Winter Warmers (4): Red Carpet at the Berlinale

Every February, the red carpet at the Berlinale, Berlin's International Film Festival, brings a welcome note of warmth to the deep mid-winter. This year is the Berlinale's 60th, and its organizers have introduced an interesting new feature to mark the anniversary.

Flying Red Carpet
In 2010, the Berlinale's red carpet will not be reserved for the large venues that host the festival's participating films. Instead, for the first time, a flying red carpet will also move out to smaller neighborhood cinemas. "Berlinale goes Kiez" ("Kiez" = neighborhood) is the brainchild of Berlinale director, Dieter Kosslick. "We want to put Berlin's wonderful art house cinemas in the limelight and, at the same time, say thank you to the ardent cineasts who have been faithful to this festival for so long," says Kosslick. He has reason to be proud: the Berlinale enjoys the largest audience of any film festival in the world.

Renee Zellweger, Berlinale 2010 jury member   photo: dpa

Coming to a Theater near You
On ten evenings between February 12 and 21, a selected art house cinema will feature two festival films. A red carpet will be unrolled for each gala screening and, as in the larger venues, directors, producers and members of the film team will be present -- only this time the audience will have a chance to interact with them in a much smaller, more intimate setting.

Scene from Niels Arden Oplev's Drømmen  photo: Deutsche Kinemathek

The ten art house cinemas include: Adria in Steglitz; Capitol Dahlem in Zehlendorf; Eva Lichtspiele in Wilmersdorf; Hackesche Höfe Kino in Mitte; Kant Kino in Charlottenburg; Moviemento in Kreuzberg; Neues Off in Neukölln; Odeon in Schöneberg; Kino Toni and Tonino in Weißensee; and Union Filmtheater in Köpenick.

Snow lies round about, deep and crisp and not so even, but see if we care! Red carpet glamor will arrive at our own neighborhood theaters --- a world away from soulless multiplexes in shopping malls -- and we will lose ourselves once again in the magic of the big screen and world-class cinema.

The 60th Berlinale runs February 11-21, 2010, and will feature 392 films from around the world. Tickets go on sale from Monday, February 8. The festival officially opens on February 11 with the premiere of the Chinese film Tuan Yuan in the Berlinale Palast. More information in both German and English is available at the Berlinale website www.berlinale.de