News

The Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (known as PÖFF) has unveiled the full lineup of its flagship Official Selection, whose 18 features from 23 countries will compete for the coveted €20,000 Grand Prix.

They include 11 world premieres. The jury is helmed by acclaimed German director Christoph Hochhäusler.

Tiina Lokk, the founder and director of the festival, said “the Official Selection Competition has it all! There’s a psycho-thriller that approaches horror, a psychological family drama, and sci-fi genre is represented. The selection is broad, and so is the range of countries. We’re not trying to highlight a certain theme or a particular region, we are free in our choices,” she noted.

Emphasizing the various topics covered, Lokk cites old age, the end of life and euthanasia “perhaps due to the influence of Covid,” domestic violence and war, “not tackled in the traditional form” but rather via psychological dramas.

“Last year there were...

Another week, another early Asghar Farhadi film gets restored and finally comes to North America. Following last week’s release of his 2003 drama Dancing in the Dust, Film Movement Classics will now release the Oscar-winning Iranian director’s second feature Beautiful City in a new 2K restoration approved by Farhadi. Led by Taraneh Alidoosti––who would go on to work with the director in Fireworks Wednesday, About Elly, and The Salesman––the 2004 drama will be released digitally on October 13 and we’re pleased to exclusively deubt the new trailer.

Here’s the full synopsis: “After spending two years in juvenile detention for killing his girlfriend as a teenager, the troubled, young Akbar is transferred to an adult facility shortly after turning 18. No longer a minor, his death sentence will soon be legally carried out. Meanwhile outside, Ala — Akbar’s friend and newly paroled petty thief — along with Akbar’s sister...

Golshifteh Farahani (Pirates of the Caribbean, About Elly, Paterson) and Zar Amir-Ebrahami (Palme d’Or-winner in 2022 for Holy Spider) — two of most recognized and in-demand Iranian stars working outside of Iran today — have teamed for the feature adaptation of Azar Nafisi’s bestselling Iranian novel Reading Lolita in Tehran.

The two lead an ensemble cast in the the drama — from award-winning director Eran Riklis (Lemon Tree, The Syrian Bride, Dancing Arabs) and written by Marjorie David — alongside Mina Kavani (Red Rose, No Bears). WestEnd Films are launching sales of the film in Cannes.

Translated into 32 languages across the world and set after the revolution in Iran as extremism took hold, Reading Lolita in Tehran tells the autobiographical story of a bold and inspired teacher, who secretly gathered seven of her most committed female students to read forbidden western classics while their world as they knew it closed in around them.

EFM project ‘Maria Montessori’ has also sold robustly.

Paris-based Indie Sales has sold Belgian filmmaker Zeno Graton’s Berlinale Generation film The Lost Boys to Dark Star Pictures in the US, Pecadillo Pictures in the UK/Ireland and to the Filmin platform in Spain.

The film stars Khalil Gharbia alongside Julien de Saint Jean in a story of two young men attempting to keep their burgeoning relationship under wraps at a tough juvenile detention centre. The Lost Boys is produced by France’s Silex Films and Belgium’s Tarantula and will be released in Belgium by O’Brother and in...

Iranian-born actress Golshifteh Farahani — who returns to the Berlinale this year to serve on the jury headed by Kristen Stewart — found herself in the middle of several controversies when she first visited the festival in 2009 as one of the stars of Asghar Farhadi’s About Elly.

At the time, there was some speculation over whether the film, which followed a group of middle-class Iranians on a vacation to the Caspian Sea, would be banned in Iran. Appearing before the press, Farahani called the speculation “a storm in a teacup,” while director Farhadi blamed the media for stoking the controversy, saying: “I think they really blew things up out of all proportion. I am quite confident the film will not have difficulties in Iran. In fact, it is being shown in Tehran tonight, after the premiere in Berlin.”

Farhadi, who went on to win the festival’s Silver Bear for directing,...

Iranian actress Golshifteh Farahani, who is at the Berlin Film Festival as a member of Kristen Stewart’s jury, has talked passionately about the importance of art in her native country as an antidote to its repressive government.

“In a country, like Iran, which is a dictatorship, art is not only an intellectual or philosophical thing, it’s essential, it’s like oxygen,” she said at the festival’s opening press conference.

“Doing art and being an artist is something that goes beyond, because your existence, by being an artist, is put into danger.”

