Berlin film festival to open with Rolling Stones, Scorsese
Deborah Cole

BERLIN—The Rolling Stones will rock the red carpet Thursday at the opening of the Berlin International Film Festival with the world premiere of Martin Scorsese’s long-awaited concert film. The band and the veteran director are due in the German capital, kicking off an 11-day festival featuring new pictures by filmmakers including Britain’s Mike Leigh, Johnnie To of Hong Kong and US director Paul Thomas Anderson.
Twenty-one films will vie for the Berlinale’s coveted Golden Bear top prize, to be awarded by an all-star jury led by Greek-French director Costa-Gavras at a gala ceremony February 16 before the festival wraps up the next day. After a few uneven years in the competition, critics expect a tight race with several hotly anticipated premieres from around the world. The glamour quotient will be high too with A-list talent including Madonna, Scarlett Johansson, Penelope Cruz, Daniel Day-Lewis, Natalie Portman and Bollywood heartthrob Shah Rukh Khan expected. Julia Roberts, starring in the family tragedy “Fireflies in the Garden”, was also on the guest list but had not yet confirmed her attendance on the eve of the fair.
From the opening film, the 58th Berlinale will focus on music in cinema. The Scorsese picture, “Shine A Light”, features outtakes from two Rolling Stones’ shows at New York’s Beacon Theater in 2006 and guest appearances by Jack White of the White Stripes, pop princess Christina Aguilera and blues legend Buddy Guy. Scorsese, who scooped up a long-awaited best director Oscar at last year’s Academy Awards for “The Departed”, used 16 cameras to compile more than half a million feet (150,000 metres) of footage of the band.