The winners of the 51st Berlinale were announced early Sunday afternoon at a press conference on February 18, 2001. The buzz film of the festival, Italian for Beginners, the first Dogme film directed by a woman, picked up a Silver Bear Jury Prize for its director Lone Scherfig. Earlier in the week, the film received an early prize when it was bought by Miramax. Among the English-speaking festival-goers, Traffic was sure to pick up a prize; although not the expected best film award, the Silver Bear for Best Actor went to Benicio del Toro. The big winner, however was Intimacy, Patrice Chereau's explicit look at what happens when two strangers become entangled in an illicit love affair. In addition to winning the Golden Bear, its star Kerry Fox picked up a Silver Bear for Best Actress. And not overlooking the Chinese competition entries dear to the spirit of the Berlinale, the nine member jury headed by Bill Mechanic awarded the Grand Jury Prize to Beijing Bicycle by Wang Xiaoshuai and Best Director to Lin Cheng-sheng for Betelnut Beauty.

The International Jury of the 51st Berlin International Film Festival was composed of the following Members:

President: William M. Mechanic (USA)
As head of 20th Century Fox Filmed Entertainment from 1993 to 2000, Bill Mechanic was responsible for the production of such film hits as William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet (Berlinale 1996), The Thin Red Line (Golden Bear, 1999) and the most successful motion picture of all time, James Cameron's Titanic. Bill Mechanic is also a film professor at USC.

Fatih Akin (Germany)
The Hamburg born director Fatih Akin attracted attention with his feature debut Kurz und schmerzlos (Short Sharp Shock). His second film, Im Juli (In July), repeated this success. Akin is also a highly demanded actor.

Dario Argento (Italy)
The grand master of European horror started his career in the 1960s as a film critic and screenplay author before taking to the director's chair with L'Uccello dalle piume di cristallo (The Bird With Crystal Plumage, 1969). He has since established himself as an iconoclastic genre stylist.

Hector Babenco (Brazil)
A four-time Oscar nominee, Babenco paved his way to Hollywood with internationally acclaimed films. He had his international breakthrough with films such as Pixote (1981) or Corazón Illuminado (Foolish Heart, 1998), and Kiss of the Spiderwoman (1985).

Jacqueline Bisset (Great Britain)
Throughout her career Jacqueline Bisset has worked with such renowned directors as Truffaut, Lumet and Polanski. Claude Chabrol's La cérémonie (Judgement in Stone) marks one of her recent European films.

Dominique Blanc (France)
As an actress she is committed to both film and theatre. She is a three-time César winner for Best Supporting Actress, in Louis Malle's Milou en mai (1989), Régis Wargnier's Indochine (1992) and Patrice Chéreau's Ceux qui m'aiment prendront le train (Those who love me can take the train, 1998).

Diego Galán (Spain)
The Moroccan-born writer has distinguished himself as a critic and author of several monographies on Spanish cinema. He headed the San Sebastián Film Festival from 1986 to 1989 and from 1993 to 2000.

Kyoko Hirano (Japan)
As a film historian and curator she has been heading the Japan Society Film Center in New York since 1989; she is considered one of Japanese cinema's most forceful spokespeople and experts.

Xie Fei (China)
As a film director, he was discovered internationally in Berlin with Ben ming nian (Black Snow) awarded with a Silver Bear in 1990 and with Xian hun nu (Women from the Lake of Scented Souls), awarded with a Golden Bear in 1993. He is also a teacher at the Bejing Film Academy.