The 72nd International Berlin Film Festival (Berlinale ) kicked off with a colorful gala evening. Approximately 800 guests attended the gala, which was held at Berlinale Palast in Berlin’s Potsdamer Platz Square amid coronavirus pandemic. Famous American Director M. Night Shyamalan, who assumed the presidency of the jury at the festival this year, was among the figures that attracted the most attention.

A total of 256 films from 69 countries will be screened at the festival, which will continue until February 20. 18 works compete for the Golden and Silver Bears in the competition. Productions from 15 countries are represented. This year, 17 films, seven of which are directed by female directors, will be shown as world premieres. Golden and Silver Bears, ‘Young Talent Award’ and ‘Documentary Film Award’ for the best debut film will be given at another gala next week on Wednesday.

No films from Turkey are participating in the Berlinale this year. However, the German-made movie ‘Rabiye Kurnaz Against George W. Bush’, which tells the story of Murat Kurnaz and his mother, who were forcibly held in the Guantanamo camp, will compete for the ‘Golden Bear’. German-born young director Cem Kaya’s documentary film “Love Mark Death”, in which he tells the stories and music produced by Turkish guest workers in Germany in the 1960s, will also meet with moviegoers in the Panorama section between February 15-19.