Below is the coverage from Berlin, headlines...

My Berlin Top Ten Films

At a film festival that totals more than 250 feature films (not to mention an additional 250 features in the accompanying European Film Market), one can only skim the surface of an event as wide-ranging as the Berlinale. Film choices are often based on schedule availability....grabbing a screening in between meetings or making sure one is awake to catch the early morning press screenings of the Competition program. In a sense, one only gets a random taste of the very far-flung program...

Berlinale 2011 partnered exclusively with Barco for digital screenings

Barco, a global leader in digital cinema projection technology, was an official partner of the 61st Berlin International Film Festival, one of the world's leading film festivals, taking place from 10 - 20 February. This year's edition featured more than 80 digital screenings, a record number in the history of the Berlinale. ...

Berlin, weather and the fading landmarks of memory lane

The weather this Berlinale has been more or less "as usual" -- chilly, around freezing every day, a few snowflakes in the air, and brightly overcast -- no sunshine, but bright cloudy days casting a bright silver haze on the cobblestone meadows of Potsdamer Platz -- the kind of bracing weather that makes one happy to be inside a warm cinema rather than out on a tempting beach ... like at Cannes, Venice, or San Sebastian. Berlinale veterans --which means anyone who was here before...

Ecumenical prize in Berlin to Familiar Grounds, en terrains connus

PRIZE OF THE ECUMENICAL JURY - Forum section FAMILIAR GROUNDS (En terrains connus) a film by Stéphane Lafleur (Canada) "This film is structurally original in showing how "accidents" can alter human relationships. It is innovative in drawing warm and human comic moments out of an alienated world where relationships are fragile. Its dialogue is sparse and well-controlled, and the soundtrack integrates very effectively with the film's visual imagery....

Prize of the International Critics (FIPRESCI Prize)

At the 61st Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale, Germany, February 10-20, 2011) the Prize of the International Critics (FIPRESCI Prize) has been presented to: "The Turin Horse" (A Torinói Ló) by Béla Tarr (Hungary, 2010) (International Competition) "Top Floor Left Wing" (Dernier étage gauche gauche) by Angelo Cianci (France, Luxemburg, 2010) (Panorama) "Heaven's Story" by Zeze Takahisa (Jap...

Berlin Film In Focus: NADER AND SIMIN, A SEPERATION

The Iranian film NADER AND SIMIN, A SEPERATION (terrible title, that) was the big winner at the 61st edition of the Berlinale, winning the Golden Bear as Best Film and Best Actor and Best Actress Silver Bears for its ensemble cast of men and women. The film, directed by Asghar Farhadi, who won a Silver Bear as Best Dierctor in 2009 for DARBAREYE, will certainly be one of the most talked about international films of the year. With the current attention of the world on the emerging democ...

The Berlinale Camera to Lia van Leer, Jerome Clement, Franz and Rosemarie Stadler

The Berlinale Camera is awarded to a film personality or an institution to whom the film festival feels especially attached. This award is a way of expressing thanks and has been given every year since 1986. Between 1986 and 2003 the Berlinale Camera was donated by the Berlin jeweller David Goldberg. Since 2004, the Berlinale Camera has been sponsored and manufactured by Georg Hornemann Objects. For the Berlinale 2008, the trophy has been redesigned by the Düsseldorf-based goldsmith himself. Th...

Honorary Golden Bear 2011

The Berlinale awards an Honorary Golden Bear to important film personalities. The award honors a particularly outstanding oeuvre or film career and is regularly given to the guest of honour of the Homage. Additional Honorary Golden Bears can be given independently of the Homage section. The Honorary Golden Bear is awarded during a festive ceremony usually followed by the screening of a film in the Berlinale Special programme. The Honorary Golden Bear is visually identical to the festival's hig...

Prizes Independent Juries - Berlinale

A jury is considered independent when its members are not selected by the Berlinale. A number of independent juries award prizes at the Berlinale. The high level of quality and diversity of the films are an invitation for critical examination and discerning judgment that opens up new directions. Accordingly the independent juries award their prizes along different criteria, in accordance to the special intention linked to each award. The following prizes are awarded by independent juries during...

