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?

Film download

The current financial crisis that is rampaging around the global economy seems to be affecting everything, including the 59th Berlinale – the Berlin International Film Festival – that kicked off on Thursday. The festival is one of the most prestigious and important in the world of cinema – right up there with Sundance or Cannes Film Festivals. However, due to the situation, the organisers canceled one of the most famous of the numerous Berlinale parties and events, in fear of displaying excessive flamboyance. This did nothing to dissuade me from jetting into Berlin (the train had to do, actually) and savour a taste of the atmosphere and rub shoulders with the who’s who of the international film scene.