GERMANY: Berlinale fans are rewarded with coveted film tickets after queuing for 36 hours as the 62nd film festival draws close

Record ID: 284644

  • Title: GERMANY: Berlinale fans are rewarded with coveted film tickets after queuing for 36 hours as the 62nd film festival draws close
  • Date: 6th February 2012
  • Summary: BERLIN, GERMANY (FEBRUARY 6, 2012) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF ONE OF BERLINALE SCREENING LOCATIONS VARIOUS OF FILM POSTERS ON DISPLAY VARIOUS OF WORKERS CLEANING WINDOWS, PREPARING FOR BERLINALE VARIOUS TOP SHOTS OF PEOPLE WAITING FOR BERLINALE TICKETS TO GO ON SALE VARIOUS CLOSE OF PEOPLE QUEUING FOR TICKETS ELDERLY MAN ON CHAIR READING VARIOUS OF PEOPLE QUEUING FOR BER
  • Embargoed: 21st February 2012 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Germany, Germany
  • Country: Germany
  • Reuters ID: LVA88EZFE8W37P0TG685H6BKY4N0
  • Story Text: Excitement was palpable, and audible in the German capital as the Berlinale tickets offices pulled up their shutters for the first day of festival sales.
    Social upheaval and political awakening will form the focal themes of the 62nd Berlin film festival, this year with the festival screening documentaries and fictional works from Arab film makers which trace the turbulent progress of the 2011 mass uprisings across the Arab region and explore the political and philosophical questions left in the wake of the often bloody demonstrations.
    Berlinale fans are certainly up for some stimulating material as well as the big names.
    "I just want to be inspired from the political themes: Africa, or the Israeli-Palestinian film. Yep, it's just inspiring," Berliner Michael Stump said, pouring over the film programme.
    Some of the first films to address the social upheaval caused by the Japanese tsunami and Fukushima nuclear disaster last year will also make their international debuts at the festival.
    The material complimented the political tradition of the festival, Kosslick said.
    "Of course, it's specially the Berlinale is just one year after Mubarak had to lead Egypt. The festival programme reflects this, as we say Arab Spring situation with a lot of documents and documentary films. And we can also see it in our fiction programme. We have a lot of films dealing with these situations that people either in private situation, or in political situation are trying to escape and change their situation," festival director Dieter Kosslick said.
    But the Berlinale also attempts to marry grit with glitz.
    Angelina Jolie is bringing a film her directorial debut, "In the Land of Blood and Honey," to the Berlinale, creating a ripple of excitement that she and her equally famous husband Brad Pitt might show up for a sashay down the red carpet.
    "Angelina Jolie and her husband like Berlin, this we know and in my time in the last ten years, she was never at the Berlinale with a film. We have been happy that she has chosen the Berlinale as a platform for her film, which is a pretty tough subject she is filming about," Kosslick said.
    Numerous Hollywood stars are expected to parade down the red carpet this year, and Oscar-nominated actress Meryl Streep will be awarded an Honorary Golden Bear for Lifetime Achievement at a screening of her latest film, "The Iron Lady," in which she plays former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.
    Jake Gyllenhaal and Charlotte Gainsbourg will rub shoulders on the festival's international jury, which will select the winner of the Golden Bear, the Berlinale's top prize, from a line-up of 17 films.
    While worthy documentaries and A-list films are giving the Berlinale the necessary push so close to the Oscars, for many fans in Berlin on Monday the event was all about one film - Bollywood extravaganza Don - The return of the King.
    "I just have one thing to say. We have 2 tickets for Don2 and that was the reason that we queued 36 hours and the wait was worth it. We were the first in line. It's just amazing. I can hardly talk I'm so excited," Kathleen Huber said.
    "We have been excited about this for ages. We were involved in the filming and now we just want to see it," another excited fan, Connie added.
    The February 9-19 Berlinale is ranked as one of the world's top film festivals alongside Cannes, Toronto, Sundance and Venice.
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