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Film stars flock to Berlin
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A NUMBER of famous film stars and directors have come to Berlin to compete for the "Golden Bear" prize or seek attention to win this year's Oscar prizes.
A total of 16 premieres is or will be held during the 12-day Berlin Film Festival beginning on Wednesday, organizers said. About 14,000 viewers from 100 countries will attend the festival held at Potzdamer Platz.
The famous participants include Anthony Hopkins, Sean Connery, Kate Winslet, Spike Lee and other well-known actors and directors.
Kate Winslet, the British star of "Titanic", will promote her new film "Quills" by Philip Kaufman, which is viewed as a Oscar contender.
"Hannibal", the sequel to the Oscar best movie "Silence of the Lambs", is believed to attract many film fans. Both lead actor Anthony Hopkins and director Ridley Scott came to Berlin to show their skills of psychological expression.
Sean Connery will be pushing his "Finding Forrester", a story of a reclusive writer who mentors a tough 16-year-old basketball genius and helps him to find himself.
The Berlin Film Festival will also highlight a personality in the movie history. The 84-year-old American actor Kirk Douglas will be awarded a "Golden Bear" for his lifetime achievement. The festival will show 23 of his over 80 films, in which Douglas played cowboys, gangsters and Roman slaves.
Johnny Depp, along with Juliette Binoche, came to show their comic fable "Chocolat", believed to be a hopeful for an Oscar.
Among other Golden Bear competitors are Spike Lee's media satire "Bamboozled", Mike Nichol's "Wit", and Steven Soderbergh's "Traffic".
The festival opens with "Enemy at the Gates", an expensive German-American co-production about the battle for Stalingrad. The Golden and Silver Bear awards will be decided on February 18 by a nine-member international jury led by Bill Mechanic, former head of Fox Filmed Entertainment.
(Xinhua)
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