Actor Tony Leung (L) and actress Zhang Ziyi attend the photocall to promote the film "The Grandmaster" at the 63rd Berlinale film festival in Berlin, Germany, Feb. 7, 2013. The 63rd Berlinale film festival opens Thursday with a martial arts epic "The grandmaster" of Chinese director Wong Kar Wai who will also lead the jury of this Berlinale. (Xinhua/Ma Ning)
This year's Berlinale introduces a new special series called NATIVE, which is devoted to cinematic storytelling of indigenous peoples, and this year the regional focus is Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the U.S.
"NATIVE will give international audiences the chance to experience the diverse forms of expression and content of indigenous cinema," Kosslick said.
Looking into the future, Kosslick said the Berlinale had always been keen to move on and to establish new initiatives or cooperations.
"We started the Talent Campus 11 years ago as a creative academy and networking platform for 300 up-and-coming filmmakers from all over the world, and new trends and developments are discussed there and numerous participants found fellow filmmaking collaborators through the Campus", he said.
Berlinale also founded the World Cinema Fund to develop and support cinema in regions with a weak film infrastructure, while fostering cultural diversity in German cinemas.
"As the mentioned projects show the Berlinale considers itself not only as a platform to show films, but to encourage and support filmmaking, to inspire creative interaction", Kosslick said.
Concerning market demand, Kosslick said the Berlinale will "respond to the current trends and developments in the global industry and to tailor our offer accordingly."
Inretrospect of the past 12 years in reigning the Berlinale, Kosslick recalled he felt particularly proud of having generated many measures to amplify the festival in attracting new audiences and promoting the industry.
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