05/11/2013 - The Berlin Film Festival announced that the opening of its 64th edition will screen the cult director’s new film, The Grand Budapest Hotel, an entirely European coproduction

On February 6, the 64^th edition of the Berlin Film Festival (February 6-16, 2014) will put out the red carpet for the dazzling team of The Grand Budapest Hotel, by American director Wes Anderson. “This comedy promises to open festivities with a bang,” declared the famous director of the event, Dieter Kosslick.

This choice for the opening film is furthermore appropriate since The Grand Budapest Hotel was entirely filmed in Germany, between Saxe and the Babelsberg Studios in Potsdam. It is thus a 100% European coproduction (between British company Grand Budapest Limited and German outfit Neunzehnte Babelsberg Film) which brings together a prestigious international cast including Ralph Fiennes andTony Revolori in the lead roles, as well as Tilda Swinton, Jude Law, Saoirse Ronan, Mathieu Amalric, Willem Dafoe, Harvey Keitel, Bill Murray, Edward Norton, Owen Wilson, and young French rising star Léa Seydoux.

With the help of sumptuous sets, The Grand Budapest Hotel will tell the story of the mishaps of a great hotel’s concierge and his friend the bellboy during the interwar period. Whilst the continent witnesses huge upheavals, inside this luxurious establishment, fortunes and Renaissance masterpieces are changing hands...   

Anderson already took part in the competition in Berlin twice with The Royal Tenenbaums (2002) and The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2005).

(Translated from French)