Iran’s authoritarian government has long persecuted professionals in the country’s creative community when they stepped out of line with its hardline Islamist views and policies.

The repression has ratcheted up over the last year. A brutal crackdown on freedom of expression, that preceded the recent protests, saw Berlinale Golden Bear winners Jafar Panahi and...

Update: An Iranian court has determined that film director Asghar Farhadi violated the copyright of a former student, Azadeh Masihzadeh, for Farhadi’s latest film, “A Hero.” According to The Hollywood Reporter, which first broke the news early on Tuesday, “The case will now pass to a second judge, whose ruling can then be challenged in an appellate court. The judge can also order the case to be re-examined.” It was previously reported that Farhadi had been convicted of plagiarism, but that has not yet occurred according to a new report from Entertainment Weekly.

Earlier, Deadline noted that Farhadi’s lawyer, Kaveh Rad, said on social media that the reports are premature, and that “the decision is not the final verdict of the court and is considered part of the trial process.” In a statement to EW, French producer Alexandre Mallet-Guy said, “We firmly believe that the court will dismiss Ms.

Exclusive: Film Movement Classics has acquired North American rights to 2K digital restorations of Asghar Farhadi’s first two features Dancing in the Dust and Beautiful City, which have been signed off on by the two-time Oscar winner himself. Both restored dramas will be released theatrically this year, with a release on all heading home entertainment and digital platforms to follow.

In Farhadi’s 2003 feature directorial debut Dancing in the Dust, Nazar (Yousef Khodaparast) is pressured into divorcing his wife (Baran Kosari) because of her family’s bad reputation. This leads to money problems, and before long, he’s on the run due to debts that he can’t pay. Hiding out in the desert, he meets an eccentric elderly man (Faramarz Gharibian) who makes a living by collecting venom from poisonous snakes. Nazar becomes his unlikely partner and gets an unexpected chance at redemption. The film won Best Director,...

Now that Sundance has answered the question looming over the 2022 festival by going all-virtual for the second year in a row, it’s full-steam ahead. And today the nonprofit Sundance Institute announced the members of its six juries, including Marielle Heller (“Can You Ever Forgive Me?”), Andrew Haigh (“Weekend”), Joey Soloway (“Transparent”), and Payman Maadi (“A Separation”). The 16 jurors will bestow awards upon the festival’s winners January 28, with award-winning movies available for extended online viewing during the festival’s closing weekend.

“These exceptional individuals will come together to offer a collaborative lens on our program,” said Sundance’s Director of Programming Kim Yutani in an official statement. “Their diverse personal perspectives can elevate work above the sum of its parts.” As previously announced, the jury for Alfred P. Sloan jury deliberated in advance of the festival and awarded the prize to “After Yang,” directed by Kogonada.

And audiences will...

Marielle Heller (A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood), Garrett Bradley (Time), Joey Soloway (Transparent), Andrew Haigh (Lean on Pete) and Dawn Porter (The Me You Can’t See) have been named as jurors for the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, taking place virtually from January 20-30.

Heller, who brought her first feature The Diary of a Teenage Girl to the festival in 2015, will preside over the U.S. Dramatic Competition with C’mon C’mon producer and former Annapurna Pictures exec Chelsea Barnard, and A Separation actor Payman Maadi.

Bradley, whose Sundance-premiering doc Time earned an Oscar nomination in 2021, will oversee the U.S. Documentary Competition with Peter Nicks, the director behind 2021 Sundance title Homeroom, and director-cinematographer Joan Churchill.

Soloway, the Transparent and I Love Dick creator who brought their first feature, Afternoon Delight, to Sundance in 2013, will serve as this year’s sole juror of the Next section, with Reservation Dogs director...

After last year’s Cannes Film Festival was reduced to a press conference announcing the works they would’ve screened, they’re back in full swing for 2021. Forgoing the virtual aspects embraced by many festivals, Cannes kicks off this Tuesday and we’ll be on the ground to cover.

Ahead of the festivities we’ve rounded up what we’re most looking forward to—and while we’re sure many surprises await, per every year, one will find twenty films that should already be on your radar. Check out our picks below and be sure to subscribe to our daily newsletter for the latest updates from the festival.

20. The Year of the Everlasting Storm (Various)

It’s only fitting to kick off with a film that looks to encapsulate our tumultuous year. Featuring contributions from Apichatpong Weerasethakul (who appears a bit later down as well), David Lowery, Jafar Panahi, Laura Poitras,...