Berlinale's Best First Feature Award

The Best First Feature Award is given annually to the best debut film, considering films from the Competition, the Panorama, the Generation, the Forum or the Perspektive Deutsches Kino programmes. A three-member international jury chooses the winning film. The prize is endowed by the Gesellschaft zur Wahrnehmung von Film- und Fernsehrechten (GWFF), a society for safeguarding film and television rights. It is worth 50,000 euros and shared between the producer and the director of the awarded film....

Berlin , quickshots, best, worst and in between

by Alex Deleon With some 400 films to choose from one might say that everybody sees a different festival over a ten day period. Of the official competition films two were early walkouts. Ralph Fiennes' "Coriolanus" and the Bela Tarr entry "A Torinoi Lo" (The Turin Horse) -- arguably the most bleak, depressing , and boring film ever made. It's all about two miserable people livinng in a miserable life in a miserable hut somewhere in the middle of nowhere and tr...

Berlinale Awards

The Awards of the International Jury 2011 Golden Bear for Best Film Jodaeiye Nader az Simin (Nader And Simin, A Separation) by Asghar Farhadi Asghar Farhadi Silver Bear - The Jury Grand Prix A torinói ló (The Turin Horse) by Béla Tarr Silver Bear - Best Director Ulrich Köhler for Schlafkrankheit (Sleeping Sickness) Ulrich Köhler Silver Bear - Best Actress ...

25th TEDDY AWARD 2011 - The Winners

The nine members of the international jury - organisers of queer and other film festivals - view films within the framework of all programs of the Berlinale which have queer context. Three films are nominated for each category and one receives a TEDDY for best feature film, best documentary/essay film and the best short film, each with a cash award of €3,000. Members of the Jury: Marcus Hu (President of the TEDDY AWARD Jury) Strand Releasing, Culver City...

La Ducha (The Shower) is Berlinale's Short Film winner, The Unliving is EFA Film Nominee Berlin

The Future Meets the Moment - Berlinale Shorts 2011 The Short Film Jury with its renowned members - artist and photographer Nan Goldin, filmmaker and director of the Sam Spiegel Film and Television in Jerusalem, and film producer and director Ibrahim Letaief from Tunisia - awards the DAAD Short Film Prize and the EFA Short Film Nominee Berlin to the following productions: The DAAD Short Film Prize of the Berlin Artist Programme of the DAAD goes to a young Chilean director: Mari...

Teddy Awards Announced For Top Gay Films

It was without a doubt the hottest ticket and the coolest party in town. On Friday evening, tout Berlin was partying at the former Templehof Airport to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Teddy Awards, also known as the "gay Oscars". The Teddys are voted on by specific juries for the best gay-themed films screening in all sections of the Berlinale. The Teddy jury is comprised of queer festival programmers from around the world. Winning the top award was German...

Crystal Bears and Deutsches Kinderhilfswerk Awards in Generation Kplus

Berlinale 2011: Crystal Bears and Deutsches Kinderhilfswerk Awards in Generation Kplus The members of the Children's Jury Generation Kplus Ilenga Altuğ Christian Becker Merten Ebbert Antonia Felsmann Mascha Tabea Luise Leskien Olivia Mirza Jakob Oeschey Paul Reichhoff Lotta Schwerk Jurek Stanislawski Liv Thastum give the following awards: Crystal Bear for the Best Feature...

The Education by Dirk Lütter wins FGYO Prize "Dialogue en perspective"

Perspektive Deutsches Kino: Die Ausbildung (The Education) by Dirk Lütter wins FGYO Prize "Dialogue en perspective" Today, during the award ceremony of the Independent Juries of the 61st Berlinale, the young French-German-Bosnian jury awarded the "Dialogue en perspective" prize. It goes this year to Dirk Lütter's film Die Ausbildung (The Education). The award was initiated in 2004 by the Franco-German Youth Office (FGYO), an official partner of the Berlin...

