One thing has made a deep impression on Ken Adams at the Berlinale: the enthusiasm of the audiences. "If they don't like a film, they show it. But if they do like it, they're very demonstrative." He's never seen that anywhere before.

Not a big festival-goer, Adams was on the jury at Cannes in 1980. He happened to be in Berlin working on the millennium exhibition at the Martin-Gropius Bau museum when asked to participate in the Berlinale, which, he agrees, was quite convenient.

Story treatment and performances are the major factors he considers in judging films. "A simple story told well is much more exciting than something spectacular that doesn't make a great deal of sense."

One of the industry's most celebrated production designers, Adams has worked frequently with Stanley Kubrick (Dr Strangelove, Barry Lyndon) as well as on the early James Bond movies. He feels that designers today are getting less of a chance to show their worth, "because there is more location shooting, and the director and cameraman are more in control." He has one criticism about his jury stint: "Three films a day &emdash; that's too much. I'd prefer to see fewer films, but with more quality." Owen Levy