Navid Mahmoudi’s Afghanistan-Iran production “Seven and a Half” will have its world premiere at the Busan International Film Festival’s ‘A Window on Asian Cinema’ strand.

Mahmoud previously wrote and produced “A Few Meters of Love,” which was Aghanistan’s entry to the Oscars in 2014. “Parting,” which he wrote and directed, was the country’s entry in 2016.

Meanwhile, Iranian project “African Violet” from Mona Zandi Haghighi (“Friday Evening”) will also play in Busan’s Asian strand. It arrives in Korea after playing at home at Fajr, and winning a jury special mention at Tripoli.

The connection between the two films – and the regular supply of high quality Iranian and Afghan films to major film festivals – is Paris-based production, distribution, promotion and sales outfit DreamLab Films. Spearheaded by Nasrine Medard de Chardon, the company was set up in 2000 and since then has championed more than 60 features and shorts from the region.

The internet will correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m pretty sure “The Wedding Guest” is the first time Dev Patel has handled a firearm in one of his movies. Five minutes into Michael Winterbottom’s Pakistan-set thriller, the actor walks into a shop, asks to try out a gun, and proceeds to inspect a semiautomatic pistol before settling on another. At this point, we don’t know the character’s name — and besides, we’ve seen him slip passports with four aliases into his suitcase — but Winterbottom is already actively manipulating stereotypes.

“The Wedding Guest” turns out to be the story of a professional, played by Patel but of the sort usually embodied by white men with square jaws and power-drill stares, who is contracted to kidnap a woman (Radhika Apte) on the eve of her arranged marriage and deliver her to the man she loves. But Winterbottom,...

As in Asghar Farhadi’s About Elly (2009), a woman’s disappearance in Everybody Knows (Todos Lo Saben—this is Farhadi’s first film in Spanish) is the inciting incident. This time it is Irene, the daughter of Laura (Penelope Cruz), swept from her bed on the night of her aunt’s wedding—either by her own anarchic free spirit, or a kidnapper, stranger, or kin. Irene’s absence turns up dormant family secrets and suspicions that, perhaps, they all already knew. Bare and exposed, the festered family wounds must be dealt with until new ones emerge to be cast aside. Everybody Knows is another social realist thriller in […]...

As in Asghar Farhadi’s About Elly (2009), a woman’s disappearance in Everybody Knows (Todos Lo Saben—this is Farhadi’s first film in Spanish) is the inciting incident. This time it is Irene, the daughter of Laura (Penelope Cruz), swept from her bed on the night of her aunt’s wedding—either by her own anarchic free spirit, or a kidnapper, stranger, or kin. Irene’s absence turns up dormant family secrets and suspicions that, perhaps, they all already knew. Bare and exposed, the festered family wounds must be dealt with until new ones emerge to be cast aside. Everybody Knows is another social realist thriller in […]...

In his new film Tides, director Tupaq Felber offers a beautifully well observed, expertly acted and hugely understated account about a group of friends trying to navigate their relationships and middle age after a recent loss. Written by Felber in a collaborative effort with his cast, Tides tells a simple story with a great deal of honesty and realism, even if it is ultimately let down by a decidedly meandering narrative and dialogue which doesn’t always manage to hit the right notes.

Over a hot summer weekend, a group of forty-somethings embark on an adventure onboard a narrowboat navigated by recently bereaved Jon (Jon Foster). Loaded with with booze, food and other recreational paraphernalia, Jon is joined by overly talkative actress Red (Robyn Isaac), the quietly reflective Zooby (Jamie Zubairi) and acerbic Simon (Simon Meacock), who swiftly revert to their playful youth. After a few drinks and a series of harmless jibes and insults,...

“Life is color.”

Ever since the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran resulting in a drastic change in the country as a whole, its relationship to the world has always been troublesome to say the least. Leaving the political debates aside for a moment, its views on religious issues, women and culture have led to some rather schizophrenic works, for example, in the world of film. While directors such as Asghar Farhadi (“About Elly”) create works of social criticism, showing the state not as the antagonist of the story, but more like a silent, omnipresent entity influencing the lives of people, others have been censored and even put under house arrest. In his documentary “This Is Not a Film” (2011), Jafar Panahi shows how he deals with the ban of his films in his home country, the fears he and his family have to go through as an excruciating search for answers in...

