Berlinale Talent Campus 2009 popular among up-and-coming filmmakers. Cinemato-grapher and Oscar® award winner Janusz Kamiński, director and choreographer Farah Khan, and directors Patricio Guzmán and Jasmila Žbanić among the first Campus experts

The Berlinale Talent Campus, now in its 7th year, remains popular among young international filmmakers: 3834 ambitious Talents from 128 countries responded to this year's call for applications. For the first time, applications were received from Botswana, Haiti, Kyrgyzstan, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mongolia and Qatar. From 7-12 February, 2009, 350 selected Talents will have the chance to learn from prominent Berlinale guests and renowned experts, to have an exchange about projects and ideas, and to network with future colleagues in an informal setting. The theme for the 2009 Campus is "Suddenly, It All Happened – The Turning Point In Close-Up" and will focus on the driving force of turning points in filmmaking. The event will once again take place at the "Hebbel am Ufer" theatre in Berlin-Kreuzberg.

Campus experts to include Janusz Kamiński, Farah Khan, Patricio Guzmán and Jasmila Žbanić
The masterclass with Polish cinematographer and two-time Oscar® award winner Janusz Kamiński (Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan) will be a highlight of the 7th Campus. His work as the director of photography for Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List marked a turning point in his career and launched his international breakthrough. Kamiński has been the director of photography for every Spielberg film since, most recently for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. In 2008 he received the Independent Spirit award for The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Julian Schnabel. Kamiński was a member of the Berlinale's International Jury in 2006 and returns now to provide young Campus filmmakers insight into his exceptional and unconventional work.

Just how much fate can one film handle? In many film cultures, fate and chance play a decisive role in the turning points of a story. Bollywood cinema often portrays destiny as an exterior influence, whereas in Western storytelling traditions the protagonist often develops from within. The Indian director and choreographer Farah Khan, whose film Om Shanti Om delighted audiences at the Berlinale last year, will be one of several guests on the panel "Film and Fate".

The panel discussion "Provoking Cinema – Films That Marked Me Forever" will examine turning points in society and how they have been depicted in film. Many people rely on cinema to obtain or complement their knowledge of history. Two internationally renowned directors, Patricio Guzmán from Chile (Salvador Allende, The Pinochet Case) and Jasmila Žbanić from Bosnia (Grbavica, 2006 Golden Bear), will talk with Campus Talents about the ways in which cinema can inspire discussions about social issues and help to change the perception and evaluation of past political and socio-cultural events.

The Berlinale Talent Campus is an initiative of the Berlin International Film Festival, a business division of the Kulturveranstaltungen des Bundes in Berlin GmbH, funded by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media upon a decision of the German Bundestag, in co-operation with MEDIA - Training programme of the European Union, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, Skillset and UK Film Council as well as Volkswagen.