'The Grandmaster' opens 63rd Berlinale

[Photo/Xinhua]

The 63rd Berlin film festival opens Thursday with a martial arts epic "The grandmaster" of Chinese director Wong Kar Wai who will also lead the jury of this Berlinale.

"Different from Cannes or Venice, Berlinale is a film festival not only dedicated to the film professionals and the media, but also to the audience," the Berlinale director Dieter Kosslick told Xinhua in an exclusive interview.

Greeting the opening of the grand gala Thursday, Kosslick said Berlinale takes pride in its comprehensive program and boasts the world's biggest audiences, and a consummate structure for a modern festival.

"Our film gala boasts the biggest audience, with 300,000 cinema goers and 20,000 professional visitors from 130 countries every year," he said.

"We have 9 more sections in addition to the competition program. The program of Panorama - which is dedicated to Arthouse cinema - and of Generation - which is our youth and childrens section - have already invited numerous films from all over the world, notably Asia." Kosslick said.

'The Grandmaster'at 63rd Berlinale film festival

Around 400 films will be put on in the 10 different sections, highlighting different movie types, according to the director.

Mentioning a program that combines screening with dinners afterward prepared by top chefs, Kosslick said it caters for a wide range of different audiences. "This is also interesting for the professionals that attend the European Film Market."

With regard to the themes and contents, the perennial Berlinale director noticed that many filmmaker did take their special views into the current society, by presenting "the fate of individuals" as well as "what is going on in a society."

This year's Berlinale introduces a new special series called NATIVE, which is devoted to cinematic storytelling of indigenous peoples, and this year the regional focus is Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the U.S.

"NATIVE will give international audiences the chance to experience the diverse forms of expression and content of indigenous cinema," Kosslick said.

Looking into the future, Kosslick said the Berlinale had always been keen to move on and to establish new initiatives or cooperations.

"We started the Talent Campus 11 years ago as a creative academy and networking platform for 300 up-and-coming filmmakers from all over the world, and new trends and developments are discussed there and numerous participants found fellow filmmaking collaborators through the Campus", he said.

Berlinale also founded the World Cinema Fund to develop and support cinema in regions with a weak film infrastructure, while fostering cultural diversity in German cinemas.

"As the mentioned projects show the Berlinale considers itself not only as a platform to show films, but to encourage and support filmmaking, to inspire creative interaction", Kosslick said.

Concerning market demand, Kosslick said the Berlinale will "respond to the current trends and developments in the global industry and to tailor our offer accordingly."

Inretrospect of the past 12 years in reigning the Berlinale, Kosslick recalled he felt particularly proud of having generated many measures to amplify the festival in attracting new audiences and promoting the industry.