Berlinale Press

A Brazilian film about police brutality in Rio de Janeiro has won the Golden Bear for Best Film at the Berlin Film Festival. “Tropa de Elite’ (“The Elite Squad), a debut feature by Jose Padilha, depicts the involvement of drug barons and the elite police squad in a deadly game of inter-dependence, corruption and brutality.

The American documentary “Standard Operating Procedure’ by Oscar-winner Errol Morris, was awarded the Silver Bear. This film deals with the torture of Iraqi prisoners by US soldiers in Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad.

Best actor was Iran’s Reza Najie for his performance in Majid Majidi’s “The Song of Sparrows’, while Britain’s Sally Hawkins was voted best actress for her work in the Mike Leigh comedy “Happy-Go-Lucky’.

The Audience Award, voted on by some 20,000 cinema goers, went to Eran Riklis’ “Lemmon Tree’, the story of a Palestinian woman who inherits a lemon grove that borders on the land of the Israeli Defence Minister.

In second place was Australian Julian Shaw’s documentary about a South African icon, “Darling! The Pieter Dirk Uys Story’.

Pop star Madonna received a far more positive response to her directorial debut on “Filth and Wisdom’ then she ever got from her forays into acting, when the film was recently screened at the Berlin Film Festival.

However, some reviewers criticised the film’s “fortune-cookie philosophy’. At a press function Madonna said the film, which stars Richard E Grant, was about “ultimate duality’. She is considering releasing the film on the Internet only.

Meanwhile, a film about the abuses at the AbuGhraib prison, Errol Morris’ “S.O.P.:Standard Operating Procedure’, has been wowing critics at the Berlinale, with some speculating that it might walk away with the festival’s top honour, The Golden Bear. “S.O.P.’ is the first documentary that has ever been chosen for the main competition.

Berlinale often awards undiscovered films, such as the South African film U-Carmen eKayelitsha, which won the Golden Bear a few years ago.

“S.O.P.’ is competing against the high profile, Oscar-nominated “There Will Be Blood’. The Festival runs until 17 February. (Source: Studio Briefing)

The Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale) has announced that 74-year old Greek-French Oscar-winning filmmaker Constantin Costa-Gavras (“Missing’) will head the jury for its 58th edition, which runs from 7 to 17 February 2008.

Costa-Gavras is known for making films with overt political themes like “Z’. He won the Berlinale’s top award, the Golden Bear, in 1980 for “Music Box’.

Berlinale will present its Golden Bear for Lifetime Achievement to 85-year-old Italian writer-director Francesco Rosi whose films take a critical look at the political, economic and intellectual developments in Italy. The award will be presented to Rosi on 14 February as part of the festival’s “Homage’. Thirteen of Rosi’s films will be screened, including “Salvatore Giuliano’, which won the Berlinale’s Silver Bear in 1962.

The “Retrospective’ of the 2008 Berlinale will honor Spanish director Luis Bunuel, who died in 1983, by presenting a comprehensive programme of his works. It will also include films to which he contributed as assistant director, screenwriter and/or producer. A series of events with lectures and discussion panels will supplement the film programme. Bunuel’s “The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie’ won the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar in 1973.