Sunday, February 11----The Panorama section is the non-competitive sidebar of the Berlinale that has a reputation among Festival veterans as the most ambitious and exploratory program in the Festival. The section has introduced many of world cinema’s most illustrious talents. Showcasing more than 50 films, most making their international premieres, the Panorama opened on Friday with Canadian director Bruce McDonald’s THE TRACEY FRAGMENTS, a visually inventive exploration of a fifteen-year-...

Sunday, February 11---Seven young film fans from and comprise the independent jury that will determine the DIALOGUE EN PERSPECTIVE prize, which is awarded to a German feature film in the Perspektive Deutsches Kino section of the Berlinale. The prize was initiated in 2004 by the French TV Channel TV5MONDE and the Berlinale, and will be awarded in collaboration with the Deutsch-Französisches Jugendwerk (DFJW). In view of the large number of excellent entries, the selection commit...

Friday, February 9----To view streaming video from the Berlin Film Festival, log on to: Berlin Film Festival Video Streaming. Sandy Mandelberger Berlin Online Dailies Editor ...

Thursday, February 8----Two legends collided in one city tonight as the Berlin International Film Festival began this evening. For one night only, Edith Piaf waltzed with Marlene Dietrich on the steps of the Berlinale Palast, in the heart of the "new Berlin" Potsdamer Platz. Of course, the two, most deceased, were not dancing in the flesh. But when the music of Edith Piaf, as captured in the Berlinale Opening Night Film LA VIE EN ROSE, spilled onto the streets of Marlene Dietrich Platz, two l...

Wednesday, February 7----Berlin has always been hospitable to American indies, with the sidebar sections Panorama and Forum generally showcasing most of the newest works from filmmakers working "off-Hollywood". However, this year, the Berlinale Competition boasts two highly anticipated bigger budget American independent films, which are in the running with their Hollywood bretheren for the Golden Bear (the Berlinale's top honor). Gregory Nava, a veteran indie filmmaker whose 1983 film EL NORTE...

Wednesday, February 7----With the ballots for the Academy Awards in the mail, speculation is growing about what has become an impossible to predict Best Picture race. While BABEL was considered the frontrunner, especially following its Golden Globe win last month, there is now industry speculation that BABEL and Martin Scorsese's THE DEPARTED may split the "serious film" vote. So, what exactly does that mean? Well, one scenario points to an upset win by the indie smash LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE (...

Tuesday, February 6----With the ballots for the Academy Awards in the mail, speculation is growing about what has become an impossible to predict Best Picture race. While BABEL was considered the frontrunner, especially following its Golden Globe win last month, there is now industry speculation that BABEL and Martin Scorsese's THE DEPARTED may split the "serious film" vote. So, what exactly does that mean? Well, one scenario points to an upset win by the indie smash LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE (that'...

Monday, February 5----While the Berlin Film Festival, which opens on Thursday evening, is certainly an international affair, it has traditionally been one of the important showcases for new European cinema. With a French film opening the prestigious Berlinale Competition section (LA VIE EN ROSE by Olivier Dahan) and top-flight French and UK films included this year (see earlier stories), the rest of Europe gets equal billing as the Festival presents mainly world premieres from some of Europe's ...

Friday, February 2----Two British films receiving their international premieres are prominently featured in the Competition Section of the Berlin Film Festival, which opens this coming Thursday. NOTES ON A SCANDAL, features two tasty (and Oscar-nominated) performances by Dame Judi Dench and Cate Blanchett as, respectively, a sexually repressed olderschool teacher who blackmails a younger teacher who is having a secret affair with a young male student. The psycho-sexual thriller with lesbian o...

Thursday, February 1----With a musical biopic of legendary French chanteuse Edith Piaf opening the 57th edition of the Berlin Film Festival next week, the love affair of the Berlinale with French cinema is also evident in the prominent showcasing of two French film masters in the Competition Section. Veteran director Jacques Rivette will present the world premiere of NE TOUCHEZ PAS LA HACHE (Don’t Touch The Ax), an adaptation of a Balzac novella about a beautiful duchess who wards off the ...

Thursday, February 1-----The 57th Berlin International Film Festival opens with a musical treat….the world premiere of LA VIE EN ROSE, a sumptuous film from French director Olivier Dahan that chronicles the colorful and ionate life of French chanteuse Edith Piaf. The film and its stars will receive the full red carpet treatment at the Berlinale Palast on the evening of February 8th. Known as “the little sparrow”, Piaf has become a singer for the ages, a full-throated songbird who n...