Film festivals are the Fashion Week of the movie world – where the filmmakers congregate to present their art and where the hype and rumors are born. The Berlin Film Festival kicked off last week and though the celebration was cast in a dark shadow by the death of Philip Seymour Hoffman and the tactless P.R. moves made at his funeral, Wes Anderson’s highly anticipated new film "The Grand Budapest Hotel" made sparks of the red carpet.
While "Budapest" and its cast dazzled audiences, other stars busied themselves with a different flavor of drama. Take "Nymphomaniac," the new Lars von Trier film. The premiere turned out to be almost as controversial as the film itself, which was clearly the intention. Von Trier, who was banned from the Cannes Film Festival in 2011, showed up to the "Nymphomaniac" opening wearing a T-shirt that read, “PERSONA NON GRATA,” (translation: “an unwelcome person”). And Shia LaBeouf, one of the stars of von Trier's film, emerged on the scene sporting a spiffy tux and a bag over his head that read, “I AM NOT FAMOUS ANYMORE,” quoting his now infamous tweet. This is the latest in a series of reactions by the 27-year-old actor to his most recent accusations of plagiarism.
We can undoubtedly expect more theatrics as the festival continues, but here's to hoping that hype will primarily circulate around the films, and not only the red carpet shenanigans.
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