Berlin film festival to honour Bowie and Rickman

David Bowie and Alan Rickman both died in January

The Berlin International Film Festival is to pay tribute to David Bowie and Alan Rickman with special screenings later this month.

The festival, which opens on 11 February, will show Nicolas Roeg's 1976 sci-fi film The Man Who Fell to Earth.

It starred Bowie in his first movie role as an alien on a quest for water to save his dying planet.

Also screening will be Ang Lee's 1995 period drama Sense and Sensibility, in which Rickman played Colonel Brandon.

The film won the Berlinale's highest prize, the Golden Bear, in 1996.

Both Bowie and Rickman died in January from cancer. They were both aged 69.

Announcing the special screenings, Berlinale director Dieter Kosslick said: "David Bowie was a tremendous musician, an avant-garde artist who expressed his creativity in many disciplines."

Bowie lived in Berlin in the late 1970s where he recorded his experimental art rock albums Low and Heroes.

Rickman was a guest of the Berlinale several times. His films that appeared at Berlin included Snow Cake (2006) and Close My Eyes (1991).

"His ability to transform himself, his artistry in playing ambivalent characters and his distinctive voice made Alan Rickman a great actor," said Kosslick.

Italian filmmaker Ettore Scola, who died in January, aged 84, will also be honoured at Berlin with a screening of his 1983 film Le Bal.

"Ettore Scola was a master of Italian comedy, a social critic who observed everyday life with intelligence, wit and political acumen," Kosslick said.

The Berlin International Film Festival runs from 11-21 February.