Dante Lam, Fruit Chan, Vietnamese SciFi And A Whole Lot More Added To The Berlin Lineup!

With 24 of them world premieres, 36 films from 29 countries will give an overview of current international fictional-feature production. Most recently invited are works from Norway, Ethiopia, Mexico, India, Iran, Georgia, Greece, Hungary and Austria - with returning filmmakers Elfi Mikesch and Umut Dağ, who opened Panorama 2012 with Kuma, his directorial debut.

The titles just added include a remarkable number of Asian productions:
In Ieji (Homeland) by Nao Kubota (Japan), a farmer's son, who first fled to the city, explores his home village in the Fukushima district, an area that is actually still a no-go zone.
In the South Korean film Night Flight, LeeSong Hee-il presents a poignantly unsettling duel between two schoolmates in a society deeply disturbed by the pressure to succeed. LeeSong previously showed the films No Regret and White Night in Panorama.
One of this year's most astonishing debuts comes from 21-year-old Zhou Hao from the People's Republic of China: the rough intimacy and confident sense of style in his film YE (The Night) are reminiscent of Fassbinder, Genet or Wong Kar Wai.
Masters of Hong Kong cinema are now also in the line-up: Dante Lam, who in Mo Jing (That Demon Within) successfully employs the entertaining means of an action film to raise great moral issues; and Fruit Chan, who in The Midnight After has adapted an online serial novel, and given it a mysterious apocalyptic vibe - Chan's 2005 Panorama entry, Dumplings, also still brings back fierce memories.
Two Philippine and two Taiwanese works were announced earlier. They will be complemented by a film from well-known Taiwanese-Malaysian director Tsai Ming-liang. He will present the next segment of his experimental "Walker" series, entitled Xi You (Journey to the West), a French production with Lee Kang Sheng and Denis Lavant.

Opening films
Panorama's main programme will open on Thursday, February 6, with a Vietnamese sci-fi surprise: Nước (2030) by Nghiêm-Minh Nguyễn-Võ. Ocean levels have risen and the land of many farmers is now under water. Vegetables are cultivated on floating farms, a catastrophic situation from which global corporations want to profit.

Panorama main-programme premieres will be showing at CinemaxX 7.

On February 7, the same day Jalil Lespert's film Yves Saint Laurent, as already announced, is opening Panorama Special, US-American filmmaker Ira Sachs will present his latest work, Love Is Strange, with Alfred Molina, John Lithgow and Marisa Tomei. (In 2005, Sachs showed Forty Shades of Blue in Panorama; and in 2012, Keep the Lights on.) With these two films, the Berlinale is returning to the newly reopened Zoo Palast in the city's western centre.

The complete programme of Panorama Dokumente will be announced in the next press release.

Here is the list of the most recently selected films (for the first press release, please go to www.berlinale.de):

Panorama fictional features

Asabani Nistam! (I'm Not Angry!) - Iran
by Reza Dormishian
With Baran Kosari, Navid Mohammadzadeh, Reza Behboudi, Misagh Zare, Bahram Afshari
IP

Blind - Norway / Netherlands
by Eskil Vogt
With Ellen Dorrit Petersen, Henrik Rafaelsen, Vera Vitali, Marius Kolbenstvedt
EP

Difret - Ethopia
by Zeresenay Berhane Mehari
With Meron Getnet, Tizita Hagere
EP

Fieber (Fever) - Luxembourg / Austria
By Elfi Mikesch
With Eva Mattes, Martin Wuttke, Carolina Cardoso, Nicole Max, Sascha Ley
WP

Güeros - Mexico
By Alonso Ruízpalacios
With Ilse Salas
WP

Highway - India
By Imtiaz Ali
With Randeep Hooda, Alia Bhatt
WP

Ieji (Homeland) - Japan
By Nao Kubota
With Kenichi Matsuyama, Yuko Tanaka, Sakura Ando, Takashi Yamanaka, Seiyo Uchino
WP

In Grazia di Dio - Italy
By Edoardo Winspeare
With Celeste Casciaro, Laura Licchetta, Barbara De Matteis, Anna Boccadamo, Gustavo Caputo
WP

