The Berlinale film festival kicked off with a video address by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy before a screening of the romantic comedy "She Came to Me."
Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the audience via video link during the opening galaImage: Fabrizio Bensch/REUTERS
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Berlinale: Glamour and politics on the red carpet
Actress Cate Blanchett, singer Bono of U2 and director Steven Spielberg have all attended the 73rd Berlinale that has seen high attendance among trade visitors and the press too.
Image: Nadja Wohlleben/REUTERS
Solidarity with Ukraine on the red carpet
Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine exactly a year ago, on February 24. Berlinale directors Mariette Rissenbeek (l) and Carlo Chatrian (r), together with Commissioner for Culture and the Media Claudia Roth (2nd from left), gathered on the red carpet with Ukrainian Ambassador Oleksii Makeiev and different Ukrainian filmmakers to show their solidarity with the invaded country.
Image: Annette Riedl/dpa/picture alliance
Cate Blanchett celebrates 'Tar'
Cate Blanchett was at the Berlin film festival to give a talk on the genesis of Todd Field's "Tar." She also walked the Berlinale's red carpet to mark the film's German premiere on February 23, a few days ahead of its release in the country. The award-winning music-drama was in part shot in Berlin, and Blanchett portrays a fictional female chief conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic.
Image: Nadja Wohlleben/REUTERS
Steven Spielberg honored with Golden Bear
Steven Spielberg received on February 21 the Berlinale's honorary Golden Bear, an award recognizing the prolific lifetime work of the Hollywood director-producer. Even at the age of 76, making new films continues to excite him. "It's an excitement that supersedes everything," said Spielberg at a press conference ahead of the award ceremony.
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Helen Mirren remains a style chameleon
Dame Helen Mirren attended the February 20 premiere of "Golda," in which she portrays former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir, transformed by expert prosthetics and makeup. Commenting on the controversy ahead of the film as to whether non-Jews should portray Jewish characters, her co-star Lior Ashkenazi simply asked: "Let's say this was a movie about Jesus Christ. Who's going to play him?"
Image: F. Kern/Future Image/IMAGO
U2's Bono remembers the siege of Sarajevo
Bono was in Berlin for the premiere of the documentary "Kiss the Future," which revisits U2's campaign to bring the world's attention to the plight of the citizens of Sarajevo during the brutal siege of the city in the 1990s. The Irish rock band was also the first major group to perform in Sarajevo after the end of the Bosnian War. The cathartic musical event reunited some 45,000 fans.
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Boris Becker back in the spotlight after imprisonment
"Boom! Boom! The World vs. Boris Becker," a documentary on the former tennis star, premiered on February 19. The German returned to his home country after his release from a UK prison, having served eight months for tax evasion. "I see the world with a different perception. I'm able to rebuild my life," he said at the Berlinale. "I hope the film shows a facet of my life that is not so known."
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Ukrainian president opens the gala
Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelenskyy's address via video link was a highlight of the gala opening on February 16. He thanked the film festival for showing its clear support to the Ukrainian people. Many films from Ukraine are part of the program, and the festival's official badge has the colors of the country's flag.
Image: Annegret Hilse/REUTERS
Sean Penn supports Ukraine's 'Superpower'
The actor-director was on stage to introduce Zelenskyy's video address at the opening ceremony, and returned to the red carpet a day later to premiere his documentary, "Superpower," which centers on the Ukrainian president and Sean Penn's efforts to boost support for Ukraine during the war.
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Kristen Stewart: Berlinale's youngest jury president
The 32-year-old US actress and director Kristen Stewart is best known as the star of the "Twilight" series (2008-2012), but she went on to become the first American to win a Cesar, the French film award, for her role in "Clouds of Sils Maria" by Olivier Assayas. Fans were visibly excited as she appeared on the red carpet. Heading the jury is an "enormous opportunity," she said.
