Batman at the Checkpoint by Rafael Balulu wins the 2012 Campus short film competition

On Saturday evening (February 11) festival director Dieter Kosslick opened the 10th Berlinale Talent Campus together with the heads of the Campus Christine Tröstrum and Matthijs Wouter Knol as well as with the director of the MEDIA programme Aviva Silver at the Hebbel am Ufer Theatre. Director Stephen Daldry and head curator of the film division at MoMA Rajendra Roy congratulated Kosslick on the occasion of the Campus anniversary and thanked him for his dedication to young filmmakers worldwide. Afterwards, the roughly 500 guests witnessed the world premiere of the five Berlin Today Award 2012 nominated short films inspired by the theme "Every Step You Take", realised with support from Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg.

Berlin Today Award 2012: Award Ceremony during Dine & Shine

On Sunday evening (February 12) the Berlin Today Award was awarded during the festive "Dine & Shine Talents Rendezvous" at ewerk by Medienboard CEO Kirsten Niehuus and the three jurors Jasmila Žbanić, Judith Kaufmann and Guy Maddin. The ninth Berlin Today Award went to Israeli filmmaker Rafael Balulu for Batman at the Checkpoint. The short film shows a fight between an Israeli and a Palestinian boy over a plastic Batman doll, while their families' cars are stuck at a checkpoint near Jerusalem. "The film succeeds in showing us a well-known conflict by poetically re-setting it as a playful battle." The three jurors explained their decision. Batman at the Checkpoint was produced by Berlin-based production company Lichtblick Media. The jury also gave an Honourable Mention to the short documentary White Lobster by British filmmaker David Lalé. There will be a public screening of all five Berlin Today Award short films on Sunday, February 19, at 5:30 pm at the Collosseum.

Until Thursday, February 16, around 150 internationally successful filmmakers and Berlinale guests are expected to join the many public events.

The Campus experts include directors Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Nadia El Fani, Hou Hsiao-Hsien, Sophie Fiennes, Tony Gatlif, Gaston Kaboré, Victor Kossakovsky, Mike Leigh, Brillante Mendoza, and Volker Schlöndorff; actresses Juliette Binoche and Andie MacDowell; producers Helge Albers, Bruno Bettati, Ted Hope, Guillaume de Seille, Karol Martesko-Fenster, Keanu Reeves, Ankica Jurić Tilić and Christine Vachon; directors of photography Stefan Ciupek and Edward Lachman; production designers Uli Hanisch, Alex McDowell, Habib Zargarpour and costume designer Sandy Powell; world sales representatives Philippe Bober and Michael J. Werner; editors Susan Korda and Molly Malene Stensgaard, and composer Ryūichi Sakamoto.