King Khan to lord it over Berlin Print E-mail
Written by Christian Koehl and Leo Barraclough   
Saturday, 19 January 2008

BERLIN -- Indian superstar Shah Rukh Khan will be in Berlin to give a lecture at the Talent Campus and accompany the festival bow of "Om Shanti Om."

The hit pic, produced through Khan's Red Chillies company, appears as a special screening out of competition, the fest announced Friday.

Fest came close to completing its massive line up, announcing the final five films for main competition, three more out of competition and more than 20 more for the Forum sidebar section. There is also a special three pic tribute to Japanese helmer Wakamatsu Koji.

Korean art-house helmer Hong Sang-soo sees his new pic "Night and day" (Bam guan at) given its world premiere in competition.

Forum section contains a number of Asian pics which premiered at Pusan, including the retitled "Tear Drops," by Mun Jeong-hyun, now known as "Grandmother's Flower."

Away from Asia, the latest entries include the world preem of Justin Chadwyck's historical drama "The Other Boleyn Girl," which screens out of competition. The Scott Rudin Prods., Ruby Films and BBC Films pic stars Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson and Eric Bana.

Dennis Lee's family drama "Fireflies in the Garden," another world preem, also screens out of competition. Pic stars Julia Roberts, Ryan Reynolds, Willem Dafoe and Emily Watson; Germany's Senator Entertainment produced.

The fest's closing feature, also screening out of competition, will be Michel Gondry's comedy "Be Kind Rewind." Pic, which unspools first at Sundance, stars Jack Black and Mos Def.

Two other world preems compete for the Golden Bear: French-German pic "Il y a longtemps que je t'aime" (I've Loved You So Long), helmed by Philippe Claudel and starring Kristin Scott Thomas; and the Iranian pic "Avaze gonjeshk-ha" (The Song of Sparrows), helmed by Majid Majidi.

The other new competition titles are U.S. pic "Ballast," helmed by Lance Hammer; and Petri Kotwica's Finnish-German co-production "Musta jaa" (Black Ice).

The festival has also unveiled 11 pics for its Berlinale Special sidebar.

In the lineup are the world preem of Amos Gitai's "Plus tard tu comprendras" and Neil Young's docu "CSNY Deja Vu."

 

Asian selections in Berlin Forum

Asyl - Park and Love Hotel (Asyl) by Kumasaka Izuru, Japan

Balikbayan Box by Mes De Guzman, Philippines/Netherlands/Switzerland (IP)

God Man Dog by Singing Chen, Taiwan

Grandmother’s Flower by Mun Jeong-hyun, Republic of Korea (IP)

Higurashi by Hirosue Hiromasa, Japan
Invisible City by Tan Pin Pin, Singapore

Musunde-hiraite (What the Heart Craves) by Takahashi Izumi, Japan (IP)

Paruthiveeran by Ameer Sulthan, India (IP)

Sweet Food City by Gao Wendong, People’s Republic of China (WP)

Son of a Lion by Benjamin Gilmour, Australia/Pakistan

Tirador (Slingshot) by Brillante Ma. Mendoza, Philippines
Tribu by Jim Libiran, Philippines
United Red Army by Wakamatsu Koji, Japan (IP)
Yasukuni by Li Ying, Japan/People’s Republic of China

 

Tribute to Wakamatsu Koji
Ecstasy of the Angels, Japan 1972
Go, Go Second Time Virgin, Japan 1969
Secrets Behind the Wall, Japan 1965

Last Updated ( Tuesday, 22 January 2008 )
 
© Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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