Berlinale Film Festival Opens With International Touch
****Heaven****, a melodrama starring Cate Blanchett, is a German-American co-production, shot in English and Italian. Its mixed heritage shows how much the Berlinale strives to be international, taking its place beside Cannes and Venice as one of the leading film festivals of the world.
According to AFP, a total of 23 films will be competing for the top prize, the Golden Bear, at the Berlinale and nine will be screened alongside them but out of competition. These 32 films represent a total of 20 different countries.
There are American blockbusters, including ****The Royal Tenenbaums****, a family saga starring Gene Hackman and Anjelica Huston, and ****Monster's Ball****, a hard hitting southern drama starring Billy Bob Thornton and Halle Berry.
From France comes ****8 Femmes****, a murder mystery starring Catherine Deneuve and from Britain ****Iris****, the story of the writer Iris Murdoch's suffering from alzheimer's disease and starring Judi Dench and Kate Winslet.
From Japan, the animated film ****Sen to Chihiro No Kamikakushi**** (spirited away) by Hayao Miyazaki has been selected for the competition.
The Australian film ****Beneath Clouds**** is screening in competition. Ivan Sen's directing debut will have its world premiere in Berlin. It tells of a young girl who discovers her sense of belonging to two cultures, and features Danielle Hall and Damien Pitt.
Golden Globe winner ****A Beautiful Mind**** directed by Ron Howard will be running out of competition.
The Berlinale will this year pay tribute to the American film director Robert Altman and the Italian actress Claudia Cardinale for their services to cinema.
The festival closes on February 17 with the presentation of a new print of Charles Chaplin's film classic ****The Great Dictator**** at a screening to be attended by members of the Chaplin family.