For a brief moment we thought we may see Wong Kar-wai‘s long-in-the-works film The Grandmaster (which now seems to be the official title) get a release by year’s end internationally, but when it was moved to early next year we predicted a Berlin Film Festival debut was in the cards. Now, as expected, the film has been set to open the 63rd Berlin International Film Festival.
Described as “an epic martial arts drama set against the tumultuous backdrop of 1930’s China,” the film draws from the life of IP Man, played by Tony Leung. While the festival’s director has said Kar-wai has directed “an artful, visually powerful genre film,” the actual director chimed in, saying, “I am truly very honoured by Dieter and his invitation for my new film The Grandmaster to participate in the 63rd Berlinale and to open the festival. This is a dream project for me that I had been developing for many years. I am very happy to be able to present it in Berlin. I was already greatly looking forward to my returning to Berlin to serve as the President of the International Jury, so seeing The Grandmaster presented there will make it all the more special for me.”
The film is actually set to open in China on January 8th, before its February Berlin bow, but it won’t make it to other countries until spring of 2013. There’s no US release date either, but hopefully that will change soon. In the meantime, Berlin announced more from its line-up, including the directorial debut of Joseph Gordon-Levitt and a Linda Lovelace biopic, both of which will be at Sundance. Check out the official poster and additional titles below.
Fictional films in the Main Programme and Panorama Special (15)
Baek Ya (White Night) – Republic of Korea By Hee-il LeeSong With Tae-hee Won, Yi-kyung Yi European premiere
Chemi Sabnis Naketsi (A Fold in My Blanket) – Georgia By Zaza Rusadze With Tornike Bziava, Tornike Gogrichiani, Zura Kipshidze, Avtandil Makharadze, Giorgi Nakashidze World premiere
Dduit-dam-hwa: Gam-dok-i-mi-cheot-eo-yo (Behind the Camera) – Republic of Korea By E J-Yong With Yuh-jung Youn, Hee-soon Park, Hye-jung Gang, Jung-se Oh, Min-hee Kim International premiere
Deshora (Belated) – Argentina/Columbia/Norway By Barbara Sarasola-Day With Luis Ziembrowski, Alejandro Buitrago, Maria Ucedo World premiere
Don Jon’s Addiction – USA By Joseph Gordon-Levitt With Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Scarlett Johansson, Julianne Moore International premiere
Frances Ha – USA By Noah Baumbach With Greta Gerwig, Mickey Sumner, Charlotte D’Ambiose, Adam Driver European premiere
Habi, la extranjera (Habi, the Foreigner) – Argentina/Brazil By Maria Florencia Alvarez With Martina Juncadella, Martin Slipak, Maria Luisa Mendonça, Lucia Alfonsin World premiere
Inch´Allah – Canada By Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette With Evelyne Brochu, Sabrina Ouazani, Yousef Sweid, Sivan Levy, Carlo Brandt International premiere
Kashi-ggot (Fatal) – Republic of Korea By Don-ku Lee With Yeon-woo Nam, Jo-a Yang, Jeong-ho Hong, Ki-doong Kang European premiere
La Piscina (The Swimming Pool) – Cuba/Venezuela By Carlos Machado Quintela With Raul Capote, Monica Molinet, Felipe Garcia, Carlos Javier Martinez, Marcos Costa International premiere
Lovelace – USA With Rob Epstein, Jeffrey Friedman By Amanda Seyfried, Peter Sarsgaard, Sharon Stone, Robert Patrick, Juno Temple International premiere
Meine Schwestern (My Sisters) – Germany By Lars Kraume With Jördis Triebel, Nina Kunzendorf, Lisa Hagmeister, Beatrice Dalle, Angela Winkler World premiere
Rock the Casbah – Israel By Yariv Horowitz With Yon Tumarkin, Roy Nik, Yotam Ishay, Rave Iftach, Khawla Alhaj Debsi International premiere
Tanta Agua (So Much Water) – Uruguay/Mexico/Netherlands/ Germany By Ana Guevara Pose, Leticia Jorge Romero With Malú Chouza, Néstor Guzzini, Joaquín Castiglioni World premiere
The Broken Circle Breakdown – Belgium By Felix van Groeningen With Johan Heldenbergh, Veerle Baetens, Nell Cattrysse International premiere
Panorama Dokumente (7)
Alam laysa lana (A World Not Ours) – Great Britain/Lebanon/Denmark By Mahdi Fleifel European premiere
Gut Renovation – USA By Su Friedrich International premiere
Naked Opera – Luxemburg/Germany By Angela Christlieb World premiere
Roland Klick – The Heart Is a Hungry Hunter – Germany By Sandra Prechtel With Roland Klick, Otto Sander, Eva Mattes, David Hess, Hark Bohm World premiere
Sing Me the Songs That Say I Love You – A Concert for Kate McGarrigle – USA By Lian Lunson With Rufus Wainwright, Martha Wainwright, Emmylou Harris, Norah Jones, Anna McGarrigle European premiere
State 194 – USA/Israel By Dan Setton With Yoram Millo, Daniel J. Chalfen, Ariel Setton, Margaret Yen European premiere
The Act of Killing – Denmark/Norway/Great Britain By Joshua Oppenheimer With Janus Billekov Jansen, Carlos Mariano Arango de Montis, Mariko Montpetit, Henrik Gugge Garnov, Charlotte Munch Bengtsen European premiere
Are you looking forward to Wong Kar-wai’s latest? What about the rest of the line-up?