“The birthday cake of nearly 400 films has been baked,” announces festival director Dieter Kosslick. The 60th Berlin International Film Festival begins on 11 February. The flurry of flashbulbs, the red carpet, the film stars: the Berlinale promises ten days of great cinema in the German capital. The 60th birthday of the festival, which first saw the light of the film world in 1951, is also being celebrated by Hollywood greats like director Martin Scorsese, who is presenting his new film Shutter Island with the two actors Leonardo de Caprio and Ben Kingsley.
The Berlinale is being opened with a world premiere from China. Wang Quan'an – the Chinese auteur film-maker of the younger generation who won a Golden Bear three years ago with Tuya's Marriage – is presenting his new film Apart Together (Tuan Yuan). A total of 26 films from 18 countries, including 18 world premieres, will be shown as part of the Berlinale competition. At the Berlinale Palast 20 films will be competing for the Golden Bear for the best film and the Silver Bear in other categories. This year three German films will also be competing for the coveted awards.
Once again the international jury of the 60th Berlin Film Festival includes prominent members: German director Werner Herzog, one of the most influential auteur film-makers, is in the chair and will be joined, among others, by Hollywood star Renée Zellweger, Italian director and author Francesca Comencini and writer Nuruddin Farah from Somalia in making the decisions on who will receive the Golden and Silver Bears.
One highlight of Berlinale 2010 will be a spectacular premiere: the restored original version of the silent film Metropolis by Fritz Lang. This 1927 classic, which set new standards in cinematic art worldwide, returns to the screen at the Friedrichspalast in Berlin on 12 February – and will also be projected live at the Brandenburg Gate.
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