Competition Line-Up At Berlin Film Festival

by Helen Earnshaw | 4 February 2009

Mammoth

No sooner has one festival finished then another gets underway as the Berlin Film Festival for 2009 kicks off tomorrow.

The festival is one of the top showcases for established and first time film makers ranking alongside the likes of Venice and Cannes Film Festivals.

The jury will hand out the Berlinale's Golden and Silver Bears from more than twenty films that have been selected for the main competition.

So FemaleFirst takes at look at Golden Bear Line-Up a little more closely which includes movies from Germany, UK, China and America.

Alle Anderen

As you can imagine German movies do feature heavily at the Berlin Film Festival with the German film industry being under the spotlight during the ten day event and Alle Anderen will compete for the top prize.

During a summer holiday, Gitti and Chris meet and almost immediately become a couple. However, their relationship gets out of balance when little rituals, secrets and frustrations start to reveal themselves.

The film is directed by Maren Ade who won the Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival in 2005 for The Forest for the Trees.

Cheri

Stephen Frears, the man behind The Queen and Dangerous Liasons, is back with Cheri, an adaptation of the 1920 novel by Colette.

Set in 1920s Paris, Cheri tells the story of the end of a six-year affair between an aging retired courtesan, Léa, and a pampered young man, Chéri.

Turning stereotypes upside-down, it is Chéri who wears silk pyjamas and Léa's pearls, and who is the object of gaze. The film reunites Frears with Michelle Pfeiffer as well as seeing British actor Rupert Friend's career go from strength to strength.

Rage

Rage is a collaboration between the UK and US and brings together a great cast of Judi Dench, Jude law, Dianne Wiest and Steve Buscemi as it gets it's world premiere in Berlin.

Rage is an exposé of the scene, told as a documentary made by a schoolboy backstage at a fashion week show, seen from the point of view of the schoolboy’s cell-phone camera. But a catwalk accident leads to a homicide investigation and a warts-and-all picture of the industry emerges.

The Messenger

Another great cast, which includes Woody Harrleson, Samantha Morton and Ben Foster, is on show in The Messenger which is the directorial debut of Oren Moverman.

With three months left in the service, Will (Ben Foster) has spent a good deal of time in army hospitals, healing scars from his time in Iraq.

To make things worse, the girl he left behind (Jena Malone) has moved on with her life. Ironically, his chance at a fresh start lies in working shoulder to shoulder with Tony (Woody Harrelson), a senior officer who teaches him the ropes of his new post with the Casualty Notification Office.

Will, who narrowly escaped death, must now break the news about those who didn’t. Between assignments, these two soldiers form a unique bond that helps them in their struggle to get back to ""normal"" life, fully knowing nothing will ever really be normal again.

Mammoth

Mammoth is a Swedish, German and Danish collaboration that stars Gael Garcia Bernal and Michelle Williams and is directed by Lukas Moodysson, who brought us Show Me Love and Lilja 4-ever.

Leo and Ellen are a successful New York couple, totally immersed in their work. Leo is the creator of a booming website, and has stumbled into a world of money and big decisions. Ellen is a dedicated emergency surgeon who devotes her long shifts to saving lives.

Their 8-year old daughter Jackie spends most of her time with her Filipino nanny Gloria, a situation that is making Ellen start to question her priorities.

When Leo travels to Thailand on business, he unwittingly sets off a chain of events that will have dramatic consequences for everyone.

The other films in the Golden Bear competition category include:

Darbareye Elly (About Elly)

Eden a l'ouest (Eden is West)

Gigante

Happy Tears

On the Electric Mist

Katalin Varga

La Teta Asustade (The Milk of Sorrow)

Lille Soldat (Little Soldier)

Ricky

Storm