Berlinale opening gala in pictures

Jury president M. Night Shyamalan (center) poses on the red carpet with his six co-jurors, Karim Ainouz, Anne Zohra Berrached, Said Ben Said, Connie Nielsen, Ryusuke Hamaguchi and Tsitsi Dangarembga, along with Berlinale artistic director Carlo Chatrian. The jury will be watching 18 films within the next five days before picking the winners of the Golden and Silver Bear awards, on February 16.

Renowned as a "Wonder Woman" and "Gladiator" star, Danish actor Connie Nielsen hopes to serve as a bridge between mainstream and auteur films: "For actors, it's great for us to participate in blockbusters with the hope that when doing less accessible films … the audience will go with you and watch more difficult-to-approach storylines," she said at a press conference on Thursday.

French director Francois Ozon is a Berlinale regular: Several of his films premiered at the festival, including "By the Grace of God," which won the Jury Grand Prix in 2019. While that film was a drama based on a real case of sexual abuse hidden by the Catholic Church, Ozon returns to the festival with a more playful film, "Peter von Kant," inspired by Rainer Werner Fassbinder.

French director Francois Ozon poses on the red carpet with the two lead actors of his new film: Khalil Gharbia (left) and Denis Menochet, who is best known internationally as the French farmer in Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds." French star Isabelle Adjani, who also plays a major role in "Peter von Kant," was not in Berlin for the premiere.

In "Peter von Kant," prominent filmmaker Peter falls in love with a young man called Amir. He gives him a major film role, and they develop an unequal relationship. Khalil Gharbia's feature debut in Francois Ozon's new work highlights the actor's natural charisma.

Directorial duo Carlo Chatrian and Mariette Rissenbeek were visibly excited to launch their event. After months of careful planning and reorganizing amid unpredictable pandemic conditions, they finally managed to greet their guests at the opening gala.

To be held at all, the film festival required a series of strict hygienic measures. In a speech, the new German Commissioner for Culture and the Media, Claudia Roth defended the decision to hold the festival as an in-person event despite the high number of infections. Culture serves as a voice for democracy, she pointed out, and "The big screen is what makes cinema happen."

The Commissioner for Culture and the Media, Claudia Roth, also individually named the doctors and nurses who were among the audience. The opening gala's special guests were invited as representatives of the healthcare workers' outstanding work during the past two years of the pandemic. A standing ovation followed.