Berlinale Roars Toward Finale

The 57th annual Berlinale Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin started Feb. 8 and runs through Feb. 18. http://www.berlinale.de/en/das_festival/videostreaming/index.html.

Berlinale is Germany’s biggest film festival. In its second week, the festival is reaching a feverish pitch with a distribution deal landing for actress-turned-director Julie Delpy’s 2 Days in Paris, with Samuel Goldwyn Films.

Berlinale's film programme is divided into six sections: Competition, Panorama, International Forum of New Cinema, Generation, Perspektive Deutsches Kino and Retrospective. Each section is headed by a section director, who is responsible for selecting the films and is advised by the Berlinale's correspondents and other experts.

This year’s international jury consists of seven members from the film industry, and they consider films only in the competition section, awarding the festival’s main prizes. Prizes include the Golden Bear for best film and Silver Bears for Jury Grand Prix, Best Director, Best Actress and Actor, outstanding artistic contribution and Best Film Music. The Alfred Bauer Prize is given to a work which “takes the art of film in a new direction.”

The 2007 jury includes American Gigolo director Paul Schrader as jury president, Palestinian actress Hiram Abbass, German actor Mario Adorf, American actor Willem Dafoe, Mexican actor Gael García Bernal (at right), Hong Kong producer Nansun Shi and Danish film editor Molly Malene Stensgaard.

Berlinale’s website offers live streaming video and archives of news conferences and red carpet events at http://www.berlinale.de/en/das_festival/videostreaming/index.html.

Awards are presented the final day of the festival, Feb. 18.

Pal Erdoss, 1947-2007

Hungarian film director Pal Erdoss dies at 60
The Associated Press
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
BUDAPEST, Hungary
Film director Pal Erdoss, winner of an award at the 1983 Cannes Film Festival, died Wednesday, his family said. He was 60.
Erdoss died early Wednesday after a brief, serious illness, said his daughter, Eszter. Erdoss's family did not provide further details.
His last film, Lads of Budakeszi, based on an autobiographical book by Istvan Kovacs, was about a young boy's experiences during the 1956 anti-Soviet revolution. It was screened at the 38th Hungarian Film Week, which ended last week.
Erdoss's made his debut as director in 1982 with Adj kiraly katonat! (The Princess), for which he won the Golden Camera award, given to the best first film, at the 1983 Cannes Film Festival.
The film, which chronicles the travails of a teenage young girl from the countryside who comes to Budapest to work at a textile mill, was well received by critics.
In its review of the film, The New York Times called Erdoss "a director of considerable subtlety and promise."
The Princess also earned Erdoss a Golden Leopard award at the 1983 Locarno International Film Festival.
Born in Budapest, Erdoss began his career in 1965 at Hungarian State Television, working as a location manager and assistant director.
Among his other features were Countdown (1983), Tolerance (1986), A Light-Sensitive Story (1993) and Last Seen Wearing A Blue Skirt (1997).
Erdoss also directed some 50 documentaries and films made for television.
Besides his daughter, he also is survived by his wife.
Funeral details were not immediately released.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0258820/