Asghar Farhadi’s “Everybody Knows,” which launched the 2018 Cannes in May, transplants many of the Iranian director’s usual concerns to a small village in Spain. The advance word called it a psychological thriller, and it does contain some thriller elements such as a crime and a race against time to save a young girl who’s gone missing.

But this is not Farhadi doing a genre exercise; as is most of his work, “Everybody Knows” is a quietly gripping examination of societal divisions, of class, of secrets that bind us together and pull us apart. And it’s about what happens when secrets aren’t really secrets, when “everybody knows” — or suspects, or at least gossips.

Many of those secrets swirl around Laura and Paco, played by Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem. She’s a woman from the village who has been living with her husband and children in Argentina for years,...

Between Paris-set “The Past” and the picturesque new Spanish drama “Everybody Knows,” Oscar-blessed Iranian director Asghar Farhadi’s career is starting to look suspiciously like Woody Allen’s, as he jets off to make sunlit movies starring beautiful people in one European country after another. Globe-trotting is well and good, except one hopes the immensely talented auteur responsible for “A Separation” and “The Salesman,” whose freedom to address certain topics is tightly monitored at home, would use the opportunity of working abroad to be a bit more provocative.

Selected to open what many are preemptively (and therefore prematurely) declaring an off year for the 2018 Cannes Film Festival, Farhadi’s weakest film yet is still better than the vast majority of commercially made dramas in Spain, France or the United States. Like the best of his work, “Everybody Knows” takes a simple scenario — one that reunites smoldering “Jamón, Jamón” co-stars Penélope Cruz...

About Elly (Darbareye Elly) Cinema Guild Reviewed by: Harvey Karten for Shockya. Databased on Rotten Tomatoes. Grade: B+ Director: Asghar Farhadi Screenplay: Asghar Farhadi, story by Azad Jafarian Cast: Golshifteh Farahani, Shahab Hosseini, Taraneh Alidoosti, Merila Zare’I, Mani Haghighi, Peyman Moaadi, Ra’na Azadivar, Ahmad Mehranfar, Saber Abbar Screened at: Critics’ link, NYC, 4/4/15 Opens: April 9, 2015 There may be cultural differences between Americans and people in the non-Western world, but one truth is universal: thou shalt not lie. Lying may get you somewhere in the short run, but ultimately as Walter Scott said, “Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive.” Not to be [ Read More ]

The post About Elly Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.

Frank Darabont, Michael Shamberg, Pietro Scalia Set For Zurich Master Classes

The Zurich Film Festival today announced this year’s headliners for its Master Class series. Instructors will include writer-director Frank Darabont; producer Michael Shamberg; editor Pietro Scalia, producer Greg Shapiro (The Hurt Locker), screenwriter Asghar Farhadi; director Daniel Espinosa, director Benh Zeitlin (Beasts Of The Southern Wild) and UTA’s David Flynn. Additionally producer Jerry Weintraub will lead a session as well as receive a career achievement award. Espinosa, Shamberg and Scalia also will be on the fest’s fiction jury of which Darabont will serve as president. Richard Gere will receive the fest’s Golden Icon award and John Travolta will be honored with the Golden Eye award at the...

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences brings you the Oscars (yep, that's why they're called Academy Awards), and on Friday, the organization announced that it was prepared to invite 176 new folks to its fold.

In a list posted on its website, the Academy deemed Matthew McConaughey, Jean Dujardin, Terrence Malick, Jonah Hill, Berenice Bejo, Jessica Chastain, Octavia Spencer and a host of other film luminaries worthy of inclusion in its nearly 6,000-member army.

The Academy has drawn the ire of critics who bemoan its overwhelmingly male, white population. A Los Angeles Times investigation found that of all Academy members, 94 percent are Caucasian and 77 percent are male. A mere 2 percent are black, with Latinos constituting an even smaller portion. Only 14 percent of members are under the age of 50.

Full members of the Academy select and vote on Oscars nominees. The organization was started in 1927 and is now governed by a 43-person board.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is extending invitations to join the organization to 176 artists and executives who have distinguished themselves by their contributions to theatrical motion pictures. Those who accept the invitation will be the only additions in 2012 to the Academy.s roster of members.

.These film professionals represent some of the most talented, most passionate contributors to our industry,. said Academy President Tom Sherak. .I.m glad to recognize that by calling each of them a fellow Academy member..

