Berlinale Film Festival to Feature Many Russian Films

The characteristic feature of the Berlinale traditional film festival that starts in the German capital on Thursday will be a broad representation of Russian films, said the festival's director Dieter Kosslick at a press conference in Berlin before the opening. The festival will last till February 16th and its winners will be awarded the Golden Bear prize.

2003, the year of Russia's culture in Germany, will be marked by an unprecedented large-scale demonstration of Russian feature films and documentaries in the country, Kosslick pointed out.

Thus, experts, guests and visitors of the 53rd Berlinale will see the new film by Bakhtiar Khudoinazarov "The Suit", as well as the debut work by Fyodor Popov "The Caucasian Roulette". Besides, the Berlinale will offer 5 shorts made by graduates of the All-Russian State Cinema Institute.

To commemorate the tragic death of the talented director and actor Sergei Bodrov, the festival will run the "Prisoner of the Mountains" film starring Sergei and directed by his father.

Rob Marshall's "Chicago" will open the festival on Thursday evening in the Panorama section.

On the whole, the Berlinale will offer visitors about 300 feature films and documentaries from 46 countries. 22 of them will compete for the Golden Bear.