Movies in main showcase at 61st Berlin Film Festival

BERLIN The 61st Berlin international film festival kicks off Thursday with 16 productions vying for the coveted Golden Bear for best picture to be awarded February 19.

The event, which is the first major European film festival of the year and second only to Cannes in prestige, will wrap up February 20.

Here is a list of the 22 films in the festival's main showcase, their directors and the countries that produced them.

Of the 16 films in competition, 13 are world premieres.

"A Torinoi Lo" (The Turin Horse), Bela Tarr, Hungary/France/Germany/Switzerland/USA.

"El premio" (The Prize), Paula Markovitch, Mexico/France/Poland/Germany.

"Jodaeiye Nader az Simin" (Nader And Simin, A Separation), Asghar Farhadi, Iran.

"Les contes de la nuit" (Tales Of The Night), Michel Ocelot, France.

"Margin Call", J.C. Chandor, USA.

"Saranghanda, Saranghaji Anneunda" (Come Rain, Come Shine), Lee Yoon-ki, Republic of Korea.

"Schlafkrankheit" (Sleeping Sickness), Ulrich Koehler, Germany/France/Netherlands.

"The Forgiveness Of Blood", Joshua Marston, USA/Albania/Denmark/Italy.

"Un Mundo Misterioso" (A Mysterious World), Rodrigo Moreno, Argentina/Germany/Uruguay.

"V Subbotu" (Innocent Saturday), Alexander Mindadze, Russia/Germany/Ukraine.

"Bizim Buyuk Caresizligimiz" (Our Grand Despair), Seyfi Teoman, Turkey/Germany/Netherlands.

"Coriolanus", Ralph Fiennes, Britain.

"Odem" (Lipstikka), Jonathan Sagall, Israel/Britain.

"The Future", Miranda July, Germany/USA.

"Wer wenn nicht wir" (If Not Us, Who), Andres Veiel, Germany,

"Yelling To The Sky", Victoria Mahoney, USA.

Out of competition:

"True Grit", Joel and Ethan Coen, USA. (opening film).

"Almanya - Willkommen in Deutschland" (Almanya), Yasemin Samdereli, Germany.

"Les femmes du 6eme etage" (Service Entrance), Philippe Le Guay, France.

"Mein bester Feind" (My Best Enemy), Wolfgang Murnberger, Austria/Luxembourg.

"Unknown", Jaume Collet-Serra, Germany/Britain/France.

"Pina", Wim Wenders, Germany/France.

Amir Khan on Berlin film fest jury

Bollywood star Aamir Khan will bring some Indian spice to the jury at the 61st Berlin film festival next month.

The seven-person jury, headed by Italian-American actress Isabella Rossellini, is tasked with picking the winner of the coveted Golden and Silver Bear prizes in the February 10 to 20 festival in the German capital.

Australian film producer Jan Chapman, German actress Nina Hoss, Canadian film-maker Guy Maddin, British costume designer Sandy Powell and Iranian director Jafar Panahi complete the line-up.

However, Panahi's place on the jury will be left symbolically empty, as he was handed six years in jail in December and banned from making films or leaving Iran for 20 years.

"There has been worldwide protest against this verdict that violates the right to freedom of opinion and expression," said the festival in a statement.

"The Berlinale is holding a place open in the Jury for Jafar Panahi and in doing so wants to signal its support for his struggle for freedom."

The festival features a financial crisis thriller starring Kevin Spacey and Demi Moore and a French 3D animated feature, amongst others.

In all, it features 22 films in its main programme including 16 in the running for the festival's prizes.

Khan, 44, has made a name for himself as one of the most bankable Bollywood stars on and off screen, shunning the conveyor belt of song and dance-laden films for more contemporary themes and unconventional subject matter.

As a producer, he is hoping it will be third time lucky at this year's Oscars, after his latest movie was chosen as India's entry for the Best Foreign Language Film category.

Two other films he produced have previously been selected as India's official Oscar entry.

The Berlinale, one of the world's top film festivals, will open with a remake of the classic Western "True Grit" by the Oscar-winning brothers Joel and Ethan Coen.