Berlin
International Film Festival

February
7 - 18 (Germany)



On
the festival circuit since 1951, Berlin is known for bucking the
trends and setting its own. Unlike most European festivals, which
bemoan le Blockbuster (Cannes comes to mind), Berlin embraces
Hollywood but maintains an international esprit. Last year
its top honor, the Golden Bear, went to Magnolia
by Paul Thomas Anderson, while the Silver Bear went to The
Road Home
by Zhang Yimou. These screened alongside studio productions
such as American
Psycho, The
Beach, and The
Talented Mr. Ripley (all in European premieres).

During
the two weeks of the festival, Potsdamer Platz transforms itself
into a hotbed of cinema activity. The festival features a competition
section and several sidebars, including The Forum, The Panorama,
Retrospectives, Kinderfilmfest (a children's film festival), and
a New German Films section. This year, the festival contains an
added dimension of transformations since festival director Moritz
de Hadeln will helm for the last time. It was announced at Cannes
2000 that the longtime chief of Germany's biggest festival would
be stepping down (even today there's no clear public answer as to
why, though there's plenty of speculation). Vice president of the
European Film Academy, Dieter Kosslick, 52, will be taking over
at the end of Berlinale 2001.

The
duty of awarding the Golden Bears will fall to the jury, which this
year will be led by William M. Mechanic, former Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer of 20th Century Fox Filmed Entertainment. Mechanic,
50, is in the midst of establishing a new motion picture company
that will finance, produce and control marketing and distribution
of five to six movies per year. During his tenure at the studio,
the company produced or co-produced a plethora of hit films including
William Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet, Titanic,
X-Men, Independence
Day, There's Something About Mary, Braveheart,
The Full Monty, The
Thin Red Line, and Boys
Don't Cry, among others. He currently serves on the Board
of Governors of the USC Film School, where he is currently mentoring
three graduate student film projects.

Already
on the lineup for this year's festival is a homage to Kirk Douglas,
who will receive a Golden Bear for Lifetime Achievement. He will
receive his award on February 16th at the Berlinale-Palast Theatre
in Potsdamer Platz. A special Festival showing of Paths of Glory
(1957) will also take place that evening. It is the 12th time in
the Festival’s 51-year history that a performer has been so honored.
Previous recipients include Sir Alec Guinness, Dustin Hoffman, Gregory
Peck (1993), Sophia Loren (1994), and Jeanne Moreau (2000).

"Kirk
Douglas unmistakably embodies the quintessence of 'the pioneering
spirit and typical American individualism'. His characters are marked
by a tremendous drive for independence. They are tough and uneven,
and at times difficult. Not unlike Kirk Douglas himself when, for
instance, he engaged Dalton Trumbo – who was on McCarthy's 'Black
List'’ – as screenwriter for Spartacus, and insisted that Trumbo
should also be included in the film’s opening credits. By honoring
Kirk Douglas, a personality is singled out who, beyond his screen
work, has been extremely committed to social issues and America's
democratic ideals,” said de Hadeln. The festival will also feature
a restrospective of his many works.

This
year's featured retrospective will be dedicated to Fritz Lang. "With
this Retrospective our festival is emphasizing a superb achievement
in film history," stated Moritz de Hadeln, "and honoring a
director whose success story began here in Berlin." Lang was born
in Vienna in 1890 and died in Los Angeles in 1976. He is considered
a great German, as well as American, director. After making more
than 15 features, he fled Nazi Germany in 1934, emigrating to the
USA via France. His American films were marked by an "anti-utopian
fatalism," and dealt with the presence of National Socialism and
war. After World War II, Lang attempted a comeback in Germany. The
Retrospective of the Berlinale 2001, conceived and organized by
the Berlin Film Museum- German Film Archive, will present all surviving
films by Fritz Lang, many of which have been restored. The Filmmuseum
Berlin is preparing a Fritz Lang exhibition due to open with the
Retrospective in February. Like the Retrospective itself, it will
subsequently tour to Vienna, Los Angeles and Paris.

The
complete list of films and events at the Berlinale will be available
in 2001. FilmFestivals.com will present daily coverage and updates.