Star power at the Berlinale

There was glamor galore at the 68th Berlin International Film Festival.

By HANNAH BROWN
IDRIS ELBA (photo credit: HANNIBAL HANSCHKE/REUTERS)
IDRIS ELBA
(photo credit: HANNIBAL HANSCHKE/REUTERS)
The autograph hounds start lining up early in the morning for the big movie stars at the Berlinale.
This is a festival that concentrates on serious cinema, but there’s always room on the red carpet for a little glamor.
This year, Robert Pattinson, who was there to promote his new offbeat Western, Damsel, drew huge crowds of twihards, aka fans of his vampire series Twilight. While he can certainly rock a leather jacket, this film, which co-stars the equally fetching Mia Wasikowska, was one of the disappointments of the main competition, proving that turning stereotypes on their head is not enough to make a good movie.
Idris Elba, who is best known for his performance as Stringer Bell, a businessman/ drug dealer from the TV series The Wire, was mobbed by fans screaming, “Mr. Elba! Mr. Elba!” in heavy German accents. He was at the festival with his directorial debut, Yardie, a critically acclaimed drama about Jamaican youth in London. He said his father’s death had inspired him to turn to directing, which was a challenge, and that he hopes to direct again. Even journalists were not immune to his charm, and dozens swarmed him after his press conference. They were not disappointed, as he posed for quite a few selfies.
Another actor who is known for both talent and looks, Gael Garcia Bernal, arrived late to the press conference for his own movie, Alonso Ruizpalacios’ Museum, a fact-based drama about a 1985 archeological museum heist in Mexico. But he wasn’t too late to flash his megawatt smile as he said he was too young to remember the crime upon which the movie was based. Some may remember that in 2007, when he was on the Berlinale jury that awarded Joseph Cedar’s Beaufort the Silver Bear award, he attended the festival with his then-girlfriend, Natalie Portman.
The cast of the festival’s opening-night film, Wes Anderson’s Isle of Dogs — Bill Murray, Liev Schreiber, Greta Gerwig, Tilda Swinton, Bryan Cranston and Jeff Goldblum — also walked the red carpet to loud cheers.
Other big names to shiver on the red carpet this year included Hugo Weaving from Black 47; Joaquin Phoenix from Gus Van Sant’s Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot; and Claire Foy from Steven Soderbergh’s Unsane.