Berlin - Oscar-winning director Martin Scorsese's Rolling Stones concert movie kicked off the 58th Berlin Film Festival at Thursday's glittering opening.
The Rolling Stones, (L-R) Charlie Watts, Ron Wood, Keith Richards and Mick Jagger arrive on the red carpet at the 58th Berlin International Film Festival in Berlin, Germany, 07 February 2008. Martin Scorsese's concert movie 'Shine a Light' starring the Rolling Stones will kick off this year's festival. 21 films take part in the competition for the 'Golden' and the 'Silver Bear' awards. EPA/JENS KALAENE
Apart from celebrating one of the world's greatest pop groups, the movie is also the culmination of the relationship between the US director and the Rolling Stones, who featured in many of his movies.
The Stones and Scorsese had 'made a bond' over the years, said Keith Richards at a press conference in Berlin marking the premiere of the film, Shine the Light.
'The music is part of my life,' Scorsese told the press conference. 'The sound of the music...the entire feel of the music inspired me greatly, and became the basis for most of my movies.'
'I always said I want to capture (a Stones' performance) on film, but it has taken me 47 years. We tried to get as close as possible to a live concert,' said Scorsese, who is considering making a movie about another member of rock royalty, former Beatle George Harrison.
'It has been a lot of fun,' said Mick Jagger about making the two- hour Scorsese film with Stones fans gathering several hours outside the cinema before the premiere for a glimpse of the veteran pop stars.
The 64-year-old Jagger, Richards along with the other Stones joined Scorsese and a long list of international stars on the red carpet at the gala opening of the Berlinale, which is one of world's top three film festivals.
Shine the Light represents the first time that a documentary concert film has opened a major festival.
In fact, a large number of the about 400 films from around the world to be shown during the 10-day festival will mark career highlights of what are essentially members of rock royalty.
As a result, music icons such as Madonna, Neil Young and Patti Smith will be rubbing shoulders in Berlin with actors such as Eric Bana, Penelope Cruz, Ben Kingsley, Daniel Day-Lewis, Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan and Julia Roberts.
'We are actors now,' said Richards about Shine the Light, which was based on two live performances by the group in New York.
This year's Berlinale also celebrates the musical careers of less well-known figures including films about an Iraqi pop band and the stars of the Argentinean tango scene.
Adding to the star power at this year's Berlin Film Festival will also be Scarlett Johansson and Natalie Portman, with women both as directors and performers also playing a prominent role at the Berlinale.
Tickets for the screenings have already gone on sale with Scorsese's Rolling Stones movie Shine a Light and Om Shanti Om with Shah Rukh Khan proving to be the hot favourites.
More than 20 movies have been selected for the Berlinale's main competition with Greek-born director Constantin Costa-Gavras and his jury announcing the winner of the festival's prestigious Golden Bear at a Hollywood-style award ceremony set down for February 16.
Included in the line up competing for the top awards are movies from Iran, Europe, Japan, Brazil, Mexico, the US and Asia.
Apart from Scorsese's Rolling Stones' documentary, Madonna is expected to whip up a media storm in Berlin with her directing debut, Filth and Wisdom, a comedy about the dreams of ordinary people and starring Richard E Grant.
This year's Berlinale will also mark a series of anniversaries, including the 60th anniversary of Israel's founding and the 40th anniversary of the anti-war movement in the US unleashed by the Vietnam conflict.
Twelve months after Tuya's Marriage (Tuya De Hunshi) from China won the Berlinale's coveted Golden Bear, the Berlinale will also once again showcase new cinema from Asia.
This year's lineup includes the world premiere of leading Chinese director Wang Xiaoshuai's Zuo You (In Love We Trust), famed Hong Kong-born director Johnnie To's (Man Jeuk) Sparrow as well as South Korean director Hong Sangsoo's Bam gua Nat (Night and Day).
But as has been in the case with other leading festivals, the war in Iraq again comes under the spotlight in Berlin with the world premiere of Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker Errol Morris' movie about the Abu Ghraib prison scandal, S.O.P. Standard Operating Procedure.
Carrying the flag at the Berlinale for Central European cinema will be veteran Polish director Andrzej Wajda's Katyn, which delves into one of the darkest moments in Poland's history - the massacre of thousands of Polish war prisoners by the Soviet secret service in 1940.
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