| 61st Berlin International Film Festival | |
| Opening: | True Grit |
| Closing: | A Separation |
| Location: | Berlin, Germany |
| Founded: | 1951 |
| Awards: | Golden Bear |
| Host: | Anke Engelke |
| Number: | 385 films |
| Date: | 10–20 February 2011 |
| Website: | http://www.berlinale.de |
| Chronology: | Berlin International Film Festival |
| Preceded By: | 60th |
| Followed By: | 62nd |
The 61st annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 10 to 20 February 2011,[1] with actress Isabella Rossellini as the president of the jury.[2] The Coen Brothers film True Grit opened the festival.[3] 300,000 tickets were sold in total during the event, to 20,000 attendees from 116 countries, including 3900 members of the press.[4]
The Golden Bear was awarded to the Iranian film A Separation, directed by Asghar Farhadi, which also served as the closing film at the festival.[5] German actor Armin Mueller-Stahl received the Honorary Golden Bear for lifetime achievement.
The following people were announced as being on the jury for the festival:[6]
In addition, the festival held a place open in the jury for the imprisoned Iranian director Jafar Panahi, "to signalize its support for his struggle for freedom".
The following films were selected to be in competition for the Golden Bear and Silver Bear awards:[7]
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production Country | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coriolanus | Ralph Fiennes | United Kingdom | ||
| Our Grand Despair | Bizim Büyük Çaresizliğimiz | Seyfi Teoman | Turkey, Germany, Netherlands | |
| Tales of the Night | France | |||
| Joshua Marston | Albania, United States | |||
| Miranda July | Germany, United States | |||
| A Separation | جدایی نادر از سیمین | Asghar Farhadi | Iran | |
| Lipstikka | אודם | Israel, United Kingdom | ||
| Margin Call | J.C. Chandor | United States | ||
| Argentina, Germany, Uruguay | ||||
| Paula Markovitch | Mexico, France, Poland, Germany | |||
| Come Rain, Come Shine | 사랑한다, 사랑하지 않는다 | Lee Yoon-ki | South Korea | |
| Sleeping Sickness | Schlafkrankheit | Germany, France, Netherlands | ||
| Hungary, France, Germany, Switzerland | ||||
| Innocent Saturday | V subbotu | Russia, Germany, Ukraine | ||
| If Not Us, Who? | Wer wenn nicht wir | Germany | ||
| Yelling to the Sky | Victoria Mahoney | United States | ||
The following films were screened out of competition at the festival:
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Almanya | Almanya: Willkommen in Deutschland | Germany | ||
| Service Entrance | France | |||
| My Best Enemy | Mein bester Feind | Wolfgang Murnberger | Austria, Luxembourg | |
| Pina | Germany, France | |||
| True Grit | United States | |||
| Unknown | Germany, United Kingdom, France |
The following films were screened in the Main Programme of the Panorama section:
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 부당거래 | South Korea | |||
| Into the White Night | 白夜行 | Yoshihiro Fukagawa | Japan | |
| Ashamed | 창피해 | Kim Soo-hyun | South Korea | |
| Dance Town | Jeon Kyu-hwan | |||
| Top Floor Left Wing | Dernier étage gauche gauche | Angelo Cianci | France, Luxembourg | |
| Seven Murders Forgiven | 7 Khoon Maaf | Vishal Bhardwaj | India[8] | |
| Asshole | Gandu | Kaushik Mukherjee | ||
| Here | Braden King | United States | ||
| Invisible | Lo Roim Alaich | Michal Aviad | Israel and Germany | |
| Mothers | Majki | Macedonia, France and Bulgaria | ||
| Off Beat | Jan Gassmann | Switzerland | ||
| Qualunquemente | Giulio Manfredonia | Italy | ||
| Romeos | Sabine Bernardi | Germany | ||
| Even the Rain | También la lluvia | Spain, France and Mexico | ||
| The Mortician | Gareth Maxwell | United Kingdom and United States | ||
| Tomboy | Céline Sciamma | France | ||
| Vampire | United States and Canada |
The following films were screened in the Main Programme of the Forum section:
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Country | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Absent | Ausente | Marco Berger | Argentina | ||
