Berlin film festival adds Midnight Special and Genius to lineup

Drama starring Michael Shannon drama as a dad on the run from extremists joins biopic of legendary editor Max Perkins, played by Colin Firth

The Berlin film festival has released details of a clutch of new titles in its competition and special sections to join the already announced opening film Hail, Caesar!

Among the films having their world premiere on the Potsdamer Platz is Midnight Special, a thriller by Jeff "Mud" Nichols, which sees the director reunited with regular collaborator Michael Shannon. Shannon, who played a man haunted by apocalyptic visions in Nichols' 2011 film Take Shelter, here takes the role of a father who goes on the run with his son, whose extrasensory powers make him a target of government agents and extremists.