The Circuit

Paul Thomas Anderson and Errol Morris are in the running for the 58th Golden Lion.  The rest of the competition will be announced by mid-January.  From the Berlinale press release:

To date, eight titles have been confirmed for the Competition programme of the 58th Berlin International Film Festival. The films are from China, Brazil, Mexico, Great Britain, USA, Poland and Germany.

In her most recent film, Kirschblüten - Hanami (Germany), Doris Dörrie (Men; The Fisherman and his Wife) tells the story of Rudi (Elmar Wepper), who is incurably ill with cancer. When his fun-loving and esoteric wife (Hannelore Elsner) unexpectedly dies, the widower begins to see her life with new eyes. (World premiere)

There Will Be Blood by Paul Thomas Anderson (Magnolia, Golden Bear 2000) is from the USA. The film adaptation of Upton Sinclair's novel "Oil" recounts the remarkable story of an unsuccessful silver miner who rises to become a US oil magnate in the early 20th century. Daniel Day-Lewis (Gangs Of New York) gives a brilliant performance as the protagonist Daniel Plainview. (International premiere)

Chinese director Wang Xiaoshuai (Beijing Bicycle, Silver Bear 2001) will this time present Zuo You (In Love We Trust) in the Berlinale Competition . The mother of a child who has cancer wants to save her firstborn and resorts to unusual measures. Liu Weiwei, Zhang Jiayu and Yu Nan play the leading roles. (World premiere)

Mexican director Fernando Eimbcke took part in the Berlinale Talent Campus in 2003. Now he is returning to Berlin with his second feature film: Lake Tahoe. The central character is a sixteen-year-old boy who has to cope with his father's sudden death. The film features Diego Cataño, Héctor Herrera, Daniela Valentine, Juan Carlos Lara and Yemil Sefani. (World premiere)

Gardens of the Night (Great Britain/USA) by Damian Harris describes the fate of two children who are abducted and held captive for over nine years. Once free, they are forced to take to the streets and fend for themselves. The film stars Gillian Jacobs, Evan Ross, Tom Arnold and John Malkovich. (World premiere)

Oscar-winner Andrzej Wajda, who has participated in the Berlinale Competition three times and received the Honorary Golden Bear for Lifetime Achievement in 2006, will be presenting his latest work Katyn out of competition. The film examines a topic that was long taboo: the massacre of thousands of Polish war prisoners by the Soviet secret service in 1940. In the main roles are Maja Ostaszewska, Artur Zmijewski and Andrzej Chyra. (International premiere)

In Brazil, Tropa de Elite (The Elite Squad) has broken all box-office records. The Berlinale 2008 will screen this political thriller in the Competition. Director José Padilha (Bus 174) explores the terrible influence of the drug mafia on the poorest inhabitants of Brazil, and reveals the daily routines of a brutal and corrupt special unit of the Brazilian military police. The film stars Wagner Moura, Caio Junqueira and André Ramiro. (International premiere)

In S.O.P. Standard Operating Procedure (USA), famous documentary filmmaker and Oscar-winner Errol Morris (The Fog of War, 2003) investigates the scandals surrounding human rights violations at the Abu Ghraib prison complex near Baghdad and investigates what's behind the so-called "anti-terror war". (World premiere)