The day has come for celebrating the opening of the 48th International Festival for Documentary and Animated Film, presenting the first two films selected for competition: "The Giant Buddhas" (Christian Frei, Switzerland) and "Element of Light" (Richard Reeves, USA). Numerous international guests are expected, including more than 100 filmmakers, whose productions will be presented during the festival.The following filmmakers are among those expected: Jenny Abel (USA) , Akram Agha (Syria), Jan va...

Following Berlin Talent Campus 2004, a total of 174 filmmakers from 47 countries have submitted their entries for the Berlin Today Award 2005. As this year's Berlin Today Award (BTA) films travel from film festival to film festival for screening to audiences and filmmakers around the world, the three new films which will compete for the 2005 award to be announced on February 16, 2005 during the Berlinale Talent Campus are in the middle of postproduction. With the support of the Medienboard Berli...

There are documentaries and documentaries! The festival of Leipzig was an example that today, more than ever; the interest of the public in documentaries is growing. In Germany, as in the rest of Europe, more than 10 documentaries are being shown this year in ordinary cinemas.. The festival illustrated this interest very well. The public was young and the cinemas were (over) crowded. In one of the workshops it was stated that these documentaries are a response to the mainstream productions see...

The short film awards from the Competition and Panorama sections:INTERNATIONAL SHORT FILMThe International Short Film Jury awards prizes for short films screened in the Competition and Panorama sections.The members of the jury Christine Dollhofer (Austria), Sophie Maintigneux (France) and Vinca Wiedemann (Danmark)award the following prizes: Golden Bear for Best Short Film toUN CARTUS DE KENT SI UN PACHET DE CAFEA Cigarettes and Coffeeby Cristi Puiu Jury Prize, Silver Bear, to the short film...