IN COMPETITION
Reviewed films appear in blue - click to go to review.
Screen Jury results appear in red
5=excellent, 4=Good 3=Average 2= Poor 1=Bad

La Vie En Rose (Fr-UK-Cz Rep)1
Screen Jury verdict (Marks out of 5) 1.88
Dir: Olivier Dahan
Marion Cotillard stars in this biopic of France's most beloved chanteuse, Edith Piaf. The film also stars Gerard Depardieu and Clotilde Courau. Sold to major territories,
La Vie En Rose will be distributed by Picturehouse in the US, Icon in the UK and Constantin Film in Germany.

The Year My Parents Went On Vacation (Braz-Arg)
Screen Jury verdict (Marks out of 5) 1.88
Dir: Cao Hamburger
Mauro is left with his grandfather when his parents are forced on 'vacation' by Brazil's miltary dictatorshiop.

The Good German (US)
Screen Jury verdict (Marks out of 5) 1.88
Dir: Stephen Soderbergh
Homage to atmospheric wartime noir clasics such as The Third Man and Casablanca. starring George Clooney and Cate Blanchett.

I'm A Cyborg, But That's OK(S Kor)
Screen Jury verdict (Marks out of 5) 1.88
Dir: Park Chan-wook
A girl who thinks she is a cyborg meets a boy who thinks he can steal anything, including people's personality traits. Starring Im Soo-jung, Jung Ji-hoon (aka Rain).

Tuya's Marriage (China)
Screen Jury verdict (Marks out of 5) 2.38
Dir: Wang Quan'an
Set in Inner Mongolia, Tuya's Marriage portrays a strong-willed Mongolian woman (Yu Nan) who reluctantly promises her paralysed husband that if she remarries, the new husband will look after him. France's Pretty Pictures has acquired all French-speaking rights.

The Good Shepherd(US)
Screen Jury verdict (Marks out of 5) 2.25
Dir: Robert De Niro
Follows the evolution of the CIA and its relationship with the KGB through the personal toll it takes on Edward Wilson (Matt Damon).

The Counterfeiters (Ger-Austria)
Screen Jury verdict (Marks out of 5) 2.38
Dir: Stefan Ruzowitzky
Following recent international successes Downfall and Sophie Scholl: The Final Days, Austrian director Ruzowitzky's The Counterfeiters tells the true story of a Nazi operation to produce millions of counterfeit banknotes. A cast of German and Austrian actors is headed by Karl Markovics, August Diehl, Devid Striesow and Marie Baumer. Universum Film will release in Germany on March 15.

In Memory Of Myself (It)
Screen Jury verdict (Marks out of 5) 1.88
Dir: Saverio Costanzo
Italian director Costanzo's second film after the success of Private tells the story of Andrea (Christo Jivkov), a young man who has doubts about entering the severity of Jesuit monastic life. The film co-stars Filippo Timi and Andre Hennicke and is co-produced by Off Side Productions and Medusa.

Goodbye Bafana (Belg-Ger-S Afr-It-Fr-UK)
Screen Jury verdict (Marks out of 5) 1.63
Dir: Bille August
Oscar-winner August's Goodbye Bafana is based on the true story of James Gregory, the white prison-guard who befriended the captive Nelson Mandela. Dennis Haysbert plays Mandela, and Joseph Fiennes and Diane Kruger co-star. The $30m project was shot in South Africa. Celluloid Dreams has already closed a number of key territories.

When A Man Falls In The Forest(US-Ger-Can)
Screen Jury verdict (Marks out of 5) 1
Dir: Ryan Eslinger
Eslinger's follow-up to his 2003 drama Madness And Genius stars Sharon Stone and Timothy Hutton as a married couple who self destruct when a third person enters their lives.

The Witnesses (Fr)
Screen Jury verdict (Marks out of 5) 2
Dir: Andre Techine
Techine returns to Berlin for the first time since 2004's Changing Times with The Witnesses. Starring Emmanuelle Beart, Michel Blanc and Julie Depardieu, the drama follows Julie, whose brother Manu turns up and causes upheaval. The film will be released in France by UGC and in Spain through Vertigo.

The Other (Arg-Fr-Ger)
Screen Jury verdict (Marks out of 5) 1.63
Dir: Ariel Rotter
Argentinian director Rotter's second feature, The Other, tells the story of a man's (Julio Chavez) response to the news he is to become a father. The $800,000 Argentina-France-Germany co-production follows Rotter's debut film, the award-winning Just For Today, which premiered at the Berlinale in 2001.

Irina Palm
(Belg-Ger-Lux-UK-Fr)
Screen Jury verdict (Marks out of 5) 2.75
Dir: Sam Garbarski
Marianne Faithfull stars in this English-language drama, the second feature from Belgian director Garbarski. The $4.5m film tells the story of a 50-year-old widow who needs money for her grandson's bone-marrow transplant.

Beaufort (Israel)
Screen Jury verdict (marks out of 5) 2

Dir: Joseph Cedar
Cedar, whose Campfire played at Berlin in 2004, wrote and directed this true story of the last unit of soldiers to be stationed at the Beaufort outpost in southern Lebanon. The cast includes Alon Abutbul and Eli Eltonyo. United King Films is producing and handling distribution in Israel.