Love Is Strange - USA
By Ira Sachs
With John Lithgow, Alfred Molina, Marisa Tomei, Charlie Tahan, Cheyenne Jackson
IP

Mo Jing (That Demon Within) - Hong Kong, China
By Dante Lam
With Daniel Wu, Nick Cheung
WP

Na kathese ke na kitas (Standing Aside, Watching) - Greece
By Yorgos Servetas
With Marina Symeou, Marianthi Pantelopoulou, Yorgos Kafetzopoulos, Nikos Georgakis
EP

Night Flight - Republic of Korea
By LeeSong Hee-il
With Lee Jae-jun, Kwak Shi-yang
WP

Nước (2030) - Vietnam
By Nghiêm-Minh Nguyễn-Võ
With Quỳnh Hoa, Quý Bình, Thạch Kim Long, Hoàng Trần Minh Đức, Hoàng Phi
WP

Patardzlebi (Brides) - Georgia / France
By Tinatin Kajrishvili
With Mari Kitia, Giorgi Maskharashvili
WP

Risse im Beton (Cracks in Concrete) - Austria
By Umut Dağ
With Murathan Muslu, Alechan Tagaev, Mehmet Ali Salman, Erdem Turkoglu, Ivan Kriznjak
WP

The Midnight After - Hong Kong, China
By Fruit Chan
With Wong You-nam, Simon Yam, Kara Hui, Janice Man, Suet Lam
WP

Viharsarok (Land of Storms) - Hungary
By Adam Császi
With Andras Sütő, Ádám Varga, Sebastian Urzendowsky
WP

YE (The Night) - People's Republic of China
By Hao Zhou
With Zhou Hao, Liu Xiao Xiao, Li Jin Kang, Zhou Feng Qi
WP

Previously announced fictional features

Arrête ou je continue (If You Don't, I Will) by Sophie Fillières, France (WP)
Bai Mi Zha Dan Ke (The Rice Bomber) by Cho Li, Taiwan (WP)
Bing Du (Ice Poison) by Midi Z, Taiwan / Myanmar (WP)
Calvary by John Michael McDonagh, Ireland / United Kingdom (EP)
Hoje Eu Quero Voltar Sozinho (The Way He Looks) by Daniel Ribeiro, Brazil (WP)
Is the Man Who Is Tall Happy? by Michel Gondry, France (EP)
O Homem das Multidões (The Man of the Crowd) by Marcelo Gomes, Cao Guimarães, Brazil (IP)
Papilio Buddha by Jayan Cherian, India / USA (EP)
Quick Change by Eduardo Roy Jr., Philippines (IP)
Stereo by Maximilian Erlenwein, Germany (WP)
Test by Chris Mason Johnson, USA (EP)
The Better Angels by A. J Edwards, USA (IP)
Kuzu (The Lamb) by Kutluğ Ataman, Germany / Turkey (WP)
Things People Do by Saar Klein, USA (WP)
Triptyque (Triptych) by Robert Lepage, Pedro Pires, Canada (EP)
Über-Ich und Du (Superegos) by Benjamin Heisenberg, Germany / Switzerland / Austria (WP)
Unfriend by Joselito Altarejos, Philippines (WP)
Xi You (Journey to the West) by Tsai Ming-liang, France / Taiwan (WP)
Yves Saint Laurent by Jalil Lespert, France (IP)

(WP= World Premiere, IP= International Premiere, EP = European Premiere)

Berlinale Special is part of the official programme and presents recent works by contemporary filmmakers, as well as film portraits of renowned personalities and extraordinary formats. This year 18 productions have been invited to participate in Berlinale Special, including nine world premieres.

With many prominent guests expected to attend, the Gala Screenings are being held, as usual, at the Friedrichstadt-Palast and, for the first time, at the Zoo Palast.

"Wonderful that the legendary Zoo Palast may now be added as a venue for big Berlinale films. In 2014 we will celebrate several Gala Screenings of Berlinale Special at this historic movie theatre. Of course, we'll also roll out the red carpet at the Friedrichstadt-Palast for the stars of Berlinale Special," says Festival Director Dieter Kosslick.

