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Title: Berlin ’36 Director: Kaspar Heidelbach Starring: Karoline Herfurth, Sebastian Urzendowsky, Axel Prahl, August Zimer One needn’t be a fan of Mike Leigh to know that secrets and lies offer up rich narrative possibilities for filmmakers. So, too, do the allure of nonfiction tales. But not all true stories are created equal, as “Berlin ’36″ emply demonstrates. A German period piece embellishing of the nonfiction story of a transsexual Olympic athlete who stood the chance of greatly embarassing the Nazi regime during the country’s hosting of the quadrennial games, the movie unfolds with such a singular lack of dramatic heft as to almost defy logic. When high jumper Gretel Bergmann (Karoline...

Title: Berlin 36 Directed By: Kaspar Heidelbach Written By: Lothar Kurzawa, story by Eric Friedler Cast: Karoline Herfurth, Sebastian Urzendowsky, Axel Prahl, August Zimer, Maria Happel Screened at: Critics’ DVD, NYC, 8/27/11 Opens: September 16, 2011 at New York’s Quad Cinema If you’ve ever had a fight with your family in your one-tv home-you want to watch the Jets game and Mom insists on seeing the 6.30 news with Scott Pelley-you’d get the idea that sports and politics exist in two separate worlds. And they do for the most part, but sometimes they intersect. In one motion picture example, Tony Richardson’s “The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner, a marathon...

Tina Mabry's "Mississippi Damned," an independent American production, won the Gold Hugo as the best film in the 2009 Chicago International Film Festival, and added Gold Plaques for best supporting actress (Jossie Thacker) and best screenplay (Mabry). It tells the harrowing story of three black children growing up in rural Mississippi in circumstances of violence and addiction. The film's trailer and an interview with Mabry are linked at the bottom.

Kylee Russell in "Mississippi Damned"

The win came over a crowed field of competitors from all over the world, many of them with much larger budgets. The other big winner at the Pump Room of the Ambassador East awards ceremony Saturday evening was by veteran master Marco Bellocchio of Italy, who won the Silver Hugo as best director for "Vincere," the story of Mussolini's younger brother. Giovanna Mezzogiorno and Filippo Timi won Silver Hugos as best actress and actor,...

Chicago – As the 45th Chicago International Film Festival comes to a close, this year’s award-winning and most popular films are being screened one more time. All of the screenings will be held at the AMC River East 21 theater at 322 E. Illinois St.

Mississippi Damned (USA), Director: Tina Mabry

Winner Gold Hugo: Best Film, Best Screenplay - Tina Mabry, Best Supporting Actress - Jossie Harris Thacker

7:30Pm

They weren’t the first to dream of escaping their small Mississippi town, but—raised among their family’s vicious cycle of abuse, addiction, and lies—three young black children learn the hard way that their dreams will never be enough. Based on a true story, Mississippi Damned is the brutally honest tale of what happens when a family’s haven is also its prison.

‘Mississippi Damned,’ Winner of the Gold Hugo for Best Film at the Chicago International Film Festival.

Photo...

Not only are they capable of lighting up the silver screen, they are also some of today's most talented young actresses, commanding huge fees - in some cases, in the millions. Many have won multiple awards, while others have starred in some of today's biggest box office hits. In short, we're listing down the cream of the crop!

Just like our recent Top 50 hottest young actors, we've narrowed down our list from 88 to 50, and set an age limit. If you miss seeing some of your favorites, so do we - including Maggie Gyllenhaal (31 years old) and Amy Adams (34 years old). Definitely some of the names you'll see on the list are emerging talents - the ones you will see getting the big roles in the near future - and some of them already have, with awards and nominations to boot.

Here's the updated Top 40 list! You'll definitely notice the international flavor!

Not only are they capable of lighting up the silver screen, they are also some of today's most talented young actresses, commanding huge fees - in some cases, in the millions. Many have won multiple awards, while others have starred in some of today's biggest box office hits. In short, we're listing down the cream of the crop!

Just like our recent Top 50 hottest young actors, we've narrowed down our list from 88 to 50, and set an age limit. If you miss seeing some of your favorites, so do we - including Maggie Gyllenhaal (31 years old) and Amy Adams (34 years old). Definitely some of the names you'll see on the list are emerging talents - the ones you will see getting the big roles in the near future - and some of them already have, with awards and nominations to boot.

Here's the updated Top 40 list! You'll definitely notice the international flavor!

Not only are they capable of lighting up the silver screen, they are also some of today's most talented young actresses, commanding huge fees - in some cases, in the millions. Many have won multiple awards, while others have starred in some of today's biggest box office hits. In short, we're listing down the cream of the crop!

Just like our recent Top 50 hottest young actors, we've narrowed down our list from 88 to 50, and set an age limit. If you miss seeing some of your favorites, so do we - including Maggie Gyllenhaal (31 years old) and Amy Adams (34 years old). Definitely some of the names you'll see on the list are emerging talents - the ones you will see getting the big roles in the near future - and some of them already have, with awards and nominations to boot.

Here's the updated Top 40 list! You'll definitely notice the international flavor!

More Berlinale coverage

Berlin -- Stephen Daldry will likely be holding his breath before Friday's Berlinale premiere of "The Reader."

The Oscar-nominated drama starring Kate Winslet and Ralph Fiennes already has drawn the slings and arrows of U.S. critics for its mixing of an erotic love story with the history of the Holocaust. Berlin will be the film's first screening in front of a German audience and Sturm und Drang from the local press seems inevitable.

But when it comes to the film's boxoffice prospects here, Daldry, "Reader" producers the Weinstein Co. and local distributor Senator Film can take heart. German audiences are still hungry for Holocaust drama.

"The Reader" is the latest in a seemingly unprecedented wave of films that deal, in some way, with the Nazi horror and its aftermath.

From Bryan Singer's "Valkyrie," to Paul Schrader's "Adam Resurrected," from Daniel Craig starrer "Defiance" to...