Wednesday, 4 February-------- With the global economy reeling and the film industry in a state of disarray, all eyes are turning to the Berlin International Film Festival, which opens tomorrow, to check the pulse of the international film industry. There is no question that these are challenging times for both film sellers and film buyers. With credit tight and films underperforming at the theatrical box office due to less discretionary income, the international distribution communi...

The Elite Squad, directed by Jose Padilha has won the Golden Bear at the 2008 Berlin Film Festival. Reza Naji won best actor for The Song of Sparrows and Sally Hawkins picked up the best actress prize for the Mike Leigh directed Happy-Go-Lucky.The 58th incarnation of the festival saw the festival assume a new direction. There were decidedly less stars than in 2007 when the likes of Matt Damon put in an appearance. And the star vehicles this year were more in line with the artistic, edgy feel tha...

 Tuesday, February 5---------In the non-stop romp that is the international film festival circuit, the travelling nomads of the film industry, who have just unpacked their bags from stints in Palm Springs, Park City and Santa Barbara, are turning eastward towards the Berlin Film Festival, which opens on Thursday evening. After a tame Sundance and an Oscar season that ignored some of world cinema's best achievements (what, no 4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS, 2 DAYS or PERSPEPOLIS or THE ORPHANAGE or THE EDGE...

 Tuesday, February 5---------In the non-stop romp that is the international film festival circuit, the travelling nomads of the film industry, who have just unpacked their bags from stints in Palm Springs, Park City and Santa Barbara, are turning eastward towards the Berlin Film Festival, which opens on Thursday evening. After a tame Sundance and an Oscar season that ignored some of world cinema's best achievements (what, no 4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS, 2 DAYS or PERSPEPOLIS or THE ORPHANAGE or THE EDGE...

 Friday, December 7---------The Berlin Film Festival, which will be held in February 2008, has begun to make announcements that are just now beginning to shape the flavour of one of the world's most important film showcases. News comes from the press office that Constantin Costa-Gavras, the celebrated Greek-born director of such films as Z and MISSING, will head the Competition Jury. The director, known for his ouevre of political and social message films, has won virtually every major film pri...

Monday, February 19------In a surprise twist, a Chinese film has won the Berlinale Golden Bear, the Berlin Film Festival's highest honor. TUYA'S MARRIAGE by Chinese director Wang Quan'an won the Festival's top prize, which was announced with other awards at the Festival's closing  ceremony on Saturday evening. The film, the story of a woman living in rural northwestern Mongolia and facing pressure to abandon her life as a shepherd, did not figure on most critics' pred...

Monday, February 19----The 57th Berlin International Film Festival came to a successful close this past weekend, reaching its climax on Saturday night with the Berlinale Awards Ceremony.  Sixteen hundred guests crowded the Berlinale Palast for the awards gala, which was hosted by Charlotte Roche and broadcast live on 3sat. In addition to the prize-winners, the film crew of the closing film ANGEL (director François Ozon, Susanna Antunes, Amanda Davis, Olivier Delbosc, Oriana Elia, Michael Fass...

Sunday, February 18-----The audience has decided.....the Panorama Audience Award, sponsored by “radioeins” of RBB, Berlin-Brandenburg’s public radio and television broadcasting station, and Berlin’s city magazine “tip” in collaboration with the Berlinale’s Panorama section – goes to the film BLINDSIGHT (Lucy Walker, Great Britain). The documentary tells the extraordinary story of a group of blind mountain climbers, who use their remaining senses to allow them to literally soar t...

 Saturday, February 17--- The Berlinale Competition section closes with the world premiere of ANGEL, the latest film from international favorite François Ozon (8 WOMEN). The film, a French-Belgian-British co-production, is the French director's first film in English., Set in England at the beginning of the 20th Century, the film portrays the rise and fall of a young woman from humble beginnings, who breaks into the highest echelons of society as an author. Romola Garai stars as the head-...

Saturday, February 17-----As the Berlin Film Festival moves into its final weekend, a host of films from Asia have demonstrated the continued vitality and excitement of Asian cinema on the world scene. In the Berlinale Competition section, four Asian films are competing for the top prize, the Berlinale Golden Bear. Celebrated Korean director Park Chan-wook (whose film OLDBOY was a major international arthouse hit) returns to the horror genre with a sense of humor, with his tongue-in-cheek film ...

Friday, February 16-----The Berlinale Keynotes , a new information initiative launched this year by the Berlin Film Festival organization, got off to a successful start. Over 300 distinguished international industry representatives, invited by Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg and the Berlin International Film Festival, came together to watch the new event format at the Ritz-Carlton, Berlin. The first edition focused on the future of the film industry in the digital age, in terms of technology, con...

...

Wednesday, February 14----Today, the Berlin Film Festival celebrated The World Cinema Fund (WCF) with a series of events the Festival dubbed World Cinema Fund Day. The Fund was founded in 2004 as a joint initiative of the German Federal Cultural Foundation and the Berlin International Film Festival, with the Goethe Institute participating as a cooperation partner since 2005. The Fund supports film projects from the focus regions Latin America, Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia, as well...

Tuesday, February 13-----On Monday, there was a constellation of Shooting Stars in the skies over the Berlin Film Festival. The stars in question are not of the celestial kind, but represent twenty-five of the hottest actors and actresses of European cinema. This initiative of the European Film Promotion, the pan-European organization of almost thirty European national film promotion boards, celebrates its tenth year of presenting Europe's newest acting talents, with several special events d...