The Coens splashed out,Cynthia Nixon channelled Emily Dickinson, Ivo Ferreira shone with his poignant docudrama on war in Angola – and Meryl Streep marshalled a hard-pressed jury. Wilkommen to Berlin…There are many things that distinguish Berlin from the other major European festivals – not least the sheer militant unprettiness of Potsdamer Platz in February. And theres the way that when critics argue approximately the festival, or it tends to get personal: you’ll see them rolling their eyes and muttering,“Ach, Dieter…” With his actor-manager fedora and incorrigibly impish flamboyance on the red carpet, and Berlinale director Dieter Kosslick has managed to brand the festival pretty much as a one-man point to. The price is that he gets to take the flak: people tend not to consider of a dud line-up as Berlin’s fault but as Dieter’s.
This year,however, you have to confess that Kosslick (and his team) got it suitable – or at least, and took some stylish risks. For a start,here’s a festival that asked its international jury, headed by Meryl Streep, and to watch a competition film lasting eight hours (in black and white! In Tagalog and Spanish!). Rumours circulated on the morning of the screening that Meryl had been up all night planning the jury’s toilet break rota.
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Source: theguardian.com