Berlin

Saturday, February 9----------As the Competition Screenings at this year's Berlinale move into high gear, it is a good moment to comment on the credentials and the international mix of jurors who must view an impressive group of awards contenders, all vying for the prestigious Golden and Silver Bear Awards.

Jury President Costa-Gavras (France) is one of the most renowned figures of dedicated, political filmmaking. His international breakthrough came in 1969 with the political thriller Z, which won him two Academy Awards. In 1990 Costa-Gavras was awarded the Berlinale Golden Bear for his film Music Box (with Armin Mueller-Stahl and Jessica Lange). He last participated in the Berlinale Competition in 2002 with Amen. Costa-Gavras is also President of the French Cinemathèque.

Danish director Susanne Bier is one of her country’s most internationally successful filmmakers. She received numerous awards for her Dogma film Open Hearts (2002). In 2007 her drama After The Wedding received a Best Foreign Film Oscar nomination. Her latest film, Things We Lost In The Fire, with Halle Berry, will be released in Germany this summer.

Sandrine Bonnaire is one of France‘s most popular and successful actresses. Her international breakthrough came at the start of her career with her role in Agnès Varda’s Vagabond (1985). A holder of two César Awards, she has played in films by Jacques Rivette and Claude Chabrol (The Ceremony, 1995). In 2004 she was on screen in the Berlinale Competition in Intimate Strangers by Patrice Leconte.

Production designer Uli Hanisch was honoured with the German and the European Film Awards for his work in the adaptation of Patrick Süskind’s novel Perfume – The Story Of A Murderer (2006). He has done the production design for almost all of Tom Tykwer’s films, including the upcoming The International, starring Clive Owen and Naomi Watts. His set designs also shaped films by Oliver Hirschbiegel (The Experiment) and Sönke Wortmann (The Miracle Of Bern).

Diane Kruger’s international breakthrough came with her role in Wolfgang Petersen’s monumental epic Troy. The young actress played in the 2007 Berlinale Competition film Goodbye Bafana by Bille August. Together with Nicolas Cage she is currently on screen in National Treasure: Book Of Secrets.

Walter Murch is a multiple-Academy Award winner who wrote film history with his spectacular sound design for Francis Ford Coppola’s anti-war film Apocalypse Now. As a cutter and sound designer he has collaborated with Coppola for 30 years, on films ranging from The Godfather to his latest work Tetro. He has also created image and sound montages for George Lucas, Jerry Zucker and Anthony Minghella.

Alexander Rodniansky was born in the Ukraine, and is one of the biggest cinema and TV producers in Russia. A studied filmmaker, he is now president of the Moscow media holding CTC and a formative figure in Russia’s media landscape. His work as a director includes a series of documentaries about contemporary Russia, including 1992s two-part Farewell USSR, which won numerous awards.

Shu-Qi is one of the most popular and sought-after actresses in Asian cinema. Born in Taiwan, she has played in over 50 films in a great variety of genres. On the international circuit she attracted attention for her role in the thriller The Transporter (2002). In 2000 Shu-Qi appeared in the Berlinale Competition film The Island Tales directed by Stanley Kwan.

Sandy Mandelberger, Berlin FF Dailies Editor