Nader and Simin -- a Separation, Iranian film on track of Golden Bear

by Alex Deleon As New York Yankees catcher/philospher, Yogi Berra, once put it. "It ain't over till it's over", but as the fest winds down, the smart ninth day money is on the Iranian film Jodaeiye Nader az Simin ("Nader and Simin -- a Separation"). The Berlin festival is nothing if not political in tone, and this year the political emphasis has been on protesting against Iranian film censorship. However, this family drama is not overtly political in natu...

Panorama Audience Awards Even The Rain...

Berlinale 2011: Panorama Audience Awards PPP go to También la lluvia (Even The Rain) and Im Himmel, Unter der Erde. Der Jüdische Friedhof Weißensee (In Heaven Underground - The Weissensee Jewish Cemetery) The audience has cast its votes: the 13th PanoramaAudienceAward PPP, which is presented in collaboration with radioeins of rbb (Berlin-Brandenburg's public radio and television station), Berlin's city magazine tip and the Berlinale's Panorama section, goes to Tambié...

Europa Cinemas Label as Best European Film to Above us only sky....

Jan Schomburg's ÜBER UNS DAS ALL/ABOVE US ONLY SKY from Germany has been awarded the Europa Cinemas Label as Best European Film in the Panorama section of the Berlinale, it was announced today by a jury of four exhibitors - the seventh year the Label has been awarded in the section. ÜBER UNS DAS ALL/ABOVE US ONLY SKY will now receive the support of the Europa Cinemas exhibitors who commit themselves to extend the length of its run on screen and additional promotion across t...

Berlinale 2011: Crystal Bears in the Generation14plus

The members of the Youth Jury in the Generation 14plus Faysal Asfaha Jonathan Curio Leonie Goebel-Künnecke Theresa Greiwe Roberta Huldisch Oskar E. Levis Tara Mauritz give the following awards: Crystal Bear for the Best Feature Film: On the Ice by Andrew Okpeaha MacLean, USA 2011 This film drew us in from the first minute and remained gripping right up to the very end. Here, between s...

Splendid Conclusion of the 61st Berlin International Film Festival

On Saturday, February 19, the 61st Berlin International Film Festival will come to a splendid conclusion with the award ceremony. 1600 guests are expected at the gala in the Berlinale Palast, where from 7.00 pm onwards the winners of the Golden and Silver Bears, the Golden and Silver Bears for the Short Films, the Alfred Bauer Prize as well as the Best First Feature Award will be announced. Following the ceremony, the winner of the Golden Bear will be presented as closing film of this...

The award ceremony for the Score Competition 2011 at Talent Campus

Committed filmmakers speak their minds at the Berlinale Talent Campus #9 Felix Rösch from Germany wins the Score Competition 2011 Winner of the Score Competition 2011: Felix Rösch © Peter HimselWinner of the Score Competition 2011: Felix Rösch © Peter Himsel On 17.2., the ninth edition of the Berlinale Talent Campus came to a successful close with the award ceremony for this year's Score Competition in the Theater Hebbel am Ufer (HAU 1-3). 350 young filmmakers from 88 cou...

Eggsploitation: Controversial human infertility documentary finds fertile ground at EFM

ID Communications Inc. announces acquisition of "Eggsploitation" a documentary dealing with the controversial practice of buying and selling human eggs to infertility clinics. Directed and produced by Jennifer Lahl, ‘‘Eggsploitation'' has just won Best Documentary award in the California Independent Film Festival of 2011. The film highlights questionable practices in the infertility industry, in particular in the United States. Focused on the lives of 3 women who h...

First positive impression from the Bustling European Film Market 2011

An optimistic mood, numerous sales and a visible growth in the number of participants and films are the first positive conclusions that can be drawn from the European Film Market 2011 of the 61st Berlin International Film Festival. EFM director Beki Probst announced, "We are very pleased with the outcome of the EFM 2011: more participants, more buyers, more films, more screenings and more market premieres - the international film business experienced an upswing in Berlin. It appears the ...

