Saturday evening’s award-ceremony highlighted the best films in the Berlinale-competition with an Oscar-like distribution of “Golden and Silver Bears“. The international judging panel, with eminent names like Renée Zellweger and others, awarded the Turkish-German production “Bal“ (“Honey“), by Semih Kaplanoglu, with the Golden Bear for Best Film. “Bal“ is the final part of a trilogy and tells the story of an enchanting relationship between a father and his young son through the eyes of the six-year old boy. The director chose to employ the rich sounds of nature rather than bland music in his film, which gave the film a very personal touch and a “real feel“.

The Berlinale is slowly coming to an end, and when I look back at the last couple of days, they were filled with exciting, fun and thought-provoking experiences. From running late to a press conference, but ending at a screening of a documentary; from missing Leonardo DiCaprio, but watching a short film in a miniature-cinema; and from being stunned by future film-talents soon coming our way through the Berlinale Talent Campus, I can truly say that the Berlinale was a great success. Then I got to thinking, if I had such wonderful experiences during the Berlinale, what must the experiences of the other five thousand visitors be like?

The Berlinale Talent Campus is an initiative for talented future filmmakers and was first established in 2002 by Berlinale-director Dieter Kosslick. His goal for the Talent Campus was to assist up-and-coming filmmakers in the film industry. Every year for five days during the Berlinale, the Talent Campus gives 350 participants from all five continents the chance to take part in workshops and discussions as well as to learn from professional film directors.

The Berlinale-weekend anounced some promising events. Friday night opened with the outdoor screening of long-lost “Metropolis“. Saturday began with the take-off of the eighth Berlinale Talent Campus, followed by the world-premiere of “Shutter Island“, and ending with an afterparty at the hottest club in town.

Berlin was a frozen winter wonderland on friday night, but I had an open-air screening of “Metropolis“ at the Brandenburg Gate on my schedule. I wasn’t expecting to be part of a large audience, but to my surprise hundreds of film-fans joined me. Some clever ones brought folding chairs from home, others got comfortable on the snowy ground with tea or booze to keep them warm.

Yesterday was the kick-off of the world’s largest public filmfestival: The Berlinale. And it is a special occasion, the celebration of the filmfestival’s sixtieth birthday. Happy Birthday Berlinale! The opening ceremony showed the world-premiere of the chinese film “Tuan Yuan“ (“Together Apart“) by Wang Quan’an, who already won the much sought after Golden Bear in ’07. Like in the past years, a number of 400 films will be shown. Of these, twenty films are competing for the Golden and Silver Bears. Like every year, there is a judging panel that awards the best production towards the end of the filmfestival.

So if its the same procedure as every year, you might ask yourself what makes the Berlinale so special?