The Berlin Film Festival has revealed the 11 narrative and eight documentary films making up its Panorama program.
The titles set to screen in Berlin include James Franco‘s I Am Michael, based on the true story of a gay activist who rejected his homosexuality and became a Christian pastor (Zachary Quinto and Emma Roberts also star), which will make its international premiere just weeks after the film screens at the Sundance Film Festival in the U.S. Hal Hartley‘s Ned Rifle, which screened at September’s Toronto Film Festival, will receive its European premiere in Berlin. The final chapter of Hartley’sHenry Fool trilogy, features original star Parker Posey, joined this time out by Aubrey Plaza and others. The narrative lineup also includes director Mark Christopher‘s original cut of the 1998 Studio 54 film 54, starring Ryan Phillippe, Salma Hayek, Mike Myers, Sela Ward and Mark Ruffalo.
The section’s documentary titles include Laura Nix‘s The Yes Men are Revolting, about the activist pranksters, another leftover from September’s Toronto Film Festival, which will get its European premiere.
The section also features a strong East Asian presence, with significant works by renowned directors from Taiwan and South Korea. Child abuse is the subject of several films, includingAldo Garay‘s The New Man, a co-production from Uruguay, Chile and Nicaragua about a young boy from Nicaragua who finds himself with foster parents in Uruguay. When he decides to change his gender, he is confronted by the limits of tolerance in leftist society. Child abuse also figures into four other titles: The Last Summer of the Rich, Dora or the Sexual Neuroses of Our Parents, Chorus and Daniel’s World. More information about the titles in the 2015 panorama section is available here.
The festival also announced Tuesday that the Special Teddy 2015 award will go to Udo Kier.
The 2015 Berlin Film Festival will run from Feb. 5-15.
