Every year for the past 58 years, Berlin has been home to the Berlinale International Film Festival.  Berlin is an exciting cultural city, in which every year about 400 movies are shown as part of Berlinale’s public program. However, only 21 movies are chosen to participate in the festival and be considered to earn a Golden Bear Award. Just like any awards show and film festival, there are several hits and misses and the Berlinale is not exempt. 

Let the music play

This year’s Berlinale International Film Festival started on Thursday February 7 and will end on Sunday February 17.  The opening reception seemed to establish the mood for the rest of the festival.  The entry chosen to open the festival was an out-of-competition documentary by none other than Martin Scorsese.  The documentary “Shine a Light” follows rock living legends Rolling Stones on two of their concerts given at the Beacon Theater in New York back in 2006.
Martin Scorsese did not disappoint- thousands of critics and music aficionados agreed on that.  The Rolling Stones film succeeded in bringing to the big screen the pure essence of a cult band.  Along with the 2006 concert where snippets of archive material tracing the Stones’ career all the way back during the 60’s.  “Shine a Light” is basically a concert movie, the set includes fan favorites and idiosyncratic renderings of less familiar songs; not only that, but the guest artists were quite impressive: Jack White (from the White Stripes), Christina Aguilera and Buddy Guy (from Chicago)- whose duet/duel with Richards was a highlight.

With the awards season our way it’s would be a crime not to talk about the Premios Goya, better known as Spain’s Academy Awards.  The Goya Awards were established in the late twenties just a year after the founding of Academia de las Artes y las Ciencias Cinematográficas de España.  With no strikes of any sort or picket lines threatening to sabotage the awards, the Goya Awards 2008 went by rather smoothly, delivering a night full of European glamour and plenty of surprises.

Quality vs. Quantity

If there is one particular thing about the Goya Awards is that although they can be seen as the Spanish Academy Awards, you can’t really compare them.  Unlike their American counterparts, the Goya Awards nominate only a few select number of movies.  This year was no different since there were only eight major films nominated for most categories- proving that quality trumps quantity any given time.  In that list you’ll find several movies that most likely you haven’t seen or even heard of, but they’re a must-see nonetheless: El Orfanato, La Soledad, Las 13 Rosas, Siete Mesas de Billar Francés, Mataharis, La Torre de Suso, Luz de Domingo and Pudor.

El Cóndor De Plata 2008

La producción cinematográfica argentina, en pleno despunte, anuncia sus nominados a los premios a lo mejor del cine y video.  La clasificación de los premios estimula los diferentes tipos de producción, lo cual hace a la competencia una de las más justas de Iberoamerica.  Cabe destacar que hay varias producciones hechas con México que quedaron nominadas como “Cobrador, in God we trust” de Paul Leduc, a mejor edición (montaje), “El laberinto del fauno” y “En el hoyo” a mejor película Iberoamericana.  La que obtuvo más nominaciones fue "La señal" de Ricardo Darin y Martin Horda, siguiendo de "Una novia errante", "El otro", "La Antena" y "XXY".

El Festival de Sundance (Utah) abre sus puertas con la industria del cine ávida por llenar con sus películas el hueco que está dejando la prolongada huelga de guionistas. La cinta colombiana "Perro come perro" abre la participación latina en un certamen en el que también hay cine mexicano, peruano y español, además de estrellas como Robert de Niro, Tom Hanks y John Malkovich.