The Berlin film festival is to stage tributes to Alan Rickman and David Bowie, it has been announced.
In a wide-ranging press conference, festival director Dieter Kösslick provided more details of the festival’s programme, alongside already revealed events such as the world premiere of Terence Davies’ A Quiet Passion and an opening gala presentation of the Coen brothers’ Hail, Caesar!
The festival, which opens on 11 February, will screen Ang Lee’s Sense and Sensibility, in which Rickman plays the key supporting role of Colonel Brandon, while the Bowie tribute will be the 1976 Nicolas Roeg film The Man Who Fell to Earth.
The competition for the Golden Bear has been finalised and will include Thomas Vinterberg’s The Commune, inspired by his own childhood; Alex Gibney’s documentary Zero Days, about cybercrime and internet surveillance; Genius, directed by Michael Grandage; and Mia Hansen-Løve’s Things to Come.
Also screening in competition will be Alone in Berlin, an adaptation of the celebrated Nazi-resistance novel, and Midnight Special, from Mud director Jeff Nichols, about a man trying to protect his gifted son from government agents.
Joining the Coens and Terence Davies in the festival’s non-competitive sections will be Spike Lee, with his anti-gun parable Chi-Raq, Don Cheadle with his Miles Davis biopic Miles Ahead, and Michael Moore with his satirical documentary Where to Invade Next. Also showing will be experimental documentary The Seasons in Quincy: Four Portraits of John Berger, made by four directors including Tilda Swinton.
The increasing status of TV work is also reflected in the festival’s programme. Berlin will show episodes from series two of Better Call Saul as well as two BBC miniseries: Love, Nina, adapted from the book by Nina Stibbe about working for literary editor Mary-Kay Wilmers, and The Night Manager, starring Tom Hiddleston.
The Berlin film festival runs from 11 to 21 February.
