conflicts emerge. Coincidentally enough, I wound up seeing two Brazilian films back to back yesterday -- not such an improbable occurrence in a festival programme that accommodates Latin-American markets so generously, but their wildly contrasting impressions of urban social malaise and personal distrust proved mutually enhancing. Mexico and Germany were selected by the Miami programmers for dedicated showcases this year; on yesterday's evidence, however, Brazilian film is fighting fit. There's a fierce, Pablo Trapero-like sense of purpose to "A Wolf at the Door," a jumpy, pile-driving directorial debut for Fernando Coimbra that seems a gateway to more illustrious things -- as plausibly within...

John Michael McDonagh’s Calvary and new films by Michel Gondry, Kutlug Ataman and Robert Lepage are to feature in the Berlinale’s Panorama strand, which will open with Jalil Lespert’s Yves Saint Laurent.Scroll down for first batch of titles

A total of 50 features will be chosen for the Panorama section of the 2014 Berlinale (Feb 6-16), films that “provide insight on new directions in art house cinema”, and the first 19 have been announced. A total of 11 of those selected are world premieres.

The opening film will mark the international premiere of Jalil Lespert’s Yves Saint Laurent, a look at the life of the French designer from the beginning of his career in 1958 when he met his lover and business partner, Pierre Berge.

The opening screening on Feb 7 will see Berlin’s flagship cinema, the Zoo Palast, re-inaugurated as a Berlinale venue after extensive renovations.

Also in the line-up are new films from Michel Gondry, Kutluğ...

Jc Calciano‘s Is It Just Me? (top); Nicole Conn‘s Elena Undone (middle); Roberto Moreira‘s Paulista (bottom) Jc Calciano‘s Is It Just Me?, Anna Margarita Albelo‘s Hooters!, Roberto Moreira‘s Paulista, and Nicole Conn‘s Elena Undone are some of the films screening at Outfest 2010 on Friday, July 16. Is It Just Me? is a West Hollywood-set romantic comedy that borrows plot elements from Cyrano de Bergerac: Blaine (Nicholas Downs) falls in love with Xander (David Loren) after chatting with him online. The glitch is that the profile picture Blaine saw was that of Xander’s hunky roommate Cameron (Adam Huss). Hooters! is a documentary about the making of Cheryl Dunye‘s The Owls, screened last weekend at Outfest. In Paulista, an actress (Sílvia Lourenço), a lawyer (Maria Clara Spinelli), and an author (Fábio Herford) look for love in the streets of bustling São Paulo. Elena Undone...