Opening of the 74th Berlinale
Matt Damon and Cillian Murphy shine
© Getty Images/Stephane Cardinale – Corbis
The 74th Berlinale has opened. In the evening, Hollywood stars Cillian Murphy and Matt Damon walked the red carpet together in Berlin.
Hollywood stars Matt Damon, 53, and Cillian Murphy, 47, were the star guests at the opening of the 74th Berlinale in Berlin that evening. Murphy, an Oscar nominee for “Oppenheimer,” stars in the opening film, “Small Things Like These,” an Irish competition entry. Oscar winner Damon serves as producer of the work.
Lots of star power in front of the Berlinale Palast
In addition to the two Hollywood stars and jury president Lupita Nyong’o, 40, there were, as usual, a lot of German film celebrities on the red carpet on Thursday evening. For example, Iris Berben, 73, Veronica Ferres, 58, Heike Makatsch, 52, Jella Haase, 31, Lars Eidinger, 48, and Wim Wenders, 78, walked past the photographers present in front of the Berlinale Palast on Berlin’s Potsdamer Platz. German model Toni Garrn, 31, wowed in an eye-catching lemon yellow dress.
Berlin’s Governing Mayor Kai Wegner, 51, and Minister of State for Culture Claudia Roth, 68, also did not miss the event. The former German national soccer player Philipp Lahm, 40, appeared with his wife Claudia.
German stars are taking a stand against the right
After there was a controversy in the run-up to the film festival about the invitation and subsequent disinvitation of AfD politicians, German filmmakers sent a clear signal against the right on the red carpet. Jella Haase, Katja Riemann, 60, and other actresses shouted “Defend Democracy” and held smartphone lights in the air. The Berlinale itself organized the event.
Model Papis Loveday, 47, and actress Pheline Roggan, 42, also showed up at the event with a protest sign that read “No Racism! No AFD!” (German: “No to racism! No to the AfD!”) stood.
This year the Berlinale will take place from February 15th to 25th. In the festival’s competition, 20 films from 30 countries compete for the Golden and Silver Bears.