NAME OF FESTIVAL: Berlin International Film Festival
SINCE: 1951
WHERE: Berlin, Germany, Europe
ABOUT THE FESTIVAL
The Berlinale is a unique place of artistic exploration and entertainment. It is one of the largest public film festivals in the world, attracting tens of thousands of visitors from around the globe each year. For the film industry and the media, the eleven days in February are also one of the most important events in the annual calendar and an indispensable trading forum.
The Berlin International Film Festival enjoys an eventful history. The festival was created for the Berlin public in 1951, at the beginning of the Cold War, as a “showcase of the free world”. Shaped by the turbulent post-war period and the unique situation of a divided city, the Berlinale has developed into a place of intercultural exchange and a platform for the critical cinematic exploration of social issues. To this day it is considered the most political of all the major film festivals.
Berlin International Film Festival
The first five films for the Competition of the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival and the Berlinale Special have been announced. The films for the Berlinale Special include the Indian-German co-production Don – The King Is Back, the documentary Marley by Kevin Macdonald from Great Britain and the USA, the Spanish film La chispa de la vida by Álex de la Iglesia, Guy Maddin’s Keyhole from Canada, as well as Werner Herzog’s documentary series Death […]
The Berlin International Film Festival (February 9 to 19, 2012) and the French-German Youth Office, is once again giving young film-lovers a chance to help decide who receives the “Dialogue en perspective” Award. For the second time, a jury member from a third country – Slovakia – is taking part. The seven jurors are: • Deniz Sertkol, 26, European mediastudies, Berlin• Franziska Hessberger, 25, freelance at Westdeutscher Rundfunk, Münster • Philipp Wolf, 24, studies literature, […]
This is early, but fourteen films have been selected for the international program in the Generation Kplus and Generation 14plus competitions at the 2012 Berlin International Film Festival to be held February 9 thru 19, 2012. Generation Kplus: Kauwboy (Netherlands, by Boudewijn Koole) – A young jackdaw falls out of its nest straight into Jojo’s hands. The 10-year-old feels great empathy for the baby bird, which has no mother and is looking for a loving […]
British film director Mike Leigh of Happy-Go-Lucky fame will be the Jury President of the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival. Leigh who has directed more than 20 films, made his directorial debut in 1972 with Bleak Moments, which went on to win the Golden Leopard at the Locarno Film Festival. In Cannes he won the Best Director Award in 1993 for Naked, and the Palme d’Or in 1996 for Secrets and Lies, which in itself […]
The 61st Berlin International Film Festival came to a close with the award ceremony on February 19, 2011, and the numbers are in, revealing roughly 300,000 tickets were sold during the eleven-day festival. Additionally, nearly 20,000 accredited visitors from 116 countries attended the festival, including approximately 3,900 representatives of the press. Now the Berlinale looks forward to welcoming guests and visitors to the Berlinale in 2012. The 62nd Berlin International Film Festival will be held […]
Asghar Farhadi’s “Nader and Simin, A Separation” was the big winner at the 2011 Berlin International Film Festival, taking the Golden Bear for best film, with best actor and actress prizes split among the films’ ensemble male and female cast, which included the director’s teenage daughter, Sarina. About the film: Simin wants to leave Iran with her husband Nader and daughter Termeh. She has already made all the necessary arrangements. Nader, however, is having second thoughts. […]
This year Berlin International Film Festival Panorama is presenting 16 feature films in its main programme, 14 in Panorama Special, 20 works in its Panorama Dokumente series and three supporting films. They are from 29 countries, 27 of which are screening as world premieres, 12 are directorial debuts. Opening films of the main programme, Panorama Special and Panorama Dokumente The main programme will open on February 10 in CinemaxX 7 with Tomboy, French director Céline […]
In support of the convicted Iranian director Jafar Panahi, the 2011 Berlin International Film Festival is launching a number of initiatives at the upcoming Berlinale. In 2011 the Berlinale will show several films by Jafar Panahi in a number of its sections. The first of his films to be screened at this year’s Berlinale will be the award-winning film Offside (2006, Silver Bear) on February 11 at 4:30 pm in the Berlinale Palast. On the […]
The 61st Berlin International Film Festival unveiled the films in the Panorama 2011 section. The themes of many first films are daring and hence inspiring, as seen in the work of Israeli filmmaker Michal Aviad who, set against the backdrop of the interminable Palestinian-Israeli conflict, has her protagonists work through traumas in Lo Roim Alaich (Invisible), or with French director Céline Sciamma whose Tomboy portrays the coming of age of a boy in a girl’s […]
The selection for the Competition programme of the 61st Berlin International Film Festival has been completed. It includes 22 films, 16 of which will be competing for the awards. In addition there will be two special screenings: In solidarity with the convicted Iranian director Jafar Panahi, his film Offside will be presented on February 11, the anniversary of the Iranian Revolution. Also, the European premiere of Werner Herzog’s 3D documentary Cave of Forgotten Dreams will […]
The Berlin International Film Festival announced the films in the programme of the 41st Berlinale Forum, with most of the films revolving around family, relationships and identity. Artist Kelvin K. Park’s documentary Cheonggyecheon Medley places the threatened demolition of a traditional metalworking district in the city of Seoul within the complex wider context of Korean history and social structures. The Dutch film De Engel van Doel (An Angel in Doel) deals with the destruction of […]
24 films have been selected so far, to be presented in the Panorama section of the 61st Berlin International Film Festival scheduled for February 10 – 20, 2011. The selection includes names like José Padilha (who won the Golden Bear in 2009 for Tropa de elite), Lee Tamahori (Once Were Warriors) and Macedonian director Milcho Manchevski, as well as newcomers like Marie Kreutzer (Austria), Jan Schomburg (Germany) and Michaël R. Roskam (Belgium). Returning to the […]