Films about women in trouble vie for Berlin awards

BERLIN, Jan 5 (Reuters) Two films about women in trouble are among the contenders for the Golden Bear award at next month's Berlin Film Festival, while two US movies are also in the lineup and may attract some Hollywood glamour to the event.

''Yella'', by German director Christian Petzold, tells of a young woman, played by Nina Hoss, from formerly communist east Germany who starts a new job in western Germany to get away from a wretched marriage.

But there is no escape as her old life haunts her.

In another world premiere, ''Irina Palm'', a Belgian-German-British co-production, singer and actress Marianne Faithfull plays a 50-year-widow who, in a desperate search for cash, unwittingly accepts a job in a sex club.

It is Belgian director Sam Garbarski's second film after ''The Rashevski Tango''.

Berlinale director Dieter Kosslick said yesterday that work from renowned directors as well as young film makers would feature at the 57th festival, which opens on February 8.

''Many productions selected for this year's competition link modern historical processes to personal, intimate and extremely emotional stories,'' Kosslick said in a statement.

Six competition entrants were announced in all, with the remainder due to be finalised by mid-January.

The Berlinale is one of the world's most prestigious film festivals, although it struggles to compete with Venice and Cannes in terms of glamour and star power.

Kosslick will be hoping he can attract at least some of the A-listers linked with two US productions named in the main competition so far.

Fighting for awards will be Robert De Niro's ''The Good Shepherd'' and Steven Soderbergh's ''The Good German'', both already out in the United States.

De Niro's second film as director after ''A Bronx Tale'' tells the story of an idealistic American graduate in World War Two who is recruited by intelligence services. The cast includes Matt Damon and Angelina Jolie.

In ''The Good German'', a black-and-white film, George Clooney plays a US journalist who gets embroiled in a murder plot.

Another world premiere will be Bille August's ''Goodbye Bafana'', based on the true story of a white prison guard whose life is profoundly changed when he meets prisoner Nelson Mandela, whom he ends up guarding for more than two decades.

South Korea will be represented by ''I Am A Cyborg But That's OK'', set in a psychiatric hospital and directed by Park Chan-wook.

REUTERS MQA RAI0951