The
Berlin public, the German film industry and the international
glitterati are turning out in force to give a resounding
endorsement to Germany's biggest and most far-reaching international
cultural event.
The
spectre of the preparations for the big move have hung over
recent editions of the Berlin International Film Festival,
but today the future is here.
The
elements that should make the festival fly have been pulled
together in the face of considerable time and financial
constraints. Nevertheless, as the box office closed on Tuesday
night more than 35,000 advance ticket sales had been made.
As
we turn away from the quintessentially seventies Cine-Center
Bikini Building, the Europa Center and the Gedächtniskirche
(not without a certain fond regret), we turn our sights
to the centre of the new Berlin, where the
spanking new screens of the Berlinale Palast, the CinemaxX
and the Sony complex will screen over 240 films in around
700 screenings from the whole spectrum of world cinema.
And
about 12,000 accredited journalists, producers, distributors
and marketeers will inhabit the new location for a 12-day
period.
International
industryites will not go away disappointed their
new market hall in the DaimlerChrysler Building is as
impressive an edifice as you are likely to find at any
film fair a far cry from the usual bunkers that
proliferate at international film markets.
This
is not to say that the past is all behind us far
from it. The thread of tradition is in the movies, not in
the buildings,
and it has been a major concern of the festival direction
during the last year to ensure that even in the face of
le grand déménagement 'the film is the thing'.
The
last days have seen the Berlinale Potsdamer Platz puzzle
come together with a methodical and efficient zeal that
has transformed one of the greatest architectural challenges
in Europe into one of its foremost film and entertainment
centres. And the arrival of Gong Li (above) provided the
event with its very first taste of glamour.
On
a more personal note, what about the Paris Bar, the Florian
and other watering holes and hostelries of Berlin? These
and more of our favourite places will remain very much
with us.
Mike
Downey, Silke Schutze
