Berlin  - Films by prominent directors such as Constantin Costa-Gavras, Stephen Frears, Andrzej Wajda and Bertrand Tavernier are among the 26 entries in the competition section of the Berlin Film Festival next month, organizers said Thursday.

Among the movies to have their world premiere are British director Sally Potter's Rage, starring Dame Judi Dench and Jude Law, as well as French director Rachid Bouchareb's London River, which stars Brenda Blethyn and Sotigui Kouyate.

Five German films or films with German participation are being shown at the 10-day festival, among them The International by German-born director Tom Tykwer.

The International, which opens the festival on February 5, stars Clive Owen as an Interpol agent and Naomi Watts as a New York attorney who risk their lives in trying to investigate the bank's business which includes financing wars and terror.

British director's Stephen Daldry's The Reader, based on the book by German writer Bernhard Schlink, is also to be shown at the festival in out-of-competition screening. It co-stars Kate Winslet, who picked up two Golden Globes in Los Angeles this week.

Some 25 of the 26 entries for the festival have already been confirmed. They include productions from Argentina, Denmark, Germany, France, Greece, Britain, Italy, Iran, Peru, Poland, Romania, Spain, Hungary, Uruguay and the United States.

"With their very distinctive artistic styles, the films of the 2009 Competition provide evidence of living conditions in our globalized world. We are also pleased to present many world premieres again this year", said Berlinale director Dieter Kosslick.

Other world premieres include Frears' Cheri UK, starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Kathy Bates; About Elly, by Iranian director Asghar Farhadi; Mitchell Lichtenstein's Happy Tears, starring Demi Moore; Wajda's Sweet Rush and Tavernier's French-US effort, In the Electric Mist.

Costa-Gavras' Eden is West, a French-German-Italian co-production, has its international premiere in Berlin. (dpa)