Voting membership in the organization has now held steady at just under 6,000 members since 2003.

The 2012 invitees are:

Actors

Simon Baker . .Margin Call,. .L.A. Confidential.

Sean Bean . .Flightplan,. .The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.

Bérénice Bejo . .The Artist,. .Oss 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies.

Tom Berenger . .Inception,. .Platoon.

Demián Bichir . .A Better Life,. .Che.

Jessica Chastain . .The Help,. .The Tree of Life.

Clifton Collins,...

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences extended their 2012 membership invitations today to 176 lucky actors, directors, cinematographers, and other members of the filmmaking industry.

Terrence Malick, who somehow wasn’t already a member, received an invitation, as did fellow directors Rodrigo Garcia and Asghar Farhadi.

For actors, Melissa McCarthy’s invitation continues her incredible post-Bridesmaids rise. In addition, actors Jonah Hill, Matthew McConaughey, Andy Serkis, Jessica Chastain, and Octavia Spencer were all invited to be members, among others.

Voting membership in the organization has now held steady at just under 6,000 members since 2003, according to the Academy’s website.

HollywoodNews.com: The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is extending invitations to join the organization to 176 artists and executives who have distinguished themselves by their contributions to theatrical motion pictures. Those who accept the invitation will be the only additions in 2012 to the Academy’s roster of members.

“These film professionals represent some of the most talented, most passionate contributors to our industry,” said Academy President Tom Sherak. “I’m glad to recognize that by calling each of them a fellow Academy member.”

Voting membership in the organization has now held steady at just under 6,000 members since 2003.

The 2012 invitees are:

Actors

Simon Baker – “Margin Call,” “L.A. Confidential”

Sean Bean – “Flightplan,” “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring”

Bérénice Bejo – “The Artist,” “Oss 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies”

Tom Berenger – “Inception,” “Platoon”

Demián Bichir – “A Better Life,” “Che”

Jessica Chastain – “The Help,” “The Tree of Life”

Clifton Collins,...

One of the first projects supported by the Mpa Apsa Academy Film Fund, Nader and Simin: A Separation by acclaimed Iranian writer/director Asghar Farhadi, is set to debut at the 2011 Berlin International Film Festival in the main competition section. Farhadi's fifth feature as director is one of 22 films that will compete for the 61st Golden Bear in Berlin where his previous film, Darbareye Elly (About Elly), won the Silver Bear in 2009.Farhadi received a $25,000 grant through the Mpa Apsa Academy Film Fund, a total of ...

Here Media is rebranding Regent Releasing, its film acquisition and distribution division, as Here Films.

Here will release 8-12 films per year, including several recent acquisitions that will be released in 2010. Xavier Dolan's "I Killed My Mother" (J'ai tue ma mere) and Asghar Farhadi's "About Elly" (Darbareye Elly) are both hot off the festival circuit. The lineup also include's Kenneth Branagh's "The Magic Flute."

Regent's current staff, led by executive vp Mark Reinhart, is being folded into the parent company. The distribution team also includes John Lambert, senior vp theatrical distribution; Liz Mackiewicz, senior vp sales and distribution; and Jonathon Aubry, vp marketing and distribution.

The Here Films staff will oversee remaining Regent releases through 2009, and new films being released through the Here Films banner.

Here Media encompasses motion picture company Here Studios; the premium cabler Here! Networks, aimed at gay and lesbian audiences; print outlets like the Advocate,...

About Elly (Darbareye Elly), the Iranian film about a group of friends on holiday at the Caspian Sea, was a big winner at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival, pulling down the Founders Award for Best Narrative Feature. It capped off a grand year for director Asghar Farhadi, who also previously received the Silver Bear for directing Elly at the Berlin Film Festival. We attended one of Farhadi's Q and A sessions at this year's Tribeca. Thanks to Here Media (formerly Regent Releasing), you'll have the chance to see the mysterious film in theaters in 2010.

