Film

Dossier: The 60th Berlin Film Festival

The Turkish film "Bal" won a Golden Bear and the red carpets in the German capital are all rolled up. Deutsche Welle looks back at the highs and lows of this year's 60th Berlin Film Festival.

Commentary

Opinion: Berlin Film Festival should drop the fluff and aim higher

The Berlin Film Festival jury managed to sift out the few good films from the rest and bestow them with Gold and Silver Bears. But the festival needs to trim down and set its sights higher, says DW's Jochen Kuerten. (22.02.2010)

Winners

Berlinale reaches climax with awards ceremony

The Berlin International Film Festival’s top accolade has gone to a touching tale of a young boy and his father, a beekeeper, whose existence is threatened by the sudden disappearance of the bees. (21.02.2010)

Reports

Films from war-torn regions set somber tone at Berlinale

Despite the glitz and glamour of the Berlin Film Festival, the topics addressed by many of the films presented this year are dark and complex: War, conflict and disaster. (20.02.2010)

German film 'Jew Suss' booed at Berlin Film Festival

Oskar Roehler's hotly anticipated film "Jew Suss: Rise and Fall" disappointed film connoisseurs at the Berlin Film Festival, who slammed it for straying too far from the facts and making light of a historical tragedy. (19.02.2010)

dw.de

Movie industry debate says Hollywood isn't going anywhere

Industry leaders gathered at the European Film Market at this year's Berlinale to discuss the challenges facing the 21st century movie business. The central question - is the era of the great Hollywood studio over? (20.02.2010)

Two German cinema stars receive lifetime achievement awards

Actress Hanna Schygulla and screenwriter and director Wolfgang Kohlhaase have been honored at the annual Berlinale film festival with Golden Bear prizes for their long-term contribution to German film. (18.02.2010)

World Cinema Fund gives filmmakers outside of Hollywood a voice

There's much more to cinema than Hollywood blockbusters. A German-sponsored film fund aims to bring new perspectives to the big screen by financing projects from developing countries. (15.02.2010)

Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan at the Berlinale

At the weekend, one of the most eagerly awaited Asian stars stopped in Berlin: Bollywood hero Shah Rukh Khan. (15.02.2010)

Berliners brave the elements to experience cinema history

Film fans braved snow for an outdoor screening of Fritz Lang's legendary movie 'Metropolis' in front of Berlin's Brandenburg Gate. The 1927 classic included 25 minutes from the original that were feared lost forever. (13.02.2010)

Personal look

Postcard from Europe: Berlinale buzz

Just when you thought the German capital had had enough of anniversary celebrations, the city is unrolling its red carpets for yet another party. Alexa Dvorson has this postcard on the 60th Berlin Film Festival. (14.02.2010)

Background

Berlinale looks back on 60 years of war, scandal and glamour

It gathered Hollywood stars in Berlin's post-war ruins, offended the US during the Vietnam War, and brought glamour to the city's greyest month. The Berlinale celebrates six decades of contention - and good film. (10.02.2010)

Interview

People need relevance, says Berlinale director Kosslick

As the Berlinale gets underway, Festival Director Dieter Kosslick looks back on 60 years of cinema, scandal and pushing the envelope. (12.02.2010)

WWW Links

DW blog from the Berlinale Talent Campus 2010

Berlin Film Festival's official website

Audios and videos on the topic

Interview: Berlinale Director Dieter Kosslick

Interview: Forum Section Director Christoph Terhecte

Interview: European Film Market Director Beki Probst

Interview: Retrospective Director Rainer Rother

Interview: Generation Section Director Mayranne Redpath

Interview: Short Film Section Director Maike Mia Hohne

Interview: Jury member Nuruddin Farah

Auschwitz survivor historian Arno Lustiger dies 18.05.2012

After experiencing the atrocities of World War Two, Arno Lustiger remained silent for 40 years. Then, in the 1980s, he began to write about Nazi horrors and Jewish resistance, lending history his words and voice.

Trio Joubran, a Palestinian lute musical band from the city of Nazareth, performs at the Jerash festival in Jerash, north of Amman, Jordan, on 27 July 2011.

Le Trio Joubran take oud music to the world 18.05.2012

Le Trio Joubran are three brothers born in Israel with Palestinian roots. They come from a family of oud makers. Now they have turned their passion into a career, but are often asked to talk politics in interviews.

DW's Eurovision 2012 Round-Up 18.05.2012

The grand finale of the Eurovision Song Contest takes place in the Azerbaijani capital Baku on May 26. Here's our round-up of social media sites for fans to follow the ESC action.

