21st Berlin International Film Festival

The 21st annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 26 June to 6 July 1971. The Young Filmmakers Forum (in 1987 renamed International Forum for New Cinema) section was introduced at the festival.

The Golden Bear was awarded to The Garden of the Finzi-Continis directed by Vittorio De Sica.

Jury
The following people were announced as being on the jury for the festival:
 * Bjørn Rasmussen, Danish writer and film critic - Jury President
 * Ida Ehre, West-German actress and director of the Hamburg Kammerspiele theatre
 * Walter Albuquerque Mello, Brazilian co-founder of the Festival de Brasília
 * Paul Claudon, French producer
 * Kenneth Harper, British producer
 * Mani Kaul, Indian filmmaker
 * Charlotte Kerr, West-German actress and filmmaker
 * Rex Reed, American film critic
 * Giancarlo Zagni, Italian filmmaker

Main Competition
The following films were in competition for the Golden Bear award:

Young Filmmakers Forum

 * The Murder of Fred Hampton, directed by Howard Alk (United States)
 * Bananera libertad, directed by Peter von Gunten (Switzerland)
 * La bandera que levantamos, directed by Mario Jacob and Eduardo Terra (Uruguay)
 * La Bataille des dix millions, directed by Chris Marker and Valérie Mayoux (France, Cuba)
 * The Ceremony, directed by Nagisa Ōshima (Japan)
 * Chicago 70, directed by Kerry Feltham (United States, Canada)
 * Geschichten vom Kübelkind, directed by Edgar Reitz and Ula Stöckl (West Germany)
 * Der große Verhau, directed by Alexander Kluge (West Germany)
 * I Love You, I Kill You, directed by Uwe Brandner (West Germany)
 * James ou pas, directed by Michel Soutter (Switzerland)
 * Leave Me Alone, directed by Gerhard Theuring (West Germany)
 * La memoria di Kunz, directed by Ivo Barnabò Micheli (Italy)
 * Monangambé, directed by Sarah Maldoror (Angola)
 * It Is Not the Homosexual Who Is Perverse, But the Society in Which He Lives, directed by Rosa von Praunheim (West Germany)
 * No pincha!, directed by Tobias Engel (Burkina Faso, France)
 * Olimpia agli amici, directed by Adriano Aprà (Italy)
 * Ossessione, directed by Luchino Visconti (Italy)
 * Ostia, directed by Sergio Citti (Italy)
 * Ramparts of Clay, directed by Jean-Louis Bertuccelli (France, Algeria)
 * The Reconstruction, directed by Theo Angelopoulos (Greece)
 * The Salamander, directed by Alain Tanner (Switzerland, France)
 * Happiness, directed by Aleksandr Medvedkin (Soviet Union)
 * A Sixth Part of the World, directed by Dziga Vertov (Soviet Union)
 * Tropici, directed by Gianni Amico (Italy)
 * Umano, non umano, directed by Mario Schifano (Italy)
 * Voto + fusil, directed by Helvio Soto (Chile)
 * Wechma, directed by Hamid Benani (Morocco)
 * The Woman's Film, directed by Louise Alaimo, Judy Smith and Ellen Sorren (United States)
 * WR: Mysteries of the Organism, directed by Dušan Makavejev (Yugoslavia, West Germany)

Official Awards
The following prizes were awarded by the Jury:
 * Golden Bear: The Garden of the Finzi-Continis by Vittorio De Sica
 * Silver Bear for Best Actress:
 * Simone Signoret for Le Chat
 * Shirley MacLaine for Desperate Characters
 * Silver Bear for Best Actor: Jean Gabin for Le Chat
 * Silver Bear for an outstanding single achievement:
 * Ragnar Lasse-Henriksen for Love Is War
 * Frank D. Gilroy for Desperate Characters
 * Silver Bear Extraordinary Jury Prize: The Decameron by Pier Paolo Pasolini
 * Special Recognition: Ang.: Lone by Franz Ernst