Berlinale Is Gay Film Central

The Berlinale cherishes its reputation as the pre-eminent film festival for international LGBT (lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender) cinema. The Berlinale, particularly the Panorama section, has had a pink streak for decades. In recent years, it has also helped launch many gay-themed films to significant box office success and international distribution. In addition, Berlin is the place where over 150 gay film festival programmers and film buyers from around the world congregate t...

Berlin Buzz 5

IRANIAN FILM TAKES LEAD IN CRITICS POLL Trade magazine Screen International has been conducting a poll among leading international critics to predict the film that will win the Golden Bear award, the Berlinale's top prize. Each day in the trade's dailies, seven internationally respected critics are polled to get their response and to (possibly) handicap the winner, which will be announced on Sunday. The critics include Scott Foundas (Film Comment, USA), Derek Malcolm (London Even...

Berlin Buzz 4

FULL IMMERSION INGMAR BERGMAN The subject of the Berlinale Retrospective this year is legendary Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman. The Festival is presenting more than 60 of his taboo-breaking films, including such classics as SUMMER WITH MONICA, THE SEVENTH SEAL, THE VIRGIN SPRING, WINTER LIGHT, PERSONA, HOUR OF THE WOLF, CRIES AND WHISPERS, AUTUMN SONATA, FANNY AND ALEXANDER and his final film SARABAND. Three of Bergman's actress collaborators have also been in town to introduc...

A day at Berlinale: portraits

Feb 14, 2011 Competition - Coriolanus: The actress on her way to the Photo Call. Competition - Coriolanus: The actor at the Photo Call. Competition - Coriolanus: The director and actor at the Photo Call. Competition - Coriolanus: The director and actor being photographed by his fans in front of the Berlinale Palast. European Shooting Stars: The talents in the Berlinale Palast. Competition - Coriolanus: The actress in the Berlinale Palast. Festival Impressions: The festiva...

Berlin Film In Focus: THE FUTURE

It is rare that a rather low budget American indie title ever is included in the main Competition section here at the Berlinale (American indies are more represented in the Panorama and Forum sidebar sections). However, when a film artist has such a clear, individual voice as Miranda July, the main festival programmers cannot resist. Such is the case with July's sophomore effort following her celebrated debut ME AND YOU AND EVERYONE WE KNOW in 2004. It has taken almost seven years for...

Belafonte in Berlin --and a Wiff of Madonna ...

by Alex Deleon In a flash Day 5 (of ten) has already arrived and the fest is already half over, although it seems like it just began. Like it or not what really makes a festival like Berlin second only to Cannes --besides the 400 or so films from around the world shown --is the St***ar power it generates, and festival director Dieter Kosslick makes no bones about this. He goes all out to invite as many big name stars as possible and even claims that the worst nightmare of his ten year ...

Berlinale 2011: New Cooperation Partners of the World Cinema Fund / WCF Day on February 16, 2011

On February 16, 2011, the WCF Day will once again provide an opportunity to learn more about the programme, successes, funding strategies, films, initiatives and partners of the World Cinema Fund (WCF). On this occasion the World Cinema Fund will present its new cooperation partners, the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, and the Deutsche Welle/DW Akademie. Through the support of these new partners, it will be possible to launch a new WCF programme in a number...

Berlin Buzz 3

BERLINALE IN 3D On Sunday, the Berlinale was host to three back-to-back 3D films that demonstrated that the technology is not only good for computer animation and big budget sci-fi. In TALES OF THE NIGHT, French animator Michel Ocelot provides a shadow-puppet retelling of famous fairy tales, much in the manner of the films of famed 1930s storyteller Lotte Reininger. The film mixes classic silhouette animation with strong colorful backgrounds to amazing effect. In PI...

Meet Europe's Newest Stars

Standing: Cédomir Kolar (Shooting Stars jury), Ole Christian Madsen (jury), Sylvia Hoeks (The Netherlands), Alicia Vikander (Sweden), Andrea Riseborough (United Kingdom), Marija Škaričić (Croatia), Natasha Petrovic (FYR Macedonia), Clara Lago (Spain), Ralph Fiennes (Host), Heike Makatsch (jury), Lina Todd (jury). Front row: Nik Xhelilaj (Albania) Alexander Fehling (Germany), Pilou Asbæk (Denmark), Domhnall Gleeson (Ireland). Photo: EFP/ Markus Nass As it has done for the past ...

