53rd Berlin International Film Festival

The 53rd annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from February 6–16, 2003. The festival opened with musical film Chicago by Rob Marshall and closed with Martin Scorsese's Gangs of New York, both films played out of competition at the festival.

The Golden Bear was awarded to In This World directed by Michael Winterbottom.

The retrospective dedicated to German film director F. W. Murnau was shown at the festival.

Juries
The following people were announced as being on the jury for the festival:

Main Competition

 * Atom Egoyan, Canadian filmmaker and producer - Jury President
 * Martina Gedeck, German actress
 * Anna Galiena, Italian actress
 * Kathryn Bigelow, American filmmaker and producer
 * Abderrahmane Sissako, Mauritanian filmmaker
 * Humbert Balsan, French actor and producer
 * Geoffrey Gilmore, American director of the Tribeca Film Festival

Short Films Competition

 * Andreas Dresen, German filmmaker
 * Phyllis Mollet, French director of communication of the FIAPF
 * Thom Palmen, Swedish director of the Umeå International Film Festival

Main Competition
The following films were in competition for the Golden Bear and Silver Bear awards:

Retrospective
The following films were shown in the retrospective:

Main Competition
The following prizes were awarded by the Jury:
 * Golden Bear: In This World by Michael Winterbottom
 * Silver Bear Jury Grand Prix: Adaptation by Spike Jonze
 * Silver Bear for Best Director: Patrice Chéreau for His Brother
 * Silver Bear for Best Actor: Sam Rockwell for Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
 * Silver Bear for Best Actress: Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman and Julianne Moore for The Hours
 * Silver Bear for Best Film Music: Majoly, Serge Fiori and Maadu Diabaté for Madame Brouette
 * Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution: Yang Li for Blind Shaft

Short Film Competition

 * Short Film Golden Bear:
 * In Absentia by Lucía Cedrón
 * The Tram #9 Was Going by Stepan Koval

Honorary Golden Bear

 * Anouk Aimée

Berlinale Camera

 * Artur Brauner
 * Peer Raben
 * Erika Richter

Panorama Audience Award

 * Broken Wings by Nir Bergman

Crystal Bear

 * Best Short Film: Pipsqueak Prince by Zoia Trofimova
 * Best Feature Film: Elina: As If I Wasn't There by Klaus Härö

FIPRESCI Award

 * Distant Lights by Hans-Christian Schmid
 * Special Mention: Remake by Dino Mustafić