Leigh drama to compete at Berlin

Mike Leigh has won awards at Cannes and Venice in the past

Director Mike Leigh's latest film will compete for the top prize at the Berlin Film Festival next month.

Leigh, whose past films include Vera Drake and Secrets & Lies, will be in competition for the Golden Bear award with his new drama Happy-Go-Lucky.

It is among nine films to have been added to the line-up.

The others include Elegy, directed by Isabel Coixet, which is based on Philip Roth's novel The Dying Animal and stars Penelope Cruz and Sir Ben Kingsley.

Works by Hong Kong's Johnnie To, French director Erick Zonca, Italian film-maker Antonello Grimaldi and Japan's Yoji Yamada will also be in the running.

They will join eight films that were named in the initial line-up in December.

They include Paul Thomas Anderson's Oscar contender There Will Be Blood, Chinese director Wang Xiaoshuai's Zuo You and hit Brazilian thriller Tropa de Elite.

The Berlin Film Festival takes place between 7-17 February.