Berlin

The Berlin weather, which has been snowy, icy, blustery, and freezing, with menacing slippery pavements for the first four days, has not impeded the festival fever of the crowds at this Gala Sixtieth birthday celebration.

On the second night a large crowd braved borderline Siberian Gulag weather conditions to ogle a huge outdoor presentation of the definitively restored print of Fritz Lang's silent 1925 classic "Metropolis" before the Brandenburg Gate, a landmark which is Berlin's equivalent of the Lincoln Memorial. At various ticketing sites crowds have been standing in line for hours to snag tickets for the hotter films such as Polanski's "Ghostwriter", "Scorcese's "Shutter Island" or the Shahrukh Khan starrer "My name Is Khan", while there has been no noticeable thinning out of the flocks of feverish fans lining the restaining ropes along the red carpet leading up to the Berlinale Palace, where every evening two or three galas are presented and the stars arrive in shiny limos, then stride out into the swirling snowflakes to strut their stuff, pose for pictures, sign autographs, and generally bask in the adulation of their countless chilblained Berlin worshippers.

 
Germany's premiere auto producer, BMW, has replaced Volkswagen as a major co-sponsor of the Berlinale this year and provides a most convenient hospitality lounge in the very heart of the buzzing press area at the top of the stairs in the Hyatt Hotel.

From 10 AM to roughly midnite this is a wall-to-wall comfort station in which to grab a quick drink or a hot cuppa joe to calm jangled nerves, catch up on festival proceedings on strategically placed multiple screens, as well as an ongoing nerve center for person-to-person networking of all kinds. The atmosphere is embellished by a staff of lovely German ladies who steer lost souls around and generally emanate warmth and gemütlichkeit.  Before each gala there is a photo session just around the corner from the lounge, which when finished, the stars and picture reps of the film about to be shown assemble in the lounge for a glass of bubbly before striding the carpet across the street. A happy hour between five and seven is an especially busy time but the lounge is a welcome oasis all day long just a step away from the press room, offering a break from the stress of trying to catch up with everything, while situated in the swirling midst of the action.  Vielen Dank, BMW! 

by Alex Deleon --  (www.filmfestivals.com)