According to German news sources, actors George Clooney, Isabella Rossellini, Meryl Streep and Isabelle Huppert, among others, are all expected to attend the Berlin Film Festival this year. Meryl’s new film, “A Praire Home Companion”, will have its world-premiere at the festival. Screening dates and official announcements on the attending guests will be made in early February.

The Berlinale Competition is screening the world premiere of A Prairie Home Companion (USA), an ensemble comedy by master director Robert Altman. The story is about a legendary radio show which is taken off the air after thirty years. Altman, the winner of several Berlinale prizes, has assembled an unparalleled cast of stars, including Meryl Streep and Lily Tomlin, Woody Harrelson, Kevin Kline and John C. Reilly. Visit the Berlinale’s Official Website.

Meryl Streep and Marcia Gay Harden are featured in a documentary on Tony Kushner, directed by Freida Lee Mock, which is having its world-premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 20, 2006. Full synopsis and airdates can be found here: Perhaps the greatest compliment to Freida Lee Mock’s film is that she does justice to her brilliant subject, entwining interviews with leading theatre artists and personal moments from Kushner’s life with scenes from his plays. Watching Marcia Gay Harden as Laura Bush in a scene from one of Kushner’s lesser-known plays is worth the price of admission itself. Hearing Meryl Streep read a prayer that Kushner wrote asking–no, demanding–God to cure AIDS will tear your heart out.

Yet another festival release for “A Prairie Home Companion”: The 2006 South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Conference & Festival in Austin, TX will open on March 10th with the North American premiere of Robert Altman’s “A Prairie Home Companion,” organizers announced Monday. The festival will conclude on March 18th. “Prairie” was acquired by Picturehouse back in October and is described as a fictionalized look at preparations for what could be the final episode of Garrison Keillor’s legendary radio program, exploring the fallout over a big corporation buying the theater home of the weekly radio show. According to Picturehouse, “As passions erupt, secrets emerge and a mysterious stranger lurks in the shadows, the vigilant stage manger must hold it all together since the ‘show must go on’.” Set for a June release, the film was written by Altman and Keillor. You can read the complete article here.

The Coolidge Award, given annually to film folks whose work ”advances the spirit of original and challenging cinema,” will be presented this year to Meryl Streep. Nominated for an Oscar a record 13 times, the actress is the third recipient of the award, following Chinese director Zhang Yimou in 2004 and Italian cinematographer Vittorio Storaro last year. Streep, whose latest film is an adaptation of Garrison Keillor’s radio show, ”A Prairie Home Companion,” will be in Boston to accept the award April 5-6. Susan Orlean, whose book ”The Orchid Thief” was the basis for the movie ”Adaptation,” in which Streep starred, said the actress isn’t typically interested in being celebrated. ”I’d e-mailed her and she reacted very favorably right away,” said Orlean, who’s on the Coolidge board. ”She can’t stand the rubber-chicken dinner thing where you’re treated like you’re dead. This is an interesting way to explore movies, and not some kind of creepy Jerry Lewis telethon.”

Actors and honorary chairs of the New York Stage and Film, Kathy Bates, Chris Cooper, Lisa Kudrow Kyra Sedgwick, Kevin Bacon, Frances Sternhagen, Meryl Streep and Jon Tenney will be honoring actor David Strathairn and Frances D. Ferguson, the president of Vassar College, at their winter gala on January 16, 2006. Many thanks to Andrea for the info. Read more here.

According to this source, scheduled for the upcoming festival are a special presentation of Garrison Keillor’s “A Prairie Home Companion” and a screening of the Robert Altman feature film based on Keillor’s radio program, as well as a performance of Jim Henson’s “Puppet Improv.” The festival is running from March 8-12, 2006 in Aspen, Colorado. More info can be found on their Official Website.

According to the New York Times, the Public Theater is singing, dancing and raising money for its 50th anniversary celebration. On Jan. 30 at City Center, the theater will feature an evening of artists performing selections from signature Public Theater musicals. Imagine songs from “Hair;” “A Chorus Line;” “Bring In da Noise, Bring In da Funk;” “The Wild Party;” “Caroline, or Change;” “Ghetto Superstar (The Man That I Am),” among others. They’re calling it “The Public Sings,” and the lineup of stars scheduled to appear includes Savion Glover, Eartha Kitt, Tonya Pinkins, Rosie Perez, Natalie Portman, Billy Porter, Meryl Streep and Zack Braff. Tickets will go on sale Friday. All proceeds benefit the theater.

According to AP, “A Prairie Home Companion” will be released next summer by Picturehouse Films after being bought for North American distribution when it was screened for buyers in New York. Picturehouse president Bob Berney said the film was hilarious and said that he saw potential for wide commercial success. “I was blown away. It was through the roof,” he said in a telephone interview. The Altman film, based on Garrison Keillor’s long-running radio program, was shot in St. Paul with a cast including Meryl Streep, Lindsay Lohan, Tommy Lee Jones, Woody Harrelson, Lily Tomlin and Kevin Kline. The working title was “The Last Broadcast,” but Berney, aiming to capitalize on the name recognition of the 31-year-old radio program, recommended that the title revert to “A Prairie Home Companion.”

Meryl Streep will present Valentino with the Superstar Award at the Fashion Group International’s Night of Stars next Thursday night. Meanwhile Sandra Bullock will receive the Humanitarian award, and Star Honorees will include Ralph Rucci, Olivier Theyskens (presented by Bee Schaffer), and Pat McGrath (presented by Andre Leon Talley). Alberta Ferretti and Donald Trump will be also honored.