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Every February, the city of Berlin bask in the glamour and glitz as it hosts the International Film Festival, called “Berlinale“. This year, the Berlinale celebrated its 60th anniversary and took place from 11th to 21th FEB. Chinese director Wang Quan-An’s “Apart Together”, story of the bittersweet reunion of a couple divided for decades across the Taiwan Strait, won the Silver Bear for the Best Screenplay.

Controversial Polish-French director Roman Polanski won the Berlinale’s award for best director for his thriller “The Ghost Writer”. However, Polanski was not hand to accept it as the 76-year-old Oscar-winning director is at present under house arrest in his Swiss chalet facing US extradition moves for a 1977 underage sex case. Following is the winners’ list of the major awards for this year’s event:

• Golden Bear: Semih Kaplanoglu – Honey (Turkey/Germany)
• Jury Grand Prix: Florin Serban – If I Want To Whistle, I Whistle (Romania/Sweden)
• Best Director: Roman Polanski – The Ghost Writer (France/Germany/UK)
• Best Actor: Grigori Dobrygin & Sergei Puskepalis – How I Ended This Summer (Russia)
• Best Actress: Shinobu Terajima – Caterpillar (Japan)
• Best Screenplay: Wang Quan-An & Na Jin- Apart Together (China)
• Best Artistic Achievement: Pavel Kostomarov – How I Ended This Summer (Russia)
• Alfred Bauer Prize: Florin Serban – If I Want to Whistle, I Whistle (Romania/Sweden)
• Best First Feature: Babak Najafi – Sebbe (Sweden)
• The Berlinale Camera 2010: Yoji Yamada – About Her Brother (Japan)

Together with the Film Festivals of Cannes and Venice, the Berlinale is one of the most important film events in Europe. The Berlinale showcases more than 400 movies from all over the world, many of them world or European premiers.