26 films will participate in the Competition programme of the 60th Berlin International Film Festival. In addition to the seven titles announced earlier (see press releases from December 15, 2009), a further 18 films have now been confirmed. These include productions from Argentina, Austria, Denmark, Germany, France, Great Britain, Japan, Norway, People´s Republic of China, Romania, Russian Federation, Sweden and USA.
The complete programme will be presented on February 1, 2010.

These films will celebrate their world premiere or international premiere in the Competition of the 60th Berlinale…

Kyatapira (Caterpillar) is based on a novel by Edogawa Rampo and is being released by Blaq Out/Dissidenz. There is no trailer out yet, however there are some stills available. The plot follows Lieutenant Kurokawa, who returns home during the 2nd Sino-Japanese War in 1940, an “honored and decorated soldier… but deprived of his arms and legs lost in the battle in mainland China”. As the Lieutenant’s wife, Shigeko has to set an example by, “…fulfilling her duty and taking care of the ‘god’ soldier”. The competition will be its world premiere.

Otouto (About Her Brother) is director Yoji Yamada’s 81st film. It stars Sayuri Yoshinaga (Kabei), Tsurube Shofukutei (Kabei), Yu Aoi (Hula Girls), and Ryo Kase (Letters From Iwo Jima). It shows the story of two siblings (Yoshinaga and Shofukutei) who reunite after it is known that the brother has a terminal illness. Aoi plays Sayuri’s daughter, and Kase is her love interest. It will be released in Japan first on the 30th of January, and then be shown at the festival as the closing title on February 21st.

Zhang Yimou’s film, San qiang pai an jing qi,(The Simple Noodle Story) was already released in China and Hong Kong in December. It is a remake of the American Coen Brothers’ first feature, Blood Simple. The film follows the owner of a Chinese noodle shop whose plan to murder his cheating wife and her affair goes wrong. Yimou is known for his films, Curse of the Golden Flower, and House of Flying Daggers.

Opening Berlinale on February 11th is the world premiere of Wang Quan’an’s Tuan Yuan (Apart Together). Organizers say, “The opening movie tells the story of a great love, while depicting the tragedy of a divided country. It tells the story of a soldier named Liu Yansheng, who had fled Shanghai to Taiwan in 1949, and met the love of his life after he returned to the mainland as an old man”.

Adding these four make seven Chinese films from Taiwan and Hong Kong to be shown at this year’s Berlin International Film Festival.