Great international cinema in Berlin: at the 62nd International Film Festival (February 9-19) the German capital is once again expecting many famous actors, directors and film stars as guests from around the globe. Hollywood star Angelina Jolie, teen heartthrob Robert Pattinson and the two-time Oscar winner Meryl Streep, who will be awarded the Honorary Golden Bear for Lifetime Achievement, are among the film celebrities at this year’s festival. But the Berlinale is also a political and social-critical festival with more to offer than just glamour and glitz. Features and documentaries focus on serious topics, such as the Chinese artist Ai Weiwei and an African girl child-soldier in the Congo. The Berlinale is showing numerous screenings of contributions about the Arab Spring and the Japanese nuclear disaster in Fukushima.
During the ten-day festival, which is the world’s largest film festival to include the general public, a total of 400 films will be screened. 18 of them, all world premieres, are contesting for the Golden and Silver Bears in the main competition. And this year three German directors are contending for the prestigious best film award: Hans-Christian Schmid is now making his fourth entry to the competition with “Was bleibt” (“Home for the Weekend”, with Lars Eidinger and Corinna Harfouch in the main roles); Christian Petzold is competing for the third time in the main section with “Barbara” (with Nina Hoss as leading actress), and Matthias Glasner is in the competition for the second time following his much discussed drama “Der freie Wille” (The Free Will). His latest film “Gnade” (“Mercy”) stars Jürgen Vogel and Birgit Minichmayr in the leading roles. And there will be an out of competition world premiere in the Berlinale Special section: Doris Dörrie’s romantic drama “Glück” (“Bliss”), based on a story by the German writer and lawyer Ferdinand von Schirach.
The Berlinale Talent Campus is celebrating its tenth anniversary under the heading “Changing Perspectives”: 350 young filmmakers from around 90 countries are again joining in a week of intense encounters with prominent international film-world professionals who will be helping the talents to develop their film projects.
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