News

The Berlin International Film Festival has just announced the first five films lined up for the Competition and five more for the Berlinale Special. The 62nd edition runs from February 9 through 19.

Update: The Berlinale's also announced that the members of the International Jury, presided over by Mike Leigh, will be Anton Corbijn, Asghar Farhadi, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Jake Gyllenhaal, François Ozon, Boualem Sansal and Barbara Sukowa.

Competition

Captive

France/Philippines/Germany/Great Britain

By Brillante Mendoza (Serbis, Kinatay, Lola)

With Isabelle Huppert, Katherine Mulville, Marc Zanetta

World premiere

From Ioncinema: "Based on a real-life event that occurred in 2001. It centers on Thérèse Bourgoin (Huppert), a French woman who works for a humanitarian organization on Palawan Island in the Philippines. While she is transporting equipment to Puerto Princesa, she is kidnapped by mistake with a colleague by Muslim extremist group Abu Sayyaf, who are fighting for Mindanao independence."

Dictado (Childish Games)

Spain

By Antonio Chavarrías (Susanna,...

Now that the fall “awards festival” circuit is finally at a close — but with Sundance looming in the distance — it’s easy to forget about Biff — the Berlin International Film Festival, that is. (See, I even have to give the name.) This might have something to do with their less-than-huge lineup; in terms of films playing in competition, last year’s biggest art house title was The Turin Horse, while the most mainstream was probably Margin Call. Nothing too slim, but not much compared to Cannes, Venice, or Tiff.

The first round of titles to play this coming February (via Twitch) do carry a few major titles, though. Among them are The Flowers of War (which we were quite ecstatic about), Guy Maddin‘s Keyhole, Extremely Loud…, Kevin Macdonald‘s Bob Marley documentary, and an expansion of Werner Herzog‘s Into the Abyss. A few other foreign titles carry potential,...

Don—The King is Back (Don 2) directed by Farhan Akhtar will have a special screening at the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival. The festival announced on Monday the first five films for Competition and films to be screened at Berlinale Special.

Don 2 is an Indo-German co-production and will release in theatres in India on December 23, 2011. Mathias Schwerbrock of Germany is associated with the film as a co-producer along with Farhan Akhtar, Ritesh Sidhwani and Gauri Khan.

The other films to be screened at Berlinale Special are: documentary Marley by Kevin Macdonald from Great Britain and the USA, the Spanish film La chispa de la vida by Álex de la Iglesia, Guy Maddin’s Keyhole from Canada, as well as Werner Herzog’s documentary series Death Row from the USA.

The 62nd Berlin International Film Festival will be held from February 9-19, 2012.

The first five titles in Competition:

Captive...

The 2012 Berlin International Film Festival has just announced the first block of titles and it's an interesting list dominated by major arthouse films from around the world with a few pleasant surprises - such as the latest from Alex de la Iglesia - thrown in for good measure. Here's the complete list:Captive, France/Philippines/Germany/Great Britain. By Brillante Mendoza (Serbis, Kinatay, Lola.) With Isabelle Huppert, Katherine Mulville, Marc Zanetta. World premiere. Dictado (Childish Games,) Spain. By Antonio Chavarrías (Susanna, Volverás, Las vidas de Celia) With Juan Diego Botto, Barbara Lennie, Mágica Pérez. World premiere. Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close, USA By Stephen Daldry (Billy Elliot, The Hours, The Reader) With Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock, Max von Sydow, Thomas Horn International premiere / Out of Competition....

Jake Gyllenhaal, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Anton Corbijn Get Berlin Festival Jury Duty The 62nd Berlin International Film Festival has set its first five competition films, and has selected the Stephen Daldry-directed Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close and the Zhang Yimou-directed The Flowers Of War to screen out of competition. The selected productions and co-productions are from Indonesia, Spain, the People’s Republic of China, Hong Kong/China, the Philippines, Great Britain, Germany, the U.S. and France. Here are the films so far: Captive, France/Philippines/Germany/Great Britain. By Brillante Mendoza (Serbis, Kinatay, Lola.) With Isabelle Huppert, Katherine Mulville, Marc Zanetta. World premiere. Dictado (Childish Games), Spain. By Antonio Chavarrías (Susanna, Volverás, Las vidas de Celia) With Juan Diego Botto, Barbara Lennie, Mágica Pérez. World premiere. Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close, USA By Stephen Daldry (Billy Elliot, The Hours, The Reader) With Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock, Max von Sydow,...