Christian Bale and Natalie Portman took to the red carpet to present their competition film "Knight of Cups", directed by Terrence Malick. The film also stars Cate Blanchett and Slumdog Millionaire's Frieda Pinto in the romantic comedy about a LA screenwriter facing a series of strange events.
Ian McKellen also debuted his new nose (for on-screen purposes only) as Sherlock Holmes, albeit a long-retired version of the character for his film "Mr. Holmes".
German stars were out in full force, but were mostly outshone by their international counterparts, including Nicole Kidman and James Franco, who presented the biopic "Queen of the Desert" for audiences and jury.
Others, like Elizabeth Banks for "Love and Mercy", entertained press questions and a group of young European actors, including "Game of Thrones" heroine Maisie Williams, were honoured as European Shooting Stars.
The Berlin Film Festival is the most open in the world, with 30,000 tickets sold to the public each year
German director Andreas Dresen called it a festival for the people.
"In Cannes, there are no 'normal' people in the cinema," he said. "Cannes is an exclusive circle while Berlin is a folk fest of cinema."
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