Berlin International Film Festival
February 7 - 18 (Germany)

On the festival circuit since 1951, Berlin is known for bucking the trends and setting its own. Unlike most European festivals, which bemoan le Blockbuster (Cannes comes to mind), Berlin embraces Hollywood but maintains an international esprit. Last year its top honor, the Golden Bear, went to Magnolia by Paul Thomas Anderson, while the Silver Bear went to The Road Home by Zhang Yimou. These screened alongside studio productions such as American Psycho, The Beach, and The Talented Mr. Ripley (all in European premieres).

During the two weeks of the festival, Potsdamer Platz transforms itself into a hotbed of cinema activity. The festival features a competition section and several sidebars, including The Forum, The Panorama, Retrospectives, Kinderfilmfest (a children's film festival), and a New German Films section. This year, the festival contains an added dimension of transformations since festival director Moritz de Hadeln will helm for the last time. It was announced at Cannes 2000 that the longtime chief of Germany's biggest festival would be stepping down (even today there's no clear public answer as to why, though there's plenty of speculation). Vice president of the European Film Academy, Dieter Kosslick, 52, will be taking over at the end of Berlinale 2001.

The duty of awarding the Golden Bears will fall to the jury, which this year will be led by William M. Mechanic, former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of 20th Century Fox Filmed Entertainment. Mechanic, 50, is in the midst of establishing a new motion picture company that will finance, produce and control marketing and distribution of five to six movies per year. During his tenure at the studio, the company produced or co-produced a plethora of hit films including William Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet, Titanic, X-Men, Independence Day, There's Something About Mary, Braveheart, The Full Monty, The Thin Red Line, and Boys Don't Cry, among others. He currently serves on the Board of Governors of the USC Film School, where he is currently mentoring three graduate student film projects.

Already on the lineup for this year's festival is a homage to Kirk Douglas, who will receive a Golden Bear for Lifetime Achievement. He will receive his award on February 16th at the Berlinale-Palast Theatre in Potsdamer Platz. A special Festival showing of Paths of Glory (1957) will also take place that evening. It is the 12th time in the Festival’s 51-year history that a performer has been so honored. Previous recipients include Sir Alec Guinness, Dustin Hoffman, Gregory Peck (1993), Sophia Loren (1994), and Jeanne Moreau (2000).

"Kirk Douglas unmistakably embodies the quintessence of 'the pioneering spirit and typical American individualism'. His characters are marked by a tremendous drive for independence. They are tough and uneven, and at times difficult. Not unlike Kirk Douglas himself when, for instance, he engaged Dalton Trumbo – who was on McCarthy's 'Black List'’ – as screenwriter for Spartacus, and insisted that Trumbo should also be included in the film’s opening credits. By honoring Kirk Douglas, a personality is singled out who, beyond his screen work, has been extremely committed to social issues and America's democratic ideals,” said de Hadeln. The festival will also feature a restrospective of his many works.

This year's featured retrospective will be dedicated to Fritz Lang. "With this Retrospective our festival is emphasizing a superb achievement in film history," stated Moritz de Hadeln, "and honoring a director whose success story began here in Berlin." Lang was born in Vienna in 1890 and died in Los Angeles in 1976. He is considered a great German, as well as American, director. After making more than 15 features, he fled Nazi Germany in 1934, emigrating to the USA via France. His American films were marked by an "anti-utopian fatalism," and dealt with the presence of National Socialism and war. After World War II, Lang attempted a comeback in Germany. The Retrospective of the Berlinale 2001, conceived and organized by the Berlin Film Museum- German Film Archive, will present all surviving films by Fritz Lang, many of which have been restored. The Filmmuseum Berlin is preparing a Fritz Lang exhibition due to open with the Retrospective in February. Like the Retrospective itself, it will subsequently tour to Vienna, Los Angeles and Paris.

The complete list of films and events at the Berlinale will be available in 2001. FilmFestivals.com will present daily coverage and updates.