Yella (Ger)

Screen Jury verdict (marks out of 5) 2.4
Dir: Christian Petzold
Petzold's sixth collaboration with Berlin-based production outfit Schramm Film, Yella follows a woman (Nina Hoss) escaping a failed marriage who crosses from East to West Germany.

Desert Dream(S Kor-Mong-Fr)
Screen Jury verdict (marks out of 5) 1.63
Dir: Zhang Lu
The Isle'
s Suh Jung stars in this $1.3m film about a mother and son who escape from North Korea and find refuge with a man who plants trees in the desert. Director Zhang (Grain In Ear) shot on location in the Mongolian desert. Backers include Frances's CNC and the Korean Film Council (Kofic).

Bordertown(US)
Screen Jury verdict (marks out of 5) 0.75
Dir: Gregory Nava
Following the high-profile acquisition of El Cantante at Toronto last year, Jennifer Lopez's acting career looks to be swinging back towards respectability. She returns with crime drama Bordertown, directed by her occasional collaborator Nava, in which she plays a reporter investigating a series of brutal murders of women near the border town of Juarez.

Don't Touch The Axe (Fr-It)
Screen Jury verdict (marks out of 5) 2.25
Dir: Jacques Rivette
Rivette's first trip to Berlin since 1994's Jeanne La Pucelle, Don't Touch The Axe is an adaptation of Balzac's The Duchess Of Langeais, a love story set in 1839 Paris. The French-Italian co-production re-teams Rivette - who also wrote the script - with Jeanne Balibar, Michel Piccoli and Bulle Ogier.


I Served The King Of England
(Cz Rep-Slovak)
Screen Jury verdict (marks out of 5) 2.00
Dir: Jiri Menzel
A waiter (Ivan Barnev) seeks wealth and love as his country falls under Nazi controls.

Hallam Foe (UK)
Screen Jury verdict (marks out of 5) 2.29
Dir: David Mackenzie
Scottish director Mackenzie follows up Berlin 2005 competitor Asylum with his fourth feature Hallam Foe, produced by Gillian Berrie (Red Road). Jamie Bell stars as a misfit Edinburgh teenager who thinks his stepmother is responsible for his mother's death. Backers of the $6m project include Film4 and Scottish Screen, with Buena Vista on board for UK distribution.

Lost In Beijing(China)

Screen Jury verdict (marks out of 5) 2.5

Dir: Li Yu
Up-and-coming Chinese director Li Yu follows her critically acclaimed drama Dam Street with a story that unveils the absurdity of contemporary China. Tony Leung Ka-fai and Fan Bingbing head the cast of the film, which is co-produced by Beijing-based Laurel Films and Polybona along with Hong Kong's Emperor Motion Pictures.

Angel (Fr-Belg-UK)

Screen Jury verdict (marks out of 5) 1.6

Dir: Francois Ozon
Berlinale regular and arthouse favourite Ozon makes his English-language debut with Angel, starring Romola Garai, Sam Neill and Charlotte Rampling. Celluloid Dreams did brisk business during Cannes for most key territories on the project. The $17.8m film, set in 1910, tells the story of a woman who climbs the social ladder after becoming a famous novelist.


Screen Jury members
Bo Green Jensen Weekendavisen Belingske (Denmark)
David D'Arcy GreenCine (US)
Derek Malcolm Evening Standard (UK)
Jaan Ruus Eesti Ekspress (Estonia)
Jan Pieter Ekker Volksktrant (Netherlands)
Jan Schulz-Ojala Der Tagesspiegel (Germany)
Peter Koerte Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung (Germany)
Roberto Silvestri Il Manifesto (Italy)


OTHER FILMS

300 (US)
Dir: Zach Snyder
Snyder follows his remake of Dawn Of The Dead with this adaptation of Frank Miller's graphic novel about the ancient battle of Thermopylae. Gerard Butler stars as King Leonidas with support from Lena Headey and Dominic West. The trailer has been the talk of the web and everything points towards a memorable visual feast.

The Walker (US-UK)
Dir: Paul Schrader

Taxi Driver writer Schrader follows up the distress of his 2005 Exorcist prequel with this dark story of a male escort implicated in a murder. Woody Harrelson, Kristin Scott Thomas, Lauren Bacall and Willem Dafoe star. Deepak Nayar (Bend It Like Beckham) produced the estimated $11.8m project.

I Have Never Forgotten You - The Life and Legacy of Simon Wiesenthal (US)
Dir: Richard Trank

Letters From Iwo Jima (US)
Dir: Clint Eastwood

Notes On A Scandal (UK)
Dir: Richard Eyre

Getting Home
Dir: Khang Yang

2 Days In Paris
Dir: Julie Delpy

Mein Fuhrer: The Truly Truest Truth About Adolf Hitler
Dir: Julie Delpy

The Sugar Curtain
Dir: Camila Guzman Urzua
Personal documentary reveals the human cost of revolution in Cuba

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