13/12/2012 - As each year, the organisers of the great Berlin event provide suspense from December to January, as they slowly reveal films selected for its Competition and Special section

The first window in the Berlinale advent calendar has been opened to reveal Austrian director Ulrich Seidl as well as Gus Van Sant and Hong Sangsoo among the Golden Bear contenders.

Organisers have announced the titles of five films to compete at the 63rd Berlin Film Festival (February 7-17). Europe is for the moment represented by Austrian-French-German co-production Paradise: Hope, the last instalment in Austrian director Ulrich Seidl's trilogy after Paradise: Love [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (in the competition at Cannes) and Paradise: Faith [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ulrich Seidl
film profile] (Jury Special Prize in Venice), as well as Romanian filmmaker Calin Peter Netzer's Child's Pose (Netzer also directed Medal of Honour) and Sebastián Lelio's Spanish-Chilean feature Gloria.

Famous South Korean director Hong Sangsoo is also to compete with Nobody's Daughter Haewon, while American director Gus Van Sant is to do so with Promised Land, a film notably starring Matt Damon.

Out of the competition, festival-goers will also be able to discover Kirk De Micco and Chris Sanders's The Croods, an American 3D animation film to make its world premiere at the festival.

The Berlinale Special section for the moment includes one title: a German documentary titled Redemption Impossible by Christian Rost and Claus Strigel.

(Translated from French)