'White Deer Plain' vies for Golden Bear in Berlin

By Wu Jin: 0 Comment(s)Print E-mail China.org.cn, February 8, 2012

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Golden and Silver Bear Awards winner Wang Quan'an will again grace the red carpet at the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival, which is set to start Thursday.

His latest movie, "White Deer Plain," is competing for the Golden Bear Award against German director Hans-Christian Schmid's "Home for the Weekend," Philippine director Brillante Mendoza's "Captured" and Indonesian director Edwin's "Postcards from the Zoo."

The poster of the "White Deer Plain"

Wang had previously won twice at the international film festival – once in 2006 for his portrayal of an Inner Mongolian shepherd in "Tuya's Wedding," and the other for his nostalgic even-paced "Apart Together" in 2010.

This year, his "White Deer Plain" is adapted from the novel with the same name and puts the life of China's northwestern farmers on full display. The epic tale spans over a century, depicting the changes in the rural region through social turbulences and historical junctures as witnessed by two families and several distinctive figures.

Zhang Yimou's "Flowers of War" and Tsui Hark's "Flying Swords of the Dragon Gate" will also be screened at the coming festival but will compete for no prizes.

China-born novelist Yan Geling, author of "Flowers of War," will join other film celebrities including French actress Juliette Binoche, German director Volker Schlondorff and Philippine director Brillante Mendoza at the Berlinale Talent Campus, a brainstorming program in the festival for young filmmakers from all around the world.

Hollywood doyenne Meryl Streep will receive her lifetime-achievement Golden Bear on Feb. 14, coinciding the screening of her latest work in "The Iron Lady" in addition to the older classics, including "The Bridges of Madison County," "Sophie's Choice" and "Out of Africa." In addition, veteran actress Angelina Jolie will showcase her directorial debut, "In the Land of Blood and Honey," a story centering on the Bosnian Conflict.

"Farewell, My Queen", the film screened for the opening ceremony of the Berlin International Film Festival.

The prestigious British director Mike Leigh and several other famous filmmakers, actors and actresses, including Fran ois Ozon, Asghar Farhadi and Charlotte Gainsbourg, will compose the jury panel.

The coming Berlinale will mark the 100th anniversary of Studio Babelsberg, a renowned film studio in Germany. Therefore, 10 movies including "Goya," "Das Haus am Fluss" and "Pianist" that were either produced by or received investment from the studio are selected for screening during the celebrations.

The 2012 Berlinale will also hold a retrospective chapter entitled "The Red Dream Factory" and dedicated to the legendary film studio Mezhrabpom-film, which was co-invested by Russian filmmaker Moisei Aleinikov and his German counterpart Willi Munzenberg in 1922. Over 40 silent films and talkies, including Vsevolod Pudovkin's "The End of St. Petersburg" and late Soviet Union director Sergei Eisenstein’s "Ten Days that Shook the World," will return to the silver screen at the festival.