The Berlin International Film Festival, popularly known as Berlinale, is considered to be one of the three major film festivals of Europe, the other two being Cannes and Venice. One of the world’s largest, it is an indispensable platform for the global film community. The three events have come to be referred jointly as the “Big Three” and draw thousands of visitors – including hard-core film buffs – each year. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, Berlinale has been held in February every year since 1978.
The 74th edition of the prestigious film festival is on right now. It was inaugurated on February 15 and will continue till February 25, 2024. Notably, this edition will be the last under the leadership of Carlo Chatrian and Mariette Rissenback. Come April, and a new leader, Tricia Tuttle, is set to take over the reins from the duo.
There are 30 films in the main competition category vying for the Golden and Silver Bears.
Honorary Golden Bear for Lifetime Achievement for Martin Scorsese
The acclaimed US director – producer – script writer Martin Scorsese who has given cine-goers unforgettable classics was honoured with the Honorary Golden Bear for Lifetime Achievement for his immense body of work over several decades of his career. The award was presented to him at the Berlin Palast on February 20.
The beautiful and talented Lolita Nyongo, author- producer-actress from Kenya is the President of the Jury this year.
The festival opened with the screening of the historical drama by Tim Mielants, Small Things Like These.
The month of February, when Berlinale is traditionally held, is a cold and bleak month in the country. However, once the festival gets flagged off, the buzz in the atmosphere is hard to miss. Step inside a theatre hall when a film screening is scheduled or already taking place and you will feel the almost- tangible aura of creativity, excitement, and collective joy of the film community that has assembled there.
The India Connection at Berlinale 2024
India’s presence this year is marked by less than 10 film entries. Seven Indian films, including PS Vinothraj’s ‘The Adamant Girl’ and Siddartha Jatla’s ‘In the Belly of a Tiger’, are scheduled be screened at the 74th Berlin International Film Festival during its 10-day run.
The Berlinale recently announced the full line-ups of its Panorama, Forum and Generation sidebars. Its Panorama section will showcase 31 titles, including one series and 25 premieres, while the Forum section will present 30 titles from 30 territories
Notably, any big name from India is yet to make an appearance at the 74th Berlinale. There was much anticipation that “King Khan”, Shah Rukh, would fly down to attend. In fact, several German newspapers had written how magnetic his presence was, how big a star Shah Rukh Khan is, that the number of his fans and followers is staggering – possibly more than three Hollywood superstars bunched together!
Alia Bhatt and Ranveer Singh had attended Berlinale 2019 in the past when their film “Gully Boy” was released.
Bengali