Britishactress Charlotte Rampling will head up the main juryat next year's Berlinale (February 9-19, 2006).

Describingher as a "fascinating woman and brilliant artist", festival directorDieter Kosslick noted that, through her work,[Charlotte Rampling] has come to stand for unconventionaland memorable cinema."

Theremainder of the international jury, which will preside over Berlin's main Competitionsection, will be announced later.

Sincebeginning her film career in 1965, Rampling hasappeared in almost 70 films, including TheNight Porter, Stardust Memories, Angel Heart, Swimming Pool, Lemming, andthe forthcoming Basic Instinct 2: RiskAddiction.

Sheis presently nominated for the People's Choice Award as Best European Actressfor her role in Lemming, with thewinner being announced at the European Film Awards on Saturday (December 3) in Berlin.

Earlier this month Screendaily reported that Berlin's European Film Market (EFM) has announced a record 240 companies signed up to take part in the event (Feb 9-19).

Coinciding with the 56th Berlin International Film Festival, the EFM has already attracted delegates from 45 countries in the year it moves to its new location in the Martin-Gropius-Bau.

The Martin-Gropius-Bau represents a doubling of the space that was available to exhibitors at this year's EFM, and will be reached via a shuttle service to Potstamer Platz, the centre of the film festival. It also boasts a 200-seater cinema on top of the regular screening rooms at the CinemaxX and Cinestar.

This year's EFM will screen around 30 percent of the Berlin Film Festival's programme across all sections (Competition, Panorama, Kinderfilm, etc) for delegates.