UK Release of New Lou Reed Berlin Film 25 July 2008

From the Director of THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY and
BEFORE NIGHT FALLS

Lou Reed's BERLIN
(CERT TBC)
A film by JULIAN SCHNABEL

Official Selection - Venice Horizon, Venice Film Festival 2007
Toronto International Film Festival 2007

UK RELEASE DATE: 25 July 2008

Opening at selected West End Venues
and selected U.K. cinemas nationwide

Lou Reed recorded the album Berlin in 1973.

It was a commercial failure.

Over the next 33 years, he never performed the album live.

For five nights in December 2006 at St. Ann's Warehouse Brooklyn, Lou Reed performed his masterwork about love's dark sisters: jealousy, rage and loss. - Julian Schnabel

Staging Berlin has been discussed for over 30 years and in December of 2006 it became a reality. Berlin was said to be one of the most depressing albums ever made and as it was brought to life it was far from dismal. Using the divided city of Berlin as its backdrop the story of Caroline and her lovers is told through the emotive and provocative words of Lou Reed.

With performers like Fernando Saunders, Antony, Steve Hunter, Rob Wassermann, Rupert Christie and Sharon Jones, a seven piece orchestra and the Brooklyn Youth Chorus all working to create a captivating and enveloping world, Lou Reed is able to take the audience with him as he bares witness to Caroline's self-destruction.

Julian's set design creates the backdrop of a hotel with greenish walls and Lola Schnabel's films display the beauty and tragedy of the narrator's leading lady (played by the French actress Emmanuelle Seigner), adding to the experience which is so devastating and beautiful at the same time.

Julian Schnabel was born in Brooklyn, New York. He graduated with a B.F.A. from the University of Houston and participated in the Whitney Museum Independent Study Program. He had his first solo painting exhibition at the Mary Boone Gallery in New York in 1979. Since then, his paintings have been included in many important public and private collections around the world. His films include Basquiat, Before Night Falls, which won the Grand Jury Prize at the Venice International Film Festival in 2000, THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY, and Lou Reed's BERLIN.

For further information please contact:

Peter Noble & Tracy Gosling @ Peter Noble Consultancy PR Ltd.
Central Ignition
1 Mercers Mews
London N19 4PL
Tel: +44 (0) 207 272 7772
Fax: +44 (0) 207 272 2227
E-mail: peter@noblepr.co.uk | tracy@noblepr.co.uk