The presentations at the Haus der Berliner Festspiele will again include moderated discussions with the filmmakers after the screenings.

The programme:

Berlinale Special Galas at the Friedrichstadt-Palast

A Long Way Down
United Kingdom / Germany
By Pascal Chaumeil (HeartBreaker)
With Pierce Brosnan, Toni Collette, Aaron Paul, Imogen Poots
World premiere

American Hustle
USA
By David O. Russell (Silver Linings, Three Kings)
With Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper, Jeremy Renner, Amy Adams, Jennifer Lawrence
German premiere

Cesar Chavez
USA
By Diego Luna (Abel)
With Michael Peña, America Ferrera, Rosario Dawson, John Malkovich
World premiere

Dans la cour (In the Courtyard)
France
By Pierre Salvadori (Beautiful Lies, The Apprentices)
With Catherine Deneuve, Gustave Kervern
World premiere

Hundraåringen som klev ut genom fönstret och försvann (The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared)
Sweden
By Felix Herngren (Every Other Week, Adult Behaviour)
With Robert Gustafsson, Iwar Wiklander, Mia Skäringer, Alan Ford, David Wiberg
German premiere

The Turning - anthology film
Australia
By Marieka Walsh, Warwick Thornton, Jub Clerc, Robert Connolly, Anthony Lucas, Rhys Graham, Ashlee Page, Tony Ayres, Claire McCarthy, Stephen Page, Shaun Gladwell, Mia Wasikowska, Simon Stone, David Wenham, Jonathan auf der Heide, Justin Kurzel, Yaron Lifschitz, Ian Meadows
With Cate Blanchett, Rose Byrne, Miranda Otto, Richard Roxburgh, Hugo Weaving
International premiere

Berlinale Special Galas at the Zoo Palast

Das finstere Tal (The Dark Valley)
Austria / Germany
By Andreas Prochaska (Dead In 3 Days, The Unintentional Kidnapping of Mrs. Elfriede Ott)
With Sam Riley, Tobias Moretti, Paula Beer, Thomas Schubert, Carmen Gratl
World premiere

Diplomatie (Diplomacy)
France / Germany
By Volker Schlöndorff (The Tin Drum, The Ninth Day)
With André Dussollier, Niels Arestrup, Robert Stadlober, Burghart Klaussner
World premiere

The Two Faces of January
United Kingdom / USA / France
By Hossein Amini - feature debut
With Viggo Mortensen, Kirsten Dunst, Oscar Isaac
World premiere

Berlinale Special at the Kino International

En du Elsker (Someone You Love)
Denmark
By Pernille Fischer Christensen (A Family, A Soap)
With Mikael Persbrandt, Trine Dyrholm, Birgitte Hjort Sørensen, Sofus Rønnov, Eve Best
World premiere

Berlinale Special at the Haus der Berliner Festspiele

Afternoon of a Faun: Tanaquil Le Clercq - documentary
USA
By Nancy Buirski (The Loving Story)
International premiere

Baal (1969)
Germany
By Volker Schlöndorff (The Tin Drum, The Ninth Day)
With Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Sigi Graue, Margarethe von Trotta
Festival premiere

Cathedrals of Culture - 3D film project
Germany / Denmark / Austria / Norway / France
By Wim Wenders, Michael Glawogger, Michael Madsen, Robert Redford, Margreth Olin, Karim Aïnouz
World premiere

Night Will Fall - documentary (work in progress)
United Kingdom
By André Singer (Forbidden Rites, World in Action)
World premiere

The Galapagos Affair: Satan Came to Eden - documentary
USA
By Dayna Goldfine and Dan Geller (Ballets Russes)
European premiere

The Unknown Known - documentary
USA
By Errol Morris (Standard Operation Procedure, Tabloid)
German premiere

Watermark - documentary
Canada
By Jennifer Baichwal (Manufactured Landscapes), Edward Burtynsky
European premiere

We Come As Friends - documentary
France / Austria
By Hubert Sauper (Darwin's Nightmare)
European premiere