08/02/2008

After a series of films on the blues and an Academy Award finally won last year for The Departed, US director Martin Scorsese is back with Shine a Light, a documentary on legendary rock band Rolling Stones. The out-of-competition title officially opened the 58th Berlinale last night.

The Stones set the beat for an edition marked also by the rhythms of other renowned music celebrities, such as Neil Young (CSNY Déjà vu), Patti Smith (Dream of Life) and Madonna, whose directorial debut Filth and Wisdom is part of the sidebar section Panorama.

Beyond music glamour, the official jury presided over by Greece-born director Costa Gavras – which yesterday lost two of its previously announced members, Susanne Bier and Sandrine Bonnaire (see news) – will choose the Golden Bear winner from one of 21 competition titles, 10 of which are European (co)-productions. These are: Il y a longtemps que je t'aime [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Philippe Claudel (France/Germany) , Black Ice [+see also:
film review
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interview: Kai Nordberg
interview: Petri Kotwica
film profile] by Petri Kotwica (Finland/Germany), Heart of Fire [+see also:
film review
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film profile] by Luigi Falorni (Germany/Austria), Julia [+see also:
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film profile] by Erick Zonca (France), Lady Jane [+see also:
film review
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film profile] by Robert Guédiguian (France), Quiet Chaos [+see also:
film review
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interview: Antonello Grimaldi
interview: Domenico Procacci
film profile] by Antonello Grimaldi (Italy), Happy-Go-Lucky [+see also:
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film profile] by Mike Leigh (UK), Cherry Blossoms [+see also:
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film profile] by Doris Dörrie (Germany), Restless [+see also:
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film profile] by Amos Kollek (Israel/Germany/Canada/France/Belgium) and Gardens of the Night by Damian Harris (UK/US) .

These films will compete with some of the most anticipated titless of the programme, among them There Will Be Blood by US wunderkind Paul Thomas Anderson, The Elite Squad by Brazil's José Padilha, and Elegy, a US production directed by Spain's Goya-winning director Isabel Coixet, starring Penélope Cruz and Ben Kingsley.

Another European directing an US production is French filmmaker Michel Gondry, whose new work Be Kind Rewind will close the Berlinale.