| Amnesty | Bujar Alimani | Albania, Greece and France | |||
| Tom Fassaert | Netherlands and Belgium | ||||
| United States and France | |||||
| Brownian Movement | Netherlands, Germany and Belgium | ||||
| Cheonggyecheon Medley: A Dream of Iron | Kelvin Kyung Kun Park | South Korea | |||
| Day Is Done | Thomas Imbach | Switzerland | |||
| E-Love | Anne Villacèque | France | |||
| Eighty Letters | Osmdesát dopisů | Václav Kadrnka | Czech Republic | ||
| Familiar Ground | En terrains connus | Stéphane Lafleur | Canada | ||
| FIT | Hiromasa Hirosue | Japan | |||
| Follow Me | Folge mir | Johannes Hammel | Austria | ||
| Free Hands | France | ||||
| Good Morning to the World! | Sekai Good Morning! | Satoru Hirohara | Japan | ||
| Heaven's Story | Japan | ||||
| Hi-So | Thailand | ||||
| Dom | Zuzana Liová | Slovakia and Czech Republic | |||
| Household X | Kazoku X | Kōki Yoshida | Japan | ||
| Idleness | Ocio | Alejandro Lingenti and Juan Villegas | Argentina | ||
| Kabul Dream Factory | Traumfabrik Kabul | Sebastian Heidinger | Germany and Afghanistan | ||
| Patang | India and United States | ||||
| Late Autumn | 만추 Man chu | South Korea, Hong Kong, China and United States | |||
| Looking for Simon | Auf der Suche | Jan Krüger | Germany and France | ||
| Made in Poland | Przemysław Wojcieszek | Poland | |||
| Matchmaking Mayor | Nesvatbov | Erika Hníková | Czech Republic | ||
| Tiago Mata Machado | Brazil | ||||
| Self Referential Traverse: Zeitgeist and Engagement | 자가당착: 시대 정신과 현실 참여 Jagadangchak: shidae-jeongshin-kwa hyeonshil-chamyeo | Kim Sun | South Korea | ||
| Silver Bullets/Art History | United States | ||||
| State of Violence | Khalo Matabane | South Africa and France | |||
| Submarine | United Kingdom | ||||
| Swans | Hugo Vieira da Silva | Germany and Portugal | |||
| Take Shelter | Jeff Nichols | United States | |||
| Territoire perdu | Pierre-Yves Vandeweerd | France and Belgium | |||
| Poor kor karn rai | Germany and Thailand | ||||
| Under Control | Unter Kontrolle | Volker Sattel | Germany | ||
| Utopians | Zbigniew Bzymek | United States | |||
| Viva Riva! | Djo Tunda Wa Munga | Democratic Republic of Congo, France and Belgium | |||
| Ways of the Sea | Halaw | Sheron Dayoc | Philippines | ||
| Marcela Said and Jean de Certeau | Chile |
The following films were selected to be in competition for the Golden Bear for Best Short Film:
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 July | 15 iulie | Cristi Iftime | Romania | |
| Silent River | Apele Tac | Anca Miruna Lazarescu | Germany and Romania | |
| Ashley/Amber | Rebecca R. Rojer | |||
| Hugo Lilja | Sweden | |||
| Back by 6 | Peter Connelly | Belgium | ||
| Fernando Vílchez Rodríguez | Peru | |||
| Cleaning up the Studio | Christian Jankowski | South Korea | ||
| Maria José San Martín | Chile | |||
| Forest | Erdő | György Mór Kárpáti | Hungary | |
| Questions to my Father | Fragen an meinen Vater | Konrad Mühe | Germany | |
| Green Crayons | Kazik Radwanski | Canada | ||
| Heavy Heads | Helena Frank | Denmark | ||
| Night Fishing | 파란만장 | Park Chan-wook and Park Chan-kyong | South Korea | |
| Arpeggio Ante Lucem | Pera Berbangê | Arin Inan Arslan | Turkey | |
| Planet Z | Momoko Seto | France | ||
| Broken Night | 부서진 밤 Bu-seo-jin Bam | Yang Hyo-joo | South Korea | |
| Doctor Rao | Rao Yi Sheng | Alexej Tchernyi and Wu Zhi | Germany | |
| Scenes from the Suburbs | United States and Canada | |||
| Seven Days in the Woods | Sju dagar i skogen | Peter Larsson | Sweden | |
| Stick Climbing | Daniel Zimmermann | Austria and Switzerland | ||
| Terribly Happy | Sudsanan | Pimpaka Towira | Thailand | |
| Susya | Dani Rosenberg and Yoav Gross | Israel and Palestine | ||
| Świteź | Kamil Polak | Poland, Switzerland, France, Canada and Denmark | ||
| Tomorrow Everything Will Be Alright | Akram Zaatari | Lebanon and United Kingdom | ||
| Woman Waiting | Antoine Bourges | Canada |
The following prizes were awarded by the Jury:[9]
A Separation by Asghar Farhadi