Berlin’s Annual Film Festival Projects a New Image

BERLIN — Flickering amid the sharp-edged steel and glass of this city’s new architecture, the Berlin International Film Festival has evolved from a Cold War novelty to a major marquee for diverse, and sometimes eccentric, global cinema.

Attracting an audience this year of more than 60,000, the Berlinale conjures up neither the glitz nor the summer sun of the more celebrated Cannes and Venice festivals. But, as it has increasingly done since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the festival is spiced with independent films and disheveled directors from countries such as Argentina, South Africa, Cuba and Slovenia.

The festival distributed about 400,000 tickets this year for 400 films. Its success is another indication of Germany’s stature in politics -- including Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder’s role last year in opposing the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq -- and the arts, with its modernist swirl of international architectural styles. And the Berlinale is a glimpse of the German cultural psyche that early last century helped define the Jazz Age in Europe and created cinematic genius with “Metropolis” and “Nosferatu.”

“The Berlinale means a lot for the German film industry. It’s our window to the markets,” said Frank Huebner, head of ApolloMedia in Cologne, which co-produced the international hit film “Whale Rider.”

“The Cold War is over, but I think the Berlinale is still a political festival. It’s just that the spot points of the world have changed. Where we had films in the past from Eastern Europe, today we also have movies from South Africa.”

This cultural diversity is marked by a young generation of filmmakers such as Fatih Akin, 30, whose “Head-On,” a love story set in this nation’s Turkish community, is one of two German entries in this year’s competition. Hollywood productions vying for honors include “Cold Mountain” and “Something’s Gotta Give.” The Golden Bear, the top prize, will be awarded today at the 54th annual festival. The gathering ends Sunday.

“For 10 days the view of the world’s film industry is focused on Berlin,” said Akin, a mercurial man wearing faded jeans and floppy hair. “At least I want to believe that, and that’s why I’m happy to have my film selected and opened up to the international market.”

Jan Schulz-Ojala, film critic for Berlin daily newspaper Der Tagesspiegel, said, “The Berlinale is fresh. It is bringing itself convincingly into the game with a modern venue.” He characterized the Venice festival as “the old lady of the Lido ... creeping into the fringes” and then opined that Cannes is “too power conscious and fame-stricken.”

The Berlinale’s strength is the cinematic nuances -- many of them from independent filmmakers -- from around the world such as “Good Morning, Beijing” from China, “Campfire” from Israel, “Lost Embrace” from Argentina and “A Bride of the Seventh Heaven” from Finland.

In recognition of a time when Europe and the United States were closer politically, the Berlinale ran “Selling Democracy -- Welcome Mr. Marshall.” This series featured 42 of the 200 films produced from 1947 to 1952 under the Marshall Plan, the U.S. reconstruction effort in Europe after World War II.

A talent campus for aspiring filmmakers ran within the Berlinale, which for the first time also featured films tailored for teenagers. The eight movies in this series -- including entries from Germany, Iran and Denmark -- explore the grist of adolescent life: alienation, family problems, loss of virginity, death and the effect of globalization on everything from music to slang.

“There is a type of movie that deals with subjects this 14-plus generation wants to look at,” said Dieter Kosslick, director of the Berlinale. “They are intellectually and emotionally challenging movies.”

There has been a sporadic spotting of stars. Jack Nicholson was asked how he keeps his derriere in good shape. Diane Keaton cried during some strange moments at a news conference. And Robin Williams riffed on U.S. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, mused about technology’s effect on memory and complimented a journalist for keeping with the spirit of Berlin by getting a Marlene Dietrich haircut.

The mood was less playful among some European producers and directors over the cultural effect of Hollywood films. The 25 countries in the European Union make 600 films a year to compete with 460 U.S. productions. The continent -- most notably France, with its heavily subsidized film industry -- is worried that globalization and the appeal of U.S. films are threats to marketing movies that highlight European cultural identities.

Germany, for example, has had only two international successes since 1998: “Run, Lola Run” and last year’s “Goodbye, Lenin.” The latter is a comedy about an East German son keeping the news that the Berlin Wall has fallen from his ill and staunchly Communist mother. The film’s universal themes of love and family transcended Cold War politics and has attracted audiences from across Europe.

“Our problem with German film is that it’s not selling abroad,” said Huebner, whose company has co-produced 40 feature films over the last five years. “It’s a question of language, and I think a difference in culture that doesn’t always translate. A traveling European film is difficult.... Films like ‘Goodbye, Lenin’ are the flowers in the lawn.”

“I think there’s a new identity emerging in German films,” said Akin, who acknowledged that many German movies could be considered parochial. “There’s not one specific identity, like there is with French film. The new German cinema is searching for more and different voices in our society.”

The question of marketing a European film outside its own country, or selecting one for an international festival, was discussed in the German media this week. Some critics complained that the Berlinale chose only two German films for competition. Others argued that selections must be based on quality, not nationalism, otherwise the film industry’s reputation would suffer.

If a festival is not discriminating, wrote critic Schulz-Ojala, there’s a danger that a nation’s film industry will become a “laughingstock.”