Tale of communist East Germany leads race for top award

By Andrew McCathie Feb 16, 2012, 14:18 GMT

Berlin - The Berlin Film Festival is drawing to a close with a movie portraying the struggles of daily life in communist East Germany emerging as the frontrunner in the race for top honours.

German director Christian Petzold's Barbara, about a young female doctor transferred to a provincial hospital and harassed by secret police after applying to leave Germany's communist east, is among 18 movies vying for the festival's top award - the Golden Bear for best picture.

'This is about how you can live in a system that is falling apart all around you,' said Petzold.

The decisions of international film festival juries are, however, difficult to predict with several other contenders having emerged for the Berlinale's major awards.

These include Was Bleibt (Home for the Weekend), from German director Hans-Christian Schmidt, which delves into mental illness in a family; and Italian directing brothers Paolo and Vittorio Taviani's semi documentary, about staging a Shakespearean play in prison, called Casare Deve Morire (Caesar Must Die).

The awards, including those for best actress, actor and director, are to be handed out at a Hollywood-style gala ceremony on Saturday. This year's jury was headed by British director Mike Leigh.

When the Berlinale ends on Sunday, 400 movies will have been screened across the main sections of what is the world's biggest film festival in terms of audience.

Some of the biggest names in the motion picture business, such as Meryl Streep, Shah Rukh Khan and Michael Fassbender, walked the red carpet. Hollywood glamour couple Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt were in town for a screening of the Bosnian war drama, In the Land of Blood and Honey.

Away from the often-frenzied world of the festival's main competition and the glitz of the red carpet, one of the most talked-about films was Iron Sky.

The Finnish sci-fi spoof is about a group of Nazis who escape to the moon at the end of World War II to plan an invasion of Earth.

Directed by Timo Vuorensola, and including a character with more than a passing reference to conservative US politician Sarah Palin playing the US president, Iron Sky was also something of a break from the festival's often serious-minded and arthouse selection.

But then the Berlinale prides itself on being the most political of the world's top film festivals, with each year's programme mixing movies about war, religion and father-son struggles with more intimate stories exploring tough social issues.

In a sense, US director Billy Bob Thornton brought most of these elements together in his film, Jayne Mansfield's Car.

Set in the United States in the 1960s, Thornton's movie looks at war through the eyes of three generations of one family. While the grandfathers served in World War I and the fathers served in World War II, the sons face the prospect of fighting in Vietnam.

Produced outside the big Hollywood studios, Thornton's film was the only US movie selected for the main competition.

The screenings for the main competition end on Friday, with Canadian director Kim Nguyen's Rebelle (War Witch), which follows the life of a 14-year-old female soldier in Africa.

Two Asian directors - China's Wang Quan'an and the Philippines' Brillante Mendoza - competing for the Golden Bear also drew on major events in their countries that ultimately formed the backdrop to wars.

Indonesia made a rare appearance at the Berlinale with the world premiere of Jakarta-based director Edwin's dreamlike Postcards from the Zoo.

France's Agathe Bonitzer won acclaim for her role of a young kidnap victim struggling to come to terms with life outside captivity in French director Frederic Videau's A Moi Seule (Coming Home).

Pictures of life and political intrigue in 18th century European courts also emerged in two sumptuous period dramas - Danish director Nikolaj Arcel's En Kongelig Affaere (A Royal Affair) and French director Benoit Jacquot's Les Adieux a La Reine (Farewell My Queen), which revolves around the relationship between Marie Antoinette and one of her ladies-in-waiting.

French actress Lea Seydoux plays the lady-in-waiting. She also stars in Swiss director Ursula Meier's L'enfant d'en haut (Sister), as the sister of a 12-year-old who steals from rich tourists at a ski resort.