The 2013 Berlin Film Festival will host the international premiere of The Monuments Men, the new film from actor/director/writer George Clooney.
“Over five million cultural assets stolen by the Nazis were returned to their countries of origin in the years following World War II,” Berlinale Director Dieter Kosslick said in a statement. “As the recent discovery in Munich demonstrates, the art theft of that time is as current as ever. The Monuments Men finally gives this little-known subject a worldwide audience.”
Kosslick is referring to the dramatic news this week that thousands of works by Picasso, Matisse and other masters were discovered in a Munich apartment last year. THe pieces were believed to have been stolen by the Nazis.
The Monuments Men tells the story of a group of art historians who save historic pieces of art from the clutches of the Nazis during World War II and help keep relics from being destroyed. It is a German-American co-production that Sony will distribute in the U.S. and Fox is distributing internationally. The all-star cast includes Matt Damon, Bill Murray, John Goodman, Jean Dujardin, Bob Balaban, Hugh Bonneville and Cate Blanchett.
The film was originally supposed to be released this December to qualify for the Oscars, but Clooney said that more time was needed to complete post-production work. Instead, the film will hit U.S. theaters on Feb. 7 and in Germany on Feb. 20.
Earlier this week, festival organizers confirmed that Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel will open the 64th Berlin International Film Festival on Feb. 6. The festival closes on Feb. 16.
image: Sony