Blue Moon starring Andrew Scott to premiere at Berlin Film Festival

Richard Linklater’s latest film, Blue Moon, is set to premiere in this year’s Berlin International Film Festival. The film, starring Andrew Scott, Ethan Hawke, Margaret Qualley and Bobby Cannavale, will also be in competition.

The Berlin Film Festival describes its competition as “The festival’s centre of gravity”, going on to say “It is the focal point of the festival and screens some of the year’s most talked-about films, frequently prompting heated debates.”

Each film in competition is screened following a red carpet ceremony. At the end of the festival, a jury of judges select from the competition entrants and present them with gold and silver bear awards across eight categories.

Shot in Ireland last year, Blue Moon is set mostly within Sardi’s bar, a well-known New York restaurant that has become a fixture of Broadway.

The film takes place on March 31, 1943- the premiere of composer Richard Rodgers and lyricist Oscar Hammerstein’s hit musical Oklahoma!. While the pair celebrate, Rodgers' former collaborator Lorenz Hart attempts to deal with the misery of being replaced.

Andrew Scott is to play the part of Hammerstein, who also worked with Rodgers on The Sound of Music. The duo won many awards for their musical work, including Pulitzer Prizes for Oklahoma! (1944) and South Pacific (1950).

Blue Moon was written by Robert Kaplow and was produced in association with Wild Atlantic Pictures, an Irish production company based in Dublin. Sony Pictures Classics financed the film along with Renovo Media Group. Sony is set to distribute the film internationally.

The Berlin International Film Festival will begin on February 13 and continue until February 25.