Berlinale - Day 1

Milwaukee, Chicago, Brussels...Berlinale!

I have arrived, and thanks to some sleeping pills, am reasonably well rested. First on the docket is to sort through the 600 films screening and drink 42 cups of coffee while trying to plot out a schedule for the first few days. If my eyes are still open, I am going to see the new Julie Delpy film, "The Countess."

Considered the World's largest film festival, over 400,000 tickets sold annually, the Berlinale (as it is often called) is now in its 59th year and does not look to be slowed down by the global economic crisis. As Festival Director Dieter Kosslick says "it's not a real financial crisis. It's a crisis of idiots in suits and ties who gambled with billions of dollars and the tax money of ordinary people." (excerpted from Variety)