Check the Homebase Lounge

HomeBase Lounge is a social venue, located in the heart of Berlin. We specialize in providing conference, reception, and party space for the tech- and social-media sector. An offline meeting space for online people Although we originated as a temporary festival lounge during the Berlinale 2004, people encouraged us to keep it going. We heard them, and since then we´ve expanded our operations to provide a dedicated venue for the technology and media communities. Our goal is ...

Opening of the Berlinale Talent Campus #9 & Berlin Today Award Ceremony

Hackney Lullabies by Kyoko Miyake wins the 2011 Campus short film competition On Saturday evening (12.2.) at the Hebbel am Ufer Theatre, Festival Director Dieter Kosslick opened the Berlinale Talent Campus 2011 together with the heads of the Campus Christine Tröstrum and Matthijs Wouter Knol as well as with Medienboard CEO Kirsten Niehuus. Directly afterwards, the roughly 600 guests witnessed the world premiere of the five Berlin Today Award 2011 nominated short films insp...

Films and Patrons for Movie Theatres at "Berlinale goes Kiez"

The Berlinale will again be unrolling its Flying Red Carpet at selected neighbourhood cinemas in 2011. With this series, it wants to express its thanks to Berlin's movie fans and to those who put together the programmes of these cinemas. "Berlinale goes Kiez" was launched last year for the Festival's 60th anniversary and proved to be an absolute favourite among Berliners. Once again the Berlinale wants to support this passion for the cinema: On seven...

In memory of Bernd Eichinger, the Berlinale will show A Girl Called Rosemarie

In memory of the producer, writer and director Bernd Eichinger, the Berlinale will show Bernd Eichinger's film A Girl Called Rosemarie (1996), starring Nina Hoss, who is a member of this year's International Jury, in Kino International at 2.00 pm on Saturday, February 12, 2011. A Girl Called Rosemarie tells the true story of the 1957 murder of ‘demimondaine' Rosemarie Nitribitt. The Nitribitt affair caused a great stir at the time, but remained unsolved. The film was one...

Berlin Buzz 2

International film festivals are here in force at the Berlinale to not only scout for new films but also to make announcements on upcoming special projects. Here are a few that have made the headlines here in Berlin. BEIJING INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL LAUNCHES Beijing, the Chinese capital, now will have its own film event with the launching of the 1st Beijing International Film Festival, set for April 23-28, 2011. The Festival organization took an office at the M...

Berlin Film In Focus: WHATSOEVERLY

While some people in America may already be nostalgic for George W. Bush (do not count me in that group), one of the guilty pleasures that one could perhaps pine for was the former President's odd use of the English language. Although he was educated at Harvard, he was prone to colloquialisms that were bad mashups of words that he kind of, sort of just made up. He shares this quality with the lead actor in the new Italian satirical comedy QUALUNQUEMENTE translated as WHATSOEVERL...

Berlin Buzz 1

EUROPEAN FILM MARKET OPENS WITH HIGH HOPES The European Film Market, the professional parallel event to the Berlin Film Festival, opened yesterday with anticipation of a busy buying session that signal the reemergence of the market after three disasterous years of economic recession. Market registration has increased by 15% from last year and offices are filled to capacity at the Martin Gropius Bau, the Market's main venue, and the Marriot Hotel. Unofficial offices have also been s...

Berlinale Jury Stands Up For Jafar Panahi

There was a conspicuous empty chair when the jury of the 61st Berlinale held its press conference on Thursday afternoon. Jury President Isabella Rossellini read a pronouncement that the empty chair was a symbolic gesture of support for Iranian director Jafar Panahi, who was invited to participate on the jury but was prevented from leaving his country. Panahi was sentenced last month to a six-year prison term and also received a ban from making movies for the next 20 years. The...

