World premieres of new films by Hermine Huntgeburth, Claude Chabrol, Florian Gallenberger are among the 13 titles confirmed so far for the Berlinale Special sidebar which presents extraordinary new productions and topical works by contemporary filmmakers whose films the Berlinale wants to honour.

The Berlinale's new screening venue at the Friedrichstadtpalast musical theatre will be used to stage Berlinale Special gala screenings of three new German productions.

They are:

  • Huntgeburth's Theodor Fontane adaptation Effi Briest, starring Julia Jentsch and Sebastian Koch
  • Kai Wessel's biopic Hilde, with Heike Makatsch in the title role as the legendary diva Hildegard Knef and young UK actor Dan Stevens as her husband David Cameron
  • Florian Gallenberger's John Rabe about the German businessman and Nazi party member who succeeded in setting up a neutral zone in 1937 Nanking and saving the lives of countless Chinese. The Lives Of Others' Ulrich Tukur portrays Rabe in a cast including Daniel Brühl, Steve Buscemi and Anne Consigny.

Another new venue for Berlinale Special - the Cinema Paris - will host screenings of new films by veteran directors Claude Chabrol, Ermanno Olmi, Manoel De Oliveira as well as honour a promise made by festival director Dieter Kosslick two years ago to invite the new film (Pink) by Germany's Rudolf Thome.

In addition, there will be world premieres here of Chinese filmmaker Christina Yao's Empire Of Silver and the documentary In Berlin, which is the directorial debut by renowned DoP Michael Ballhaus in collaboration with fellow cinematographer-director Ciro Cappellari.

Moreover, Paul Schrader, who served as the president of the Berlinale's international jury in 2007, will return to Berlin for the European premiere of his critically acclaimed drama Adam Resurrected as a Berlinale Special.

Fittingly, the sidebar will include a third venue - the Cinema Cosima at Bundesplatz - to screen the five-part long-time documentary Berlin - Ecke Bundesplatz by Hans-Georg Ullrich and Detlef Gumm.

Berlinale Special - Gala Screenings at the Friedrichstadtpalast

  • Effi Briest, by Hermine Huntgeburth (Germany) world premiere
  • Food, Inc., by Robert Kenner (USA), documentary, international premiere
  • Hilde, by Kai Wessel (Germany) world premiere
  • John Rabe, by Florian Gallenberger (Germany/France/China) world premiere

Berlinale Special at Cinema Paris

  • Adam Resurrected , by Paul Schrader (USA/Germany/Israel) European premiere
  • Empire Of Silver (Baiyin Diguo), by Christina Yao (People's Republic of China/Hong Kong) world premiere
  • Bellamy , by Claude Chabrol (France) world premiere
  • In Berlin , by Michael Ballhaus and Ciro Cappellari (Germany) documentary, world premiere
  • Every Little Step , by James D. Stern and Adam Del Deo (USA) documentary, European premiere
  • Pink , by Rudolph Thome (Germany) world premiere
  • Singularidades De Uma Rapariga Loura , by Manoel De Oliveira (Portugal/France) world premiere
  • Terra Madre , by Ermanno Olmi (Italy) documentary, world premiere

Berlinale Special at Cinema Cosima at Bundesplatz

  • Berlin - Ecke Bundesplatz , by Hans-Georg Ullrich and Detlef Gumm (Germany) five-part long-time documentation