Golden Bear for Semih Kaplanoglu

After ten days of original films, special events and high society, the sixtieth film festival Berlinale came to a closing this weekend.

Saturday evening’s award-ceremony highlighted the best films in the Berlinale-competition with an Oscar-like distribution of “Golden and Silver Bears“. The international judging panel, with eminent names like Renée Zellweger and others, awarded the Turkish-German production “Bal“ (“Honey“), by Semih Kaplanoglu, with the Golden Bear for Best Film. “Bal“ is the final part of a trilogy and tells the story of an enchanting relationship between a father and his young son through the eyes of the six-year old boy. The director chose to employ the rich sounds of nature rather than bland music in his film, which gave the film a very personal touch and a “real feel“.

The personal touch was intensified on Sunday at the “Berlinale-Panorama“, an award for the best film elected by the audience. Over the ten-day course of the Berlinale, there were public voting booths, both online and at the participating cinemas. This year, the audience awarded the Brazilian/English film “Waste Land“ with the Panorama-prize.

Unfortunately, the Berlinale as a whole was not highly rewarded. There were many disappointing occasions: From the opening with a rather unspectacular film that didn’t draw any celebrities to the red carpet, to a similar situation with the anticipated closing premier of “Nine“. The Berlinale did not manage to attract even one star from this grand Hollywood-production. No Pénelope Cruz, no Judi Dench, no Nicole Kidman, not even the director Rob Marshall appeared to his own premier. What a slap in the face for reputation of the Berlinale…

But like I said in an earlier blog, it’s not all about the stars! Berlin was a wonderful host to many visitors who came to enjoy the Berlinale and its special events. Especially the parties proved themselves as successful. Two parties were in my main focus during the Berlinale; one of them was the celebration of the German film “Die Fremde“ (“The Stranger“) at the Cookies. The Cookies is a renowned club on Friedrichstraße, which is probably the most expensive shopping avenue in Berlin. Famous for its Berlinale-parties, the Cookies is known for an exceptional collaboration of DJ’s. And I must admit, this party really did knock me off my feet. With one room solely dedicated to the deepest house and electro music, while the other room exclusively played the finest hip-hop tunes, I couldn’t believe that this was one and the same party. Also, the diversity amongst the guests was a very pleasant surprise. I guess it is this diversity which creates the perfect symbiosis for a perfect party. Unluckily, the club was too full too soon. In spite of that, I had a lot of fun at the Cookies.

Then there was another celebration that exceeded everyone’s expectations: “Lieblingstag“ (“Favorite Day“) is a weekly party at the glorious Puro, and is located on the 20th story of a sky-scraper on the “Ku’damm“, which is probably the most popular shopping avenue in Berlin. The loft-like location offers a rare 360° view of Berlin – what could be better than partying over the roof tops of Berlin?!

During the Berlinale, the Lieblingstag-party was THE talk of town. Even some people at the Berlinale Talent Campus asked me if I had heard of the so-called Lieblingstag. Hundreds of people were queuing till late into the night, one guest even told me she waited for one hour before she could hit the dance floor, and still it was worth waiting for. This legendary celebration mixes the best of 70ies and 80ies with hip hop and house. No wonder no one wanted to miss out. Lieblingstag is Berlin’s best party.

That was it for the Berlinale, I hope you enjoyed my blog. If you decide to visit Berlin, please don’t hesitate to contact me at Young Germany or on Twitter, it would be my pleasure to give you some tips for Berlin.
Thank you for following my blog!

by Yolanda Rother

Party impressions from the Berlinale – watch the short video:
http://blog.young-germany.de/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/video-short.flv.