Saturday, February 10---With appropriate fanfare, Festival Director Dieter Kosslick and Campus Director Dorothee Wenner officially opened the fifth edition of the Berlinale Talent Campus in the presence of 600 invited guests in the Theater Hebbel am Ufer. The 350 Talents from more than 100 countries will meet with international experts through February 15 in a series of workshops and lectures. In addition to director Walter Salles, the Campus experts Jia Zhangke, Jan Kaczmarek and Jasmila Žbanić welcomed this year's participants, partners and guests.

Another highlight of the evening was the announcement of the BERLIN TODAY AWARD (BTA) 2007 by Kirsten Niehuus, Managing Director Film Funding, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, and director Sebastian Schipper (GIGANTIC). The BERLIN TODAY AWARD is an international award for short films by Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg and the film industry in Berlin-Brandenburg in cooperation with the Berlinale Talent Campus.

This year’s finalists were produced by the Berlin-based company zero fiction film: SHANTY GARDEN TOWN, by Guillaume Giovanetti (France) and Cagla Zencirci (Turkey), takes a poetic look at Berlin’s allotment gardens. THE GREAT WATER BATTLE, by Katarzyna Klimkiewicz (Poland) and Andrew Friedman (USA), documents a unique and over-the-top Berlin tradition: the annual water fight between the neighbouring residents of Kreuzberg and Friedrichshain on the Oberbaum-bridge. The animated film THE WOOLEN HAT, by Rhoda Kawinga (Zambia), tells the imaginative tale of the young girl Malita who saves the Berlin bears from a power-hungry cat.

The winning film will be broadcast by media partner Deutsche Welle-TV. Festival participants will have an opportunity to see all three BERLIN TODAY short films on Monday, February 12, directly after the show “Becoming a Berliner”, which features comedian Adrian Kennedy, author Wladimir Kaminer and actress/singer Meret Becker as well as other guests who will share their personal views of Berlin.

The Berlinale Talent Campus Opening Party was a wildly enjoyable affair with a live performance of the band “Ben*Jammin”, and continues with DJ Johannes Paetzold from Radio Eins.

Sandy Mandelberger
Berlin Online Dailies Editor