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Penelope Cruz, Mike Leigh awaited at Berlin film festival
2008-01-10
Films by British director Mike Leigh and Hong Kong's Johnnie To and a Philip Roth adaptation with Penelope Cruz will compete for prizes at the Berlin Film Festival next month, organisers said Wednesday. Leigh, best known for gritty working-class dramas, will bring "Happy-Go-Lucky," an improvised comedy set in London, to the 58th Berlinale, the festival said in a statement. To will unveil "Sparrow," a look at friendship among pickpockets, at an international premiere during the February 7-17 event. Spanish director Isabel Coixet, who made a splash on the arthouse circuit in 2003 with "My Life Without Me", will screen "Elegy" based on the Roth novel "The Dying Animal". The picture features Cruz as a student who sparks lust and confusion in a middle-aged critic -- Oscar-winner Ben Kingsley. Festival organisers announced last month that veteran Polish director Andrzej Wajda's latest picture and an epic drama starring Oscar-winner Daniel Day-Lewis would screen at the event's main showcase. Day-Lewis plays an oil magnate in "There Will be Blood" by US director Paul Thomas Anderson, which has generated Oscar buzz since its release last month in the United States. Anderson won the festival's Golden Bear top prize in 2000 for "Magnolia", which featured Tom Cruise in an ensemble cast. Chinese director Wang Xiaoshuai will present "Zou You" (In Love We Trust) about a mother's bid to save her firstborn child from cancer. He won the Silver Bear for the film "Beijing Bicycle" in 2001. Wajda will bring "Katyn", a film about the massacre of thousands of Polish officers and intellectuals by Soviet troops in 1940. The film will screen out of competition. Among other films announced in the main roster Wednesday were German-Italian production "Feuerherz" (Heart of Fire) by Luigi Falorni and French features "Lady Jane" and "Julia" starring Britain's Tilda Swinton. "Restless" by Israel's Amos Kollek, Japanese wartime drama "Kabei" (Kabei -- Our Mother) and Italy's "Caos Calmo" (Quiet Chaos) with Nanni Moretti rounded out the list. The rest of the films in competition will be unveiled later this month. Other highlights announced for the 11-day festival include pop queen Madonna's debut film as a director and a short feature about the sex lives of insects made by actress and model Isabella Rossellini. Greek-French director Costa-Gavras will serve as president of the jury that will select the winners of the Golden and Silver Bear top prizes.
Rock royalty to meet glamour queens at Berlinale (2008-01-28)Julia Roberts, Scarlett Johansson due at Berlin film fest (2008-01-18)Penelope Cruz, Mike Leigh awaited at Berlin film festival (2008-01-10)Hollywood gets serious as Venice festival winds up (2007-09-07)Protest awaits French actress Fanny Ardant in Venice (2007-09-06)
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