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...

At the 61st Berlin International Film Festival, the House of World Cultures (Haus der Kulturen der Welt/HKW) will be the new venue for the premieres of Generation, the Berlinale’s section for children and youths. Also the Panorama Special will be presenting its premieres in the coming year at new venues: at the Friedrichstadtpalast and Kino International. This is due to renovation and remodelling work at the Zoo Palast, which has until now been the popular venue for the premieres of both these...