Panorama Celebrates Two Milestones In 2011

The Panorama section of the Berlinale, known for its edgy programming, is celebrating two significant anniversaries this year. The first is the 30 year involvement of Wieland Speck, the handsome honcho who began his involvement as an assistant to the legendary Manfred Salzgaber, a producer and film exhibitor who began the section as an alternative to the somewhat stuffy programming of the main Berlinale section. With an emphasis on queer and outsider cinema, the Panorama was event...

Berlinale Opening 2011: Cowboy Boots to Kick Off Race for Bears

Minister of State for Culture Bernd Neumann, Governing Mayor of Berlin Klaus Wowereit, Jury President Isabella Rossellini and Berlinale Director Dieter Kosslick will open the 61st Berlin International Festival on February 10 at 7.30 pm. During the opening gala, which will be hosted by Anke Engelke, the International Jury will be introduced. Music will be provided by the Beatsteaks. 3sat will broadcast the event live. This will be followed by the international premiere of Joel ...

The complete list of official Sponsors who support the Berlinale

"Our contracts with L'ORÉAL PARiS and BMW have been extended until 2013. And both ZDF broadcasting station and TESIRO have expressed interest in continuing our partnerships beyond 2011. We are also particularly pleased to welcome two interesting new companies on board as co-partners: ENTEGA green energy supplier and GLASHÜTTE ORIGINAL watch manufactory. Besides the continued support of Minister of State for Culture Bernd Neumann, the financial and creative contributions of our spon...

Berlin 61 Kicks Off with True Grit

If John Wayne is up there watching from the Great Beyond in the Sky over Berlin, he must be truly gritting his teeth to see a younger Good Ole Boy, name o' Jeff Bridges, reaping the kudos and leading the pack into Potsdamer Platz on opening night, while wearing the same black eye-patch Wayne did in the original version of this gritty All-American western. Of course, Big John did pick up an Oscar for his turn as Rooster Cogburn, the alcoholic, one-eyed, straight-shooting lawman, back in 1969...

Honorary Golden Bear for Armin Mueller-Stahl

Homage to the Actor at the 61st Berlin International Film Festival Since 1982 the Berlin International Film Festival has regularly honored outstanding individuals in the world of national and international film for their life's work. In 2010, the festival's Honorary Golden Bear was awarded to Hanna Schygulla, an actress whose career is intimately linked with the work of Rainer Werner Fassbinder. In 2011, this award is being bestowed on an actor who first won international reno...

Giddy Yup, Mein Herr

At first glance it seemed like an odd fit.....a Western to open the 2011 edition of the Berlinale? Well, it helps that the cowboy tale is written and directed by two of the most respected film auteurs in the business....Joel and Ethan Coen. TRUE GRIT, the remake of the 1968 film that won John Wayne his only Oscar, is not only a tour de force for les freres Coens but has emerged, rather unexpectedly, as one of the major box office bonanzas of the year. It is far and away the most succes...

40 films from all sections of the 61th Berlin International Film Festival have been nominated for the TEDDY AWARDs 2011

On February 18th 2011, the 9-headed international TEDDY jury, with representatives from the USA, Hungary, Thailand, Latvia, Brasil, England, South Korea, Mexico and Australia, will be announcing the winners on the 25th TEDDY AWARD gala. For further information about TEDDY AWARD 2011, visit: http://www.teddyaward.tv/ All information about the films can be found on: http://news.teddyaward.tv/de/programm/ ...

German Cinema - LOLA@Berlinale,

With box office hits and award winning films, the German film industry is at a commercial and creative highpoint. For many years, a selection of German films has been spotlighted in the German Cinema series, which takes on a new form as of 2011. Entitled German Cinema - LOLA@Berlinale, the programme will present films longlisted for the German Film Awards (aka Lola) by the German Film Academy. The series will remain an outstanding and important component of the European Film Market. �...

Figures from EFM 2010

Figures and stats for the European Film Market (2010 edition). The past edition, the EFM played host to 419 companies from 50 countries in the Martin-Gropius-Bau and the EFM Marriott Offices. Facts & Figures of the EFM 2010 EFM Participants 6,450 Nationalities 81 Number of films 666 ...

