Two world premieres added to Berlinale Special strand

The Berlin International Film Festival (Feb 20-Mar 1) has added two world premieres to its Berlinale Special strand.

The first is Anne Fontaine’s drama Police [original title Night Shift], which stars Omar Sy, Virginie Efira and Grégory Gadeboias a trio of Paris police officers forced to accept an unusual mission. Studiocanal is handling French distribution and international sales.

Veteran filmmaker Fontaine’s previous films include Venice best screenplay winner Dry Cleaning (1997) and Coco Before Channel (2009).

The second is  Vadim Perelman’s Persian Lessons, which stars BPM (Beats Per Minute) lead Nahuel Perez Biscayart as a man sent to a concentration camp during the Second World War and forced to teach Farsi. Memento is handling sales. Perelman previously directed House Of Sand And Fog. 

The festival has also added 1968 comedy classic The Nutty Professor to the strand. Previously announced Berlinale Special titles include Numbers based on the play by Oleg Sentsov, and Minamata starring Johnny Depp.

Finally, six digitally restored Berlinale Classics titles have also been announced. There are: Federico Fellini’s The Swindle (1953); Tadashi Imai’s Cruel Tale of Bushido (1963); Alfréd Radok’s Distant Journey (1949); Charles Crichton’s A Fish Called Wanda (1988); Wanda Jakubowska’s The Last Stage (1948) and Paul Leni’s Waxworks (1924).

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