Tribeca Film Festival Awards 2009 Tribeca Film Festival 2009: April 22-May 3, 2009   The Founders Award for Best Narrative Feature: About Elly / Darbareye Elly, directed and written by Asghar Farhadi Best New Narrative Filmmaker: Rune Denstad Langlo for North / Nord, written by Erlend Loe Best Actor: Ciarán Hinds in The Eclipse, directed and written by Conor McPherson Best Actress: Zoe Kazan in The Exploding Girl, directed and written by Bradley Rust Gray Best Documentary Feature: Racing Dreams, directed by Marshall Curry Special Jury Mention: Defamation / Hashmatsa, directed by Yoav Shamir Best New Documentary Filmmaker: Ian Olds for Fixer: The Taking of Ajmal Naqshbandi   New York Competition Best New York Narrative: Here and There / Tamo i ovde, directed and written by Darko Lungulov Best New York Documentary: Partly Private, directed by Danae Elon   Short Film Competition Best Narrative Short: The North Road / La route du Nord, directed and written by Carlos Chahine Best Documentary Short: Home,...

An Iranian drama has walked away with the top honour at this year's Tribeca Film Festival.

About Elly was named Best Feature Film at the annual prizegiving ceremony, held in New York on Thursday, while Racing Dreams, which tells the story of three young racing enthusiasts who hope to grow up to be Nascar drivers, took home Best Documentary Feature.

Ciaran Hinds triumphed in the Best Actor category for his role as a widower in The Eclipse and Best Actress went to Zoe Kazan for The Exploding Girl.

Jurors on the panel at Robert De Niro's movie event included such stars as Meg Ryan, Uma Thurman, Mary-Kate Olsen and Whoopi Goldberg.

The festival's audience award winner will be announced on Saturday evening.

The main list of winners is as follows:

Best Actor - Ciaran Hinds

Best Actress - Zoe Kazan

Best Feature Film - About Elly

Best Feature Documentary - Racing Dreams

Best Narrative - Here and There

Best Documentary - Partly Private

Best New Narrative Filmmaker - Rune Denstad Langlo For North

Best New Documentary Filmmaker - Ian Olds for Fixer: The Taking Of Ajmal Naqshbandi.

By Wrap Staff

The winners were announced on Thursday for the eighth Tribeca Film Festival .

The jurors for the 2009 World Narrative Competition were Bradley Cooper, Richard Fischoff, Todd Haynes, Meg Ryan and Uma Thurman.

The jurors for the 2009 World Documentary Competition were Liz Garbus, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Whoopi Goldberg, Morgan Spurlock and Brian Williams.

Here were the winners:

The Founders Award for Best Narrative Feature – About Elly (Darbareye Elly), directed and written by Asghar Farhadi...

The Tribeca Film Festival has handed out its jury prizes, bestowing best narrative feature on Iranian Asghar Farhadi's "About Elly" and best documentary feature on Marshall Curry's Go-Kart doc "Racing Dreams."

Farhadi's tale examines a group of upper-middle-class Iranians on a seaside vacation and the relationships that form among them, while Curry looks at competitive Go-Kart racing among young people who dream of racing cars professionally.

The festival also gave its best new narrative filmmaker prize to Norwegian Rune Denstad Langlo, who directed "Nord," about a skier who has become a recluse, and its best new doc filmmaker award to Ian Olds, whose "Fixer" looks at the killing of an Afghani translator.

Best actor in a feature went to Ciaran Hinds for his role as a pensive widower in "The Eclipse." Zoe Kazan took best actress for her starring role in the John Hughes-esque coming-of-age dramedy "The Exploding Girl.

I know it looks dire as it's 28% lighter (at least so far) and minus an artistic director, but no fear, there's still more to come, and with what's been announced theirs some interesting sounding stuff, especially a film we wrote about briefly called Accidents Happen. Also premiering is the comedy Stay Cool and the Danish film Original, along with the North American premier of The Exploding Girl which we also wrote about.

Check the narrative features, world documentary, and discovery lineups after the break!

World Narrative Feature Competition

A compelling cross-section of bold creative visions from every corner of the globe come together in this year’s World Narrative Feature Competition. Presenting a diverse array of unique voices, this international film collection includes premieres from a wide range of directors, such as U.S. indie veterans the Polish brothers and Tony-nominated Conor McPherson, as well as exciting newcomers. Together, these...

• With Geoffrey Gilmore in the portrait (his work will only be felt next year), Tribeca is making another great decision in shedding some of that baby fat. At eight years of age, the cuts make the festival leaner, less desperate for films and "more precise" in its programming. Scaling back to a sound number of 86, today's batch of 38 fill up the World Narrative and Documentary Comp selections and Discovery sections. Today's announcements demonstrates that relationships with filmmakers continue to flourish (I noticed a couple of names from the previous years). See the selections below (including Bradley Rust Gray's Berlin Fest preemed The Exploding Girl -- see pic). World Narrative Feature Competition A compelling cross-section of bold creative visions from every corner of the globe come together in this year’s World Narrative Feature Competition. Presenting a diverse array of unique voices, this international film collection includes premieres from a wide range of directors,

...

