61st Berlin International Film Festival

The 61st annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 10 to 20 February 2011, with actress Isabella Rossellini as the president of the jury. The Coen Brothers film True Grit opened the festival. 300,000 tickets were sold in total during the event, to 20,000 attendees from 116 countries, including 3900 members of the press.

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. German actor Armin Mueller-Stahl received the Honorary Golden Bear for lifetime achievement.

Main Competition
The following people were announced as being on the jury for the festival:
 * Isabella Rossellini, Italian actress - Jury President
 * Jan Chapman, Australian producer
 * Nina Hoss, German actress
 * Aamir Khan, Indian actor, director, screenwriter and producer
 * Guy Maddin, Canadian director and screenwriter
 * Sandy Powell, British costume designer

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".

Best First Feature Award

 * Bettina Brokemper, German producer
 * Assaf Gavron, Israeli writer and musician
 * Michèle Ohayon, Morocco director, screenwriter and producer

Short Film Competition

 * Nan Goldin, American photographer
 * Ibrahim Letaief, Tunisian director, screenwriter and producer
 * Renen Schorr, Israeli director, screenwriter and producer

Main competition
The following films were selected to be in competition for the Golden Bear and Silver Bear awards:

Out of competition
The following films were screened out of competition at the festival:

Panorama
The following films were screened in the Main Programme of the Panorama section:

Forum
The following films were screened in the Main Programme of the Forum section:

Berlinale Shorts Films
The following films were selected to be in competition for the Golden Bear for Best Short Film:

Main Competition
The following prizes were awarded by the Jury:


 * Golden Bear: A Separation by Asghar Farhadi


 * Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize: The Turin Horse by Béla Tarr
 * Silver Bear for Best Director: Ulrich Köhler (director) for Sleeping Sickness
 * Silver Bear for Best Actress: the actress ensemble of Nader and Simin, A Separation
 * Silver Bear for Best Actor: the actor ensemble of Nader and Simin, A Separation
 * Outstanding Artistic Contribution (Production Design): Barbara Enriquez for The Prize
 * Outstanding Artistic Contribution (Camera): Wojciech Staron for The Prize
 * Silver Bear for Best Screenplay: Joshua Marston and Andamion Murataj for The Forgiveness of Blood
 * Alfred Bauer Prize: If Not Us, Who? by Andres Veiel

Honorary Golden Bear

 * Armin Mueller-Stahl

Crystal Bears

 * Generation Kplus (Feature Length Film): The Liverpool Goalie by Arild Andresen
 * Generation14plus (Feature Length Film): On the Ice by Andrew Okpeaha MacLean

FIPRESCI Prizes

 * Competition: The Turin Horse by Béla Tarr
 * Panorama: Top Floor Left Wing by Angelo Cianci
 * Forum: Heaven's Story by Takahisa Zeze

Golden Bear for Best Short Film

 * Night Fishing by Park Chan-wook and Park Chan-kyong