Coming Soon to Berlin

The Berlin International Film Festival this week announced the competition lineup for its upcoming fifty-ninth edition, and the list includes an intriguing array of world premieres from Criterion-family directors. Costa-Gavras, whose Missing we released last October, returns with Eden Is West, about illegal immigrants living in Europe, and the tireless Andrzej Wajda (Danton coming in March!) follows up last year’s historical Katyn with the drama Sweet Rush. Two other Criterion directors have assembled surprising casts for their latest: Stephen Frears’s Colette adaptation Cheri (The Hit will hit shelves in April) stars Michelle Pfeiffer and Kathy Bates, and the compellingly titled New Orleans detective story In the Electric Mist, from Bertrand Tavernier (Coup de torchon), features the even more compelling roster of Tommy Lee Jones, John Goodman, and Peter Sarsgaard. The Berlin Film Festival runs from February 5 to 15.