Johannes Naber’s feature debut The Albanian (Der Albaner)  will be presented in the Berlinale’s Perspektive Deutsches Kino sidebar after winning the main prize at the Max Ophüls Prize Film Festival in Saarbrücken at the weekend.

From the very beginning of the Perspektive ten years ago, a screening slot has been made available each year on the last day of the Berlinale, the so-called Berlinale Kinotag, to present the winner of the Max Ophüls Preis.

The Albanian premiered last June at the Moscow International Film Festival where it won a Special Prize and Best Actor Award before being shown in Karlovy Vary, Pusan, Geneva Pristina, Palm Springs and Bergen, among others. The drama stars the Albanian actor Nik Xhelilaj who will be representing his country as one of this year’s EFP Shooting Stars during the Berlinale’s first weekend.

The German-Albanian co-production is handled internationally by Aktis Film International.

Now in its 32nd year, the Max Ophüls Preis Festival is dedicated to showcasing works by newcomers from German-speaking countries (Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Luxembourg).

Meanwhile, the lineup for the fifth edition of the Berlinale’s Culinary Cinema sidebar dedicated to films about festival director Dieter Kosslick’s pet subjects, food and the environment, has been unveiled.

The programme of 12 films running under the motto of “Give Food a Chance” includes the world premiere of David Gelb’s portrait of the legendary sushi chef Jiro Ono, Jiro Dreams of Sushi, and the European premiere of South Korean director Anna Lee’s feature film The Recipe, which will open the sidebar.

In addition, there will be screenings of films being presented in other sections of the Berlinale such as SJ Clarkson’s Nigel Slater project Toast, which will first show in Berlinale Special, and Icíar Bollaín’s Panorama film Even The Rain about the past and present consequences of colonisation.

The 2011 lineup for Culinary Cinema is as follows:

Divine Pig by Hans Dortmans (Netherlands)

Even the Rain by Icíar Bollaín (Spain/France/Mexico)

Jiro Dreams of Sushi by David Gelb (US, Japan)

Meshi Food and the Maiden by Minoru Kurimura (Japan)                    

Our Garden of Eden by Mano Khalil (Switzerland)               

Reverence for Life by Bertram Verhaag (Germany)   

Taste the Waste by Valentin Thurn (Germany)

The Four Times by Michelangelo Frammartino (Italy/Germany/Switzerland)

The Pipe by Risteard Ó Domhnaill (Ireland)

The Recipe by Anna Lee (Republic of Korea)

The Ways of Wine by Nicolás Carreras (Argentina)

Toast by SJ Clarkson (UK)

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