EFM Industry Debates 2011 - Spotlight On Current Industry Trends

In their fifth consecutive year, the EFM Industry Debates highlight current trends in the industry. This year the industry event, hosted by the EFM from 11 - 13 February in cooperation with the international trade magazines Screen International, Variety and The Hollywood Reporter, will focus on independent film finance, the changing role of the sales agent in the current economic climate and the future of 3D. Friday, 11 February 2011: Independent Film Finance In ...

Meet the Berlinale team

Belinale Poster The poster for the Berlinale 2011 was conceived by the Boros Agency. Just like in the last years, a single motif represents the entire Berlinale. For the sake of unified communication there will be no separate section posters. The team &...

Jafar Panahi - Filmmaker of the World

Shortly after the Berlinale invited Jafar Panahi to be on this year's International Jury, he was sentenced to six years in prison and banned from filmmaking for the next 20 years. Ever since, people have been protesting worldwide against this verdict as it violates the right to freedom of opinion and expression in the arts. The Berlin International Film Festival very strongly condemns the harsh sentences imposed on the distinguished Iranian director Jafar Pan...

The Berlinale jury keeps an open seat for Jafar Panahi

Isabella Rossellini is one of the most renowned actresses in international cinema. In recent years she has also made her mark as a producer and director. The daughter of Swedish actress Ingrid Bergman and Italian director Roberto Rossellini has played in more than 40 feature films and worked with such directors as Robert Zemeckis, Joel Schumacher, Peter Weir, Abel Ferrara, Peter Greenaway and David Lynch or John Schlesinger, with whom she filmed The Innocent in Berlin in 1992. She celeb...

Berlinale Forum Expanded 2011: Parallel Worlds and more

42 artists, filmmakers, performers and musicians from 16 countries will present cinematic works in exhibitions, screenings, radio broadcasts and on stage. Parallel Worlds is the title of an exhibition at Salon Populaire (Kunstsaele Berlin) about the ability of images to create connections between worlds and thereby merge with them, set them in motion or detach themselves from them. The exhibition is also about the autonomy of images and their historical life span. The foc...

Berlinale Retrospective Ingmar Bergman

Retrospective Ingmar Bergman: Guests and Events Few film directors have worked as consistently over decades with the same team as Ingmar Bergman. With Harriet Andersson, Gunnel Lindblom and Liv Ullmann, three of Bergman's most outstanding actresses will not only present "their" films at the Berlinale, but also converse in detail publicly about life and work with Bergman for both the screen and the stage. When Bergman cast the Norwegian actress Liv Ullmann in Persona (1965/66) becaus...

The 41st Forum: Cracks in the Facade

A surprisingly large number of films in the programme of the 41st Berlinale Forum revolve around family, relationships and identity. Although exploring the human psyche is the number one subject for independent filmmakers from the whole world, the majority of these films in this year's selection can also be read politically within the context of social change and political upheaval. In this way, artist Kelvin K. Park's documentary Cheonggyecheon Medley places the threatened demolition of a tr...

Solidarity with Jafar Panahi

In support of the convicted Iranian director Jafar Panahi, the Berlin International Film Festival is launching a number of initiatives at the upcoming Berlinale. In his films, Jafar Panahi critically explores the social situation in his homeland. His conviction violates the right to freedom of opinion and expression in the arts. In 2011 the Berlinale will show several films by Jafar Panahi in a number of its sections and so draw attention to the extraordinary oeuvre for which this art...

The Competition of the 61st Berlinale complete line up of films

The selection for the Competition programme of the 61st Berlin International Film Festival has been completed. It includes 22 films, 16 of which will be competing for the awards. In addition there will be two special screenings: In solidarity with the convicted Iranian director Jafar Panahi, his film Offside will be presented on February 11, the anniversary of the Iranian Revolution. Also, the European premiere of Werner Herzog's 3D documentary Cave of Forgotten Dreams will be shown as a...