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Dinklage on inspiration
Peter Dinklage was another eagerly-awaited guest on the red carpet. Famous for his role in "Game of Thrones," the actor stars in the Berlinale's opening film, "She Came to Me," playing the role of an opera composer with writer's block. Asked about his own creative path, Dinklage admitted he isn't sure he will keep acting "for the next 30 years," but he intends to "keep seeking out" inspiration.
Image: JOHN MACDOUGALL/AFP via Getty Images
'She Came to Me' opens festival
The stars of "She Came to Me" gathered for a press conference ahead of the gala ceremony, and all appeared on the red carpet later in the evening. The film is a romantic comedy set in New York. From left to right are actors Marisa Tomei, Evan Ellison, Anne Hathaway, Peter Dinklage, Joanna Kulig and filmmaker Rebecca Miller.
Image: Soeren Stache/dpa/picture alliance
Hathaway's 'heart beats for film'
Anne Hathaway, whose breakthrough came by starring in Disney's "The Princess Diaries" (2001), plays the role of the composer's psychiatrist and wife in "She Came to Me." She is also one of the film's producers. Beyond this independent production, the star said at the press conference that her "heart beats for film, and the more types of them the better," encouraging everyone to go to cinemas.
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Berlin, a 'symbolic' city for Golshifteh Farahani
Iranian actress Golshifteh Farahani, who is on the international jury, was forced to flee Iran after her country's regime declared her persona non grata for her role in a Ridley Scott film. She now lives in France. "It's very symbolic to be in Berlin," she said at a press conference. "The city that broke the wall, towards equality, freedom, and brought so many people together."
Image: Jens Kalaene/dpa/picture alliance
'Woman, Life, Freedom' protests in the spotlight
The film festival is also supporting the Iranian protesters with different events, screenings and red carpet protests. Here, Zahra Amir Ebrahimi, Melika Foroutan and Jasmin Tabatabai hold scarves with the revolutionary slogan as they head to the opening gala.
Image: Fabrizio Bensch/REUTERS
Wide diversity of films
From February 16 to 26, the Berlin International Film Festival will screen nearly 300 new productions from 67 countries. According to the festival's own statistics, 38.7% of them were directed by women, while 4.1% were made by nonbinary filmmakers.
Image: Britta Pedersen/dpa/picture alliance
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The Berlin International Film Festival showed its support for Ukraine on Thursday, with a live video address by Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the opening gala event.
The Ukrainian president was given a standing ovation as he appeared on screen.
"Cinema is able to overcome borders and walls, whether real or ideological," said Zelenskyy, referring to the Berlin Wall that used to stand at the very location of the Berlinale on Potsdamer Platz.
"It seems to me very symbolic," he said, as that wall was not only a physical division, but one that marked an ideological divide, he explained. "Today, Russia wants to build the same wall ... between civilization and tyranny."
The festival falls around the one-year anniversary of Russia's full-scale war of aggression. Facing a policy of total war, "culture cannot be neutral," Zelenskyy said. "Cinema cannot change the world, but it can influence and inspire people who can change the world."
The audience at the opening ceremony giving a standing ovation to the Ukrainian leaderImage: Fabrizio Bensch/REUTERS
The Ukrainian leader also referred to history of the Berlinale, itself founded in 1951 as a "showcase of the free world." Ukraine similarly acts as "the fortress of the free world," which is why it "cannot fall, will stand and will win," he concluded.
Sean Penn on Ukrainians' 'superpower'
US actor-director Sean Penn was also on stage at the gala to introduce Zelenskyy's speech.
"Nothing has changed concerning the will of the Ukrainians," said Penn, who recently returned from Ukraine. "If anything, it has just gotten stronger."
Penn is in Berlin to present "Superpower," a highly anticipated documentary that he co-directed with Aaron Kaufman. The filmmakers were already in Ukraine when Russia invaded the country one year ago. The film follows the Ukrainian president, a former comedian, as he is suddenly called upon to become a wartime leader.
