By Scott Roxborough
COLOGNE, Germany (Hollywood Reporter) - A special edition of Sam Peckinpah’s revisionist western "Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid," will close the Berlin International Film Festival on February 18, organisers announced Monday.
The digitally restored version of the 1972 classic, starring James Coburn, Kris Kristofferson and Bob Dylan, was put together based on the director’s notes and details provided by colleagues familiar with Peckinpah’s original vision of the film. The film will screen after the awards ceremony.
Berlin organisers also announced that actor Sir Ian McKellen and Polish director Andrzej Wajda will receive lifetime achievement awards.
McKellen will receive his Golden Bear statuette at a ceremony February 11 at Berlin’s Kino International. Following the ceremony, the festival will screen "Richard III," the 1995 Shakespeare adaptation that marked McKellen’s international film breakthrough.
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Wajda is one of Poland’s best-known and revered directors. With films such as "A Generation" and "Man of Iron," which won the Palme d’Or at Cannes in 1981, Wajda has chronicled the political upheavals in his country from the end of Nazi occupation to the fall of communist rule. In 2000, he received an honorary Oscar for his life’s work.
He will receive his Golden Bear on February 15 at the Kino International. At Wajda’s request, the festival will screen "Pilate and Others," a version of the Christian Good Friday story that Wajda directed for German television in 1972.
The 56th Berlin International Film Festival will open February 9 with the world premiere of Marc Evans’ "Snow Cake," featuring Alan Rickman and Sigourney Weaver.
Reuters/Hollywood Reporter
