The Berlin International Film Festival, also known as the Berlinale, is set to get under way on Thursday, as it enters its 67th year.  

As one of the major global film festivals alongside Cannes and Venice, the Berlinale is also one of the biggest standard bearers of independent film and arthouse cinema in Europe.

In an attempt to better showcase Asian cinema on the international stage, a new series of awards, called Asian Brilliant Stars (ABS), will be dedicated to movies from Asia for the first time alongside the main festival. Organized by the Asian Film & Television Promotion (AFTP), European Shooting Stars and Beijing Film Academy, and supported by the Berlin film festival committee, Asia’s best directors, screenwriters and producers will be honored by the awards.

A panel on casting Chinese actors for co-productions will also be held during the 11-day gathering, offering a platform for producers and investors alike to work on the development of both the Asian and European film markets.

Wang Quanan, one of China’s leading contemporary film directors, will be on the judging panel for this year’s Berlinale. Three of his works have been entered in the Berlin Film Festival over the past decade, including Golden Bear-winning Tuya’s Marriage in 2006, and Best Screenplay winner Apart Together in 2010.

Among 24 works in the running for the Golden Bear award is dark animated comedy “Have A Nice Day” by Chinese director Liu Jian, which will have its world premiere, making it the first Chinese animated feature selected to compete at the festival.

With nearly 400 movies in total to be screened during the film festival, some serious political topics and pressing social issues will be addressed – both in the films themselves and in ensuring the safety of audiences coming to watch them. 

Taking place just two months after the terrorist attack on a Christmas market in Berlin, festival director Dieter Kosslick has said the event organizers will keep a closer eye on security. Ahead of the opening of the festival, enthusiastic film fans have been seen in long queues for tickets, as they look to be among the first to see some of the year’s biggest films.

Aiming to highlight diversity in the film industry, the popularity of Asian cinema is expected to increase as a result of the new awards on offer in Berlin, offering a platform from which Asia’s leading filmmakers and stars will be able to make their voices better heard.