Werner Herzog to head Berlin Film Festival jury

BERLIN — Oscar-nominated German director Werner Herzog will lead the international jury at the 60th Berlin Film Festival from February 11-21, organisers said on Thursday.

The critically acclaimed Herzog, 67, will head the panel that chooses the winners of the festival's coveted Golden and Silver Bear prizes which will be awarded on February 20.

"Werner Herzog's films convey the artistic strength of cinema. We are very pleased to have this outstanding director as Jury President for the 60th anniversary of the festival," festival head Dieter Kosslick said in a statement.

Over a career spanning almost 50 years, Herzog has made more than 50 films. In 2009, Time magazine listed him as one of its top 100 most influential people in the world. The only other German on the list was Chancellor Angela Merkel.

He won an Oscar nomination for best documentary feature for his 2007 film "Encounters at the End of the World" and has a glittering array of awards from film festivals around the globe.

The Berlin film festival, known as the Berlinale, ranks below Cannes and alongside Venice among the world's top film festivals.

A debate over the festival effect

Though buzz at fests can raise a film's profile, some say it's not a sure-fire predictor of Oscar gold.
By Christy Grosz
November 18, 2009

When "Slumdog Millionaire" premiered at the 2008 Telluride Film Festival, audiences cheered for the uplifting story about a kid from the Mumbai slums who wins big on a game show. After it went on to take home the coveted Audience Prize at the Toronto International Film Festival, the film's award season performance went on to mirror that of its winning main character.

Ultimately, "Slumdog" took home eight Oscar statuettes, including the one for best picture, which, for many people, further solidified the film festival's Oscar-auguring powers. But veterans of the circuit say that, while the attention movies and talent receive at film festivals is important, the "Slumdog" bullet train was an anomaly: Festivals represent just one cog in the overall award season machine.