Berlinale Special adds films by Gitai, Staho and Grube

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New films by Amos Gitai, Simon Staho and Thomas Grube are among the 12 projects seelcted for the Berlinale Special sidebar, which is part of the festival's official programme alongside the Competition.

Staho's Heaven's Heart, starring Mikael Persbrandt, Lena Endre, Jakob Eklund and Maria Lundquist, is an intimate psychological drama between two couples discussing adultery over a dinner party, while Gitai's Plus tard tu comprendras, with Jeanne Moreau, Dominique Blanc, Hippolite Girardot, is a fictionalization of Jerome Clement's autobiography of the same name.

Meanwhile, Thomas Grube's documentary Trip To Asia. The Quest for Harmony follows Sir Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra on a concert tour they undertook through Asia in November 2005.

Grube had been previously invited to the Berlinale Special programme in 2004 with his internationally acclaimed documentary Rhythm Is It! which was also made in collaboration with the Philharmonic Orchestra and its lead conductor

Again the common theme of music runs through this sidebar as well as festival director's Kosslick's interest in things culinary with the selection of the Spanish documentary The Chicken, The Fish And The King Crab.

The films in this year's Berlinale Special are:
1000 Journals by Andrea Kreuzhage, US a documentary of an art project in which 1000 blank journals find their way into the world.
Betrayal (Nerakhoon) by Ellen Kuras and Thavisouk Phrasavath, US, documentary by Shine a Light cinematographer Ellen Kuras presents her long-term portrait of a refugee from Laos who migrates with his family to New York.
CSNY Dejà vu by Bernard Shakey a.k.a. Neil Young, US, a documentary showing Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young on their Freedom of Speech Tour in 2006.
Eye to Eye - All About German Film (Auge in Auge - eine deutsche Filmgeschichte) by Hans Helmut Prinzler and Michael Althen, Germany (documentary), an expedition into 100 years of German film history: well-known film personalities such as Christian Petzold and Michael Ballhaus present their favourite films.
Heaven's Heart (Himlens hjaerta), by Simon Staho, Sweden/Denmark, an intimate psychological drama with two couples that become involved in discussing adultery at dinner one night.
Om Shanti Om by Farah Khan, India/UK, starring Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone, Shreyas Talpade in this melodramatic love story.
Plus tard tu comprendras by Amos Gitai, France/Germany, with Jeanne Moreau, Dominique Blanc, Hippolite Girardot in a fictionalization of Jerome Clement's autobiography of the same name.
Reverse Angle - Rebellion of the Filmmakers by Dominik Wessely, Germany, documentary about the history of distributor-producer Filmverlag der Autoren
Steal a Pencil for Me by Michèle Ohayon, US, with Jean-Pierre Gillian, Jack Polak, Ina Soep, documentary on a couple's unusual love that began during the Holocaust years.
The Chicken , The Fish And The King Crab (El pollo, el pez y el cangrejo real) by Jose Luis Lopez Linares, Spain, documentary about 22 top chefs training all year long in order to qualify to compete for the Bocuse d'Or. Trip to Asia. The Quest for Harmony (Trip to Asia. Die Suche nach dem Einklang) by Thomas Grube, Germany, documentary with Sir Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra on a concert tour through Asia.
Wine and Cupcakes by Bruce Weber, US, short documentary about the Scottish singer Angela McCluskey and her husband, composer Paul Cantelon.