DISPATCH FROM BRAZIL | Golden Bear Upset: A Look at the Controversy Behind "Tropa de Elite"

Shocking critics and industry insiders in a move that no one saw coming, the 58th Berlin International Film Festival awarded its top prize, the Golden Bear, to the Brazilian film "Elite Squad" (Tropa de Elite). The award was a remarkable coup for the film that made its international premiere with subtitle problems and that Variety had written off as "a one-note celebration of violence-for-good that plays like a recruitment film for fascist thugs." Yet, earlier this month the Berlin jury headed by Costa-Gavras, a renowned political filmmaker, defiantly gave the award in what they said was a unanimous decision. While it may seem like it came from nowhere, "Elite Squad"'s Golden Bear is far from the first time this provocative film has pushed buttons, nor will it be the last.
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BERLINALE '08 | Buoyed by Sundance and Berlin, "Ballast" Prepares for Unsteady Market with IFC

Lance Hammer's feature debut "Ballast" isn't the first American independent film to leap from laurels in Park City to a prestigious competition slot in Berlin. In 1999, Tony Bui's Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner "Three Seasons" went onto the Berlinale contest, while more recently, Joshua Marston's "Maria Full of Grace" (2004) and Mike Mills' "Thumbsucker" (2005) also made the double-play, winning acclaim at both festivals for their lead actors.
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Winterbottom's Provocative Guantanamo Film Acquired by Roadside, Set for Summer Release in U.S.

Roadside Attractions has acquired North American rights to Michael Winterbottom and Matt Whitecross's "The Road to Guantanamo," which premiered at the 2006 Berlin International Film Festival and won the Silver Bear prize for best director. The true story of three British men who were held in an American military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the hybrid doc/dramatization blends news images, documentary footage, and dramatic re-creations of the lads' experiences as detainees for more than two years at the detention center. It will have its U.S. festival debut next month at the Tribeca Film Festival and Roadside is planning an early summer release.
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IFC Films Joins Weinsteins "Transamerica" Release

IFC Films has announced plans to partner on the release of Duncan Tucker's "Transamerica" with The Weinstein Company (TWC). IFC will jointly release the film, starring Felicity Huffman as a pre-op transsexual, debuting it at the new IFC Center in downtown Manhattan. In the film, Huffman's character discovers that she has a son and pretends to be a Christian missionary, driving across the country to deliver him to his father. Alongside Huffman, the cast includes Kevin Zegers, Fionnula Flanagan, Elizabeth Peña and Graham Green.
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