Helen Mirren and István Szabó (The Door)  by Alex Deleon, for <filmfestivals.com>   Dame Helen Mirren, patently the dominant figure of the first two days, held court on Saturday morning at the first official festival press conference. As Helen Mirrenová she is getting front page coverage in the Czech daily press in the manner of visiting royalty and her gracefully smiling visage adorns the cover of the widely read TVstar weekly with a bold gold lettered caption reading ...

As part of the Festival’s official programme, the Berlinale Special 2012 will be presenting recent works by contemporary filmmakers, film portraits of outstanding personalities, extraordinary formats and restored cinema masterpieces. In addition to the six films already announced (see press releases from Dec. 19, 2011, and Jan. 9, 2012), twelve more titles have been confirmed for this year’s Berlinale Special programme.In 2012 talks will be hosted following the screenings of a number of Berl...

During the ten days of the Berlinale most Berlin dailies adorn their front pages with large color photos of celebrity posturings the night before. On Thursday, day number 7 of the fest, however, what was to be seen on all Berlin front pages were shots of men in hooded white spacesuits holding up dead swans fished out of the city lakes, or otherwise attempting to deal with the sudden arrival of the dreaded aviarian flu virus in the midst of the city. Of course, this does not mean that we can exp...