Berlinale 2009 winners cover a broad range of films whose central aim consists in exploring ways to further the interpretation and understanding of important topics of our time. Therefore the jury has decided to award prizes to those efforts which achieve a balance between the political statement and the poetic form.

Golden Bear for the Best Film La teta asustada (The Milk Of Sorrow) by Claudia Llosa

Silver Bear - The Jury Grand Prix Alle Anderen (Everyone else) by Maren Ade

ex aequo Award Gigante by Adrián Biniez

Silver Bear - Best Director Asghar Farhadi for Darbareye Elly (About Elly)

Silver Bear - Best Actress Birgit Minichmayr in Alle Anderen (Everyone else) by Maren Ade

Silver Bear - Best Actor Sotigui Kouyate in London River by Rachid Bouchareb

Silver Bear - Outstanding Artistic Contribution "We filmmakers, sometimes we forget the power of sound to create atmospheres and more often we use it in a predictable way. There’s a tremendous originality and risk in the experimental and original way this film builds up its somber narration around its powerful sound design." Silver Bear for an outstanding artistic contribution to Gábor Erdély and Tamás Székely for the Sound-Design of Katalin Varga by Peter Strickland

Silver Bear - Best Script "The role of a film-script when telling human stories starts with the decision of whose eyes to look through in the first place. For a script that takes us into a particular experience – one all too often ignored and obscured from us - towards the encouragement of producers, distributors and audiences across the world to keep looking for a wider horizon and to honour the possibility that cinema holds for us to tell the stories that no other medium may be free enough to touch," Oren Moverman and Alessandro Camon for The Messenger by Oren Moverman

Alfred Bauer Prize "The jury has unanimously this year decided to give the Alfred Bauer Prize to two films and two directors. One of these directors is an old master with 60 years of experience in film-making. But he is still young and courageous in mind when developing new ways of film-making. He does not even hesitate to involve himself in his movie.

The other director is a young man, here in Berlin with his first feature film, but imbued with the same passion to use cinema to do what cinema can do best: to tell important stories about our time and the human condition."

The jury awards the Alfred Bauer Prize to

Gigante by Adrián Biniez

ex aequo award Tatarak (Sweet Rush) by Andrzej Wajda...

Claudia Llosa's Peruvian drama "The Milk of Sorrow" (La teta asustada) won the Golden Bear for best film at the 59th edition of the Berlin International Film Festival.

The Silver Bear went ex aequo to Maren Ade's "Everyone Else" (Alle Anderen) and Adrián Biniez's "Gigante." Asghar Farhadi took home the Silver Bear for best director for "About Elly" (Darbareye Elly).

Birgit Minichmayr was named best actress for her role in "Everyone Else," while Sotigui Kouyate won best actor for his performance in Rachid Bouchareb's "London River."

The Silver Bear for best script went to Oren Moverman and Alessandro Camon for "The Messenger." Alfred Bauer Prize went ex aequo to Biniez for "Gigante" and Andrzej Wajda for "Sweet Rush" (Tatarak).

The International Jury of the 2009 Berlinale was presided by Tilda Swinton and included Isabel Coixet, Gaston Kaboré, Henning Mankell, Christoph Schlingensief, Wayne Wang and Alice Waters.

Berlin -- Richard Loncraine's "My One and Only," a '50s-era comedy starring Renee Zellweger and Kevin Bacon, was squeezed into the competition lineup for this year's Berlin International Film Festival, barely a week before the event kicks off.

Zellweger plays a glamorous single mom on the hunt for a rich man to foot the bill for her and her sons' lifestyle. Produced by Merv Griffith Entertainment and Ray Gun Prods., "My One and Only" will have its world premiere in Berlin. Essential Entertainment is handling international sales.

Berlin also added Lone Scherfig's Sundance favorite "An Education" with Peter Sarsgaard, Alfred Molina and Emma Thompson and Davis Guggenheim's music documentary "It Might Get Loud" for its Berlinale Special Galas, ensuring the films will get the red carpet treatment without any of the pressure of competition.

All three films should give an added boost of star power to...