Happy Birthday Cannes

Happy birthday

The most famous film festival in the world is celebrating its 65th birthday - it's a pensionable age, but Cannes is showing no signs of slowing down. The latest edition offers the usual glamorous circus of film stars, red carpets and galas, while the official festival poster features Marilyn Monroe, whose death 50 years ago will also be commemorated.
Happy Birthday Cannes

The Croisette all spruced up

Unlike February's Berlin Film Festival, Cannes always offers fantastic weather – an advantage not to be underestimated. The Cote d'Azur boasts perennial sunshine, which helps to attract stars from around the world, and the Hollywood glitterati are always welcome adornments to the red carpets. This year, Bruce Willis, Nicole Kidman, Brad Pitt and Reese Whiterspoon are all expected to attend.
Happy Birthday Cannes

Homegrown cinema

Of course, the competition for the Golden and the Silver Palm is always a showcase for new French cinema. Festival director Thierry Fremaux has invited several French films into this year's competition, including works by Jacques Audiard, Alain Resnais and Leos Carax. The latter is showing his eagerly anticipated "Holy Motors" (pictured).
Happy Birthday Cannes

Cronenberg, the Canadian auteur

When Canadian director David Cronenberg has a new film to show, the world's biggest festivals fight over it. Cannes traditionally has the best chances, and it won out again this year. "Cosmopolis", based on a novel by Don DeLillo, is about all the things that can happen to a stockbroker on his way to the hairdresser - including a chance meeting with Juliette Binoche.
Happy Birthday Cannes

Red carpet fashion show

Premieres begin with the parade along the famous red carpet. Photographers shriek to lure the best poses from the stars, while reporters plead for a short statement. And, of course, the eyes of the world are on the stunning wardrobes of the actresses - as last year, when Chinese actress Fan Bing Bing graced the Croisette.
Happy Birthday Cannes

An Iranian regular

Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami, born in 1940, has been a Cannes regular for many years, and he won the Golden Palm 15 years ago. His new film "Like Someone in Love" is also in this year's competition. The French-Japanese co-production details a mysterious meeting between a young woman and an old man in Tokyo.
Happy Birthday Cannes

Great Danes

Denmark has been a cinematic superpower for many years, and this year's Cannes is graced by the latest work from Thomas Vinterberg, who won the Jury Prize in 1998 for "Festen." Vinterberg's 2012 offering "Jagden" features Mads Mikkelsen (pictured) playing a man who believes he faces false accusations of pedophilia. Child abuse was also a theme of "Festen."
Happy Birthday Cannes

The jury

Italian director Nanni Moretti, who won the 2001 Golden Palm for "The Son's Room," is the president of this year's Cannes jury. He is joined by German actress Diane Kruger, US director Alexander Payne and French fashion designer Jean-Paul Gaultier. They decide who gets the big prizes this year.
Happy Birthday Cannes

Bleak work from Ukraine

Ukrainian director Sergei Loznitsa has also been invited to Cannes once again, after showing his debut "My Joy" in 2010. His new work "In The Fog" is set in 1942, and depicts scenes from the Soviet front in World War II. It is a German-Dutch-Lithuanian-Russian co-production.
Happy Birthday Cannes

Global co-productions

More and more films are now made with money from several countries – often on different continents. One example of a "global" production like this is "Post Tenebras Lux," by Mexican director Carlos Reygadas. The movie, competing for this year's Golden Palm, was completed with money from the Netherlands, France, Mexico and Germany. It was filmed in Mexico, England, Spain and Belgium.
Happy Birthday Cannes

View from America

Cannes always makes room for big Hollywood cinema. Several studios use the festival as a launch pad for their latest major productions. But the US competition entry "The Paperboy" is a more modest affair, about a falsely convicted man played by John Cusack (pictured). The movie, set in 1960s Florida, promises classic US courtroom drama.
Happy Birthday Cannes

A German view of Turkey

Once again, German films are few and far between in Cannes, though Hamburg director Fatih Akin is presenting his new documentary "The Garbage in the Garden of Eden," in one of the festival's sub-sections. The movie charts the struggle of a tiny Turkish village against a giant garbage dump.
Happy Birthday Cannes

Cannes turns 65

Over the decades, Cannes has established itself as the world's premier film festival, and around 4,600 journalists are once again expected this year. Unlike Berlin, Cannes is not a people's festival, where the general public gets to see the films. And at no other festival is so much filming and photographing going on. Moreover, few other festivals offer cinema on the beach!

Author: Ben Knight | Editor: Andreas Illmer