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Meet the 2011 Berlin Film Festival jury

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Meet the 2011 Berlin Film Festival jury
Photo: DPA

The Berlinale jury, this year led by Isabella Rossellini, decides who takes home the Golden Bear, Silver Bears and the Alfred Bauer Prize in the competition. Meet the members, who are often as quirky as the films they choose to honour.

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Jury president Isabella Rossellini has made her mark as an actress, producer and director. The daughter of Swedish actress Ingrid Bergman and Italian director Roberto Rossellini has starred in more than 40 feature films and worked with such directors as Robert Zemeckis, Joel Schumacher, Peter Weir, Abel Ferrara, Peter Greenaway and John Schlesinger. Her international breakthrough came in 1986 with her role in David Lynch’s cult film “Blue Velvet.”

She also starred alongside actor William Hurt in the 2010 film “Late Bloomers,” which will show out of competition at this year’s festival.

The Berlinale is holding a seat in solidarity with planned jury member Jafar Panahi, an award-winning Iranian director, author and producer who was jailed in his home country shortly after being invited to the festival. He created a number of short films and documentaries before filming “The White Balloon,” winning the 1995 Camera d’or in Cannes. Iranian officials sentenced the director to six years in prison and a 20-year ban on filmmaking.

Australian producer Jan Chapman first saw international success with the Oscar-winning feature film “The Piano” in 1993. She continues to work with the film’s director Jane Campion, most recently completing the historical drama “Bright Star” in 2009. She also runs her own production company.

German actress Nina Hoss got her first major role in 1996, playing the lead in Bernd Eichinger’s “A Girl Called Rosemarie,” a film that will play at this year’s festival in honour of his untimely passing last month. In 2000 she received one of the Shooting Star awards at the Berlinale for her budding career.

Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan earned his fame in the 1998 film “Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak.” He went on to become an acclaimed producer, with four of his last 10 films entering the running for Academy Awards.

Canadian filmmaker Guy Maddin created a cult classic with his first feature film “Tales from the Gimli Hospital” in 1988, and has since released nine feature films and countless shorts. In 2007 he presented his silent movie “Brand Upon the Brain!” at the Berlinale, accompanied by a live orchestra, artists, a singer and actress Isabella Rossellini as narrator.

Trained in London, costume designer Sandy Powell has been nominated for eight Academy Awards, winning the first of three Oscars for her work on the 1999 film “Shakespeare In Love.”

The Local/rm

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