"Zelenskyy was two completely different creatures from one day to the next," Penn told entertainment industry magazine Variety ahead of the festival, referring to how the invasion transformed the Ukrainian leader. "He was a spirit in waiting."
"Superpower" celebrates its world premiere on Friday.
Sean Penn was on stage to present Zelenskyy's speechImage: Fabrizio Bensch/REUTERS
The Berlinale "condemns Russia's war of aggression," said the festival's managing director, Mariette Rissenbeek. The festival stands with "the suffering population, the millions who left Ukraine and the artists who have remained defending the country and continue filming the war," added artistic director Carlo Chatrian at the gala.
"If I could award a prize today, it would be to all the people of Ukraine," who are "resisting the Russian onslaught," said the German government's Commissioner for Culture and the Media, Claudia Roth, in her speech.
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'Emotionally whiplashed time'
The festival's international jury was also introduced on opening night.
US actress Kristen Stewart, who heads this year's jury, said at a press conference ahead of the gala opening on Thursday that she believes the role of artists is "to take a disgusting and ugly thing and sort of transmute it and put it through your body and pump out something more beautiful and more helpful" — a task that becomes particularly meaningful in today's "emotionally whiplashed time."
From acting in the "Twilight Saga" series to independent cinema alongside directors such as Olivier Assayas and Pablo Larrain ("Spencer," 2021), the 32-year-old star is the youngest person ever to preside over the festival's international jury.
Stewart's six co-jurors are Iranian-French actress Golshifteh Farahani, German director and writer Valeska Grisebach, US producer Francine Maisler, Hong Kong director and producer Johnnie To, and two recent Golden Bear winners, Romanian filmmaker Radu Jude ("Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn," 2021) and Spanish director Carla Simon ("Alcarras," 2022).
They will be selecting the winners of the Golden and Silver Bears, the festival's top awards, among 19 competing films. The awards ceremony will be held on February 25.
Jury president Kristen Stewart, right, with one of her co-jurors, Iranian actress Golshifteh FarahaniImage: Soeren Stache/dpa/picture alliance
Solidarity with Iran's protesters
Alongside Cannes and Venice, the Berlinale is one Europe's most important film festivals, with a reputation for being the most political of the big three.
This year, Iran is also a focus of the Berlinale. Different events and screenings have been organized in support of the protesters fighting for their democratic rights.
"Our hearts go out to women of Iran," who are risking their lives in the "Woman Life Freedom" protests, culture minister Roth said in her speech.
Iranian juror Golshifteh Farahani also addressed the demonstrations in her home country during a press conference on Thursday. "In a country like Iran, which is a dictatorship, art is not only an intellectual or philosophical thing, it's essential, it's like oxygen," she said.
The Iranian regime has been persecuting dissident artists and filmmakers for years. Farahani has been living in France since 2012.
Directors, production companies and journalists with direct ties to the Russian or Iranian governments are barred from taking part in the festival, including its European Film Market, a major platform for film distribution deals.
Romantic comedy opens festival
In contrast to the heavyweight political themes dominating the Berlinale, the festival opened with the crowd-pleasing romantic comedy "She Came to Me" starring Peter Dinklage, Marisa Tomei and Anne Hathaway.
Peter Dinklage in 'She Came to Me'Image: Protagonist Pictures
Dinklage ("Game of Thrones") plays the role of an opera composer who faces creative block until he meets a seductive tugboat captain who becomes his muse.
At a press conference ahead of the ceremony, the film's director Rebecca Miller said she saw it as "a great honor" to be associated with Zelenskyy, "because he's obviously a hero at this point."
"I want to express my gratitude to the film festival for including a hero of our times and for giving us all the opportunity to amplify the message of Ukraine, which is the almost universal desire for peace," actress Anne Hathaway added.
Miller also said that she hopes her film can serve as an "ambassador of good will across many nations," and expressed the hope that "one of the ways we can perhaps have a more peaceful world is by having our art talk to each other across the nations."
The movie is the first of nearly 300 new works from around the world to screen during the event, which runs from February 16-26.
