BERLIN (Reuters) – The Berlin film festival lived up to its reputation as a champion of world cinema in 2012, bringing tragic tales from China, France, the Philippines and beyond to the big screen.

But a local production is the narrow favorite to win the Golden Bear for best picture at an awards ceremony late on Saturday, bringing the curtain down on the 10-day cinema showcase.

BERLIN, Feb 17 (Reuters) – British actor Robert
Pattinson said on Friday he may be too old to reprise his role
as the ever-youthful vampire Edward Cullen in the “Twilight”
movies, should author Stephenie Meyer decide to add another
novel to the series.

The 25-year-old’s status as an A-list celebrity was
underlined at the Berlin film festival where crowds of screaming
girls gathered to catch a glimpse of the actor.

BERLIN (Reuters) – Canadian director Kim Nguyen looks at the traumatic life of a child soldier in an unspecified African conflict through a young girl’s eyes in “War Witch,” a harrowing film that nonetheless carries with it an element of hope.

The movie has its world premiere at the Berlin film festival on Friday, and is the last of 18 competition entries to screen. The annual cinema event, also known as the Berlinale, closes with an awards ceremony on Saturday.

BERLIN, Feb 17 (Reuters) – German drama “Barbara” is
the critics’ favourite to take away the Golden Bear for best
picture at this year’s Berlin film festival, in what would be
the first home win since 2004.

The 10-day cinema showcase, which attracts thousands of
journalists, critics and movie industry executives from around
the world, ends on Saturday with an awards ceremony.

BERLIN (Reuters) – The big surprise for many people watching “A Royal Affair”, about Denmark’s very own royal scandal of the late 18th century, was that it has not been turned into a film more often.

The costume drama starring Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen had its world premiere at the Berlin film festival on Thursday and is one of 18 pictures competing for prizes at the awards ceremony on Saturday.

LOS ANGELES/LONDON (Reuters) – Late singer Whitney Houston’s re-entered music charts on Wednesday with a greatest hits album that raced into the top 10 of the U.S. Billboard 200, selling 101,000 copies in just 24 hours after the singer’s sudden death this past weekend.

“Whitney: The Greatest Hits,” which includes songs such as “Saving All My Love for You” and “My Love is Your Love,” hit No. 6 on the album chart, selling 91,000 digital copies and 10,000 physical copies, based on Nielsen SoundScan sales weekly data that is finalized on Sunday evening.

BERLIN (Reuters) – An epic film recalling the turmoil and barbarity which swept China as it lurched from imperial to communist rule in the early 20th century was only possible because of greater artistic freedoms, its director said on Wednesday.

Wang Quan’an, whose three-hour “White Deer Plain” has its world premiere at the Berlin film festival, told reporters it had been submitted to the Chinese censors and some changes had been necessary.

BERLIN (Reuters) – Meryl Streep was given a bouquet of flowers, a gift and a kiss at the Berlin film festival on Valentine’s Day, and they weren’t from her husband.

The 62-year-old actress was at the annual cinema showcase on Tuesday to receive a lifetime achievement Golden Bear.

BERLIN (Reuters) – Meryl Streep’s groaning awards cabinet is about to get fuller still on Tuesday when the Berlin film festival honours the American actress with an Honorary Golden Bear.

The prize giving, at a special gala screening of “The Iron Lady”, falls on Valentine’s Day and two days after the 62-year-old picked up a BAFTA, Britain’s top cinema honour, for her portrayal of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

BERLIN (Reuters) – When actor-director Billy Bob Thornton was a boy, his father took him to the scene of car crashes to survey the wreckage. Now he has turned his unconventional childhood into a movie.

“Jayne Mansfield’s Car” is a dark family comedy that explores how war affects men and how fathers and sons so often fail to communicate.