| Festival poster | |
| Opening film | Snow Cake |
|---|---|
| Closing film | Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid |
| Location | Berlin, Germany |
| Founded | 1951 |
| Awards | Golden Bear: Grbavica |
| No. of films | 360 films [1] |
| Festival date | 9–19 February 2006 |
| Website | Website |
The 56th Berlin International Film Festival was held from 9 to 19 February 2006. [2] The festival opened with Snow Cake by Marc Evans. [3] Digitally restored version of Sam Peckinpah's 1973 film Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid served as the closing film. [4] British actress Charlotte Rampling was selected as the head of the jury. [5]
The Golden Bear was awarded to Grbavica: The Land of My Dreams directed by Jasmila Žbanić. [6]
The retrospective was dedicated to the film actresses of 1950s, titled Dream Girls. Film Stars in the 1950s was shown at the festival. [7] More than 186,000 tickets were sold at the festival with visitors from 120 countries, including 3,800 journalists, attended the festival. [8]
The following people were announced as being on the jury for the festival: [9]
The following films were selected for the main competition: [1]
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| A Prairie Home Companion | Robert Altman | United States | |
| Atomised | Elementarteilchen | Oskar Roehler | Germany |
| Candy | Neil Armfield | Australia | |
| Comedy of Power | L'ivresse du pouvoir | Claude Chabrol | France, Germany |
| The Free Will | Der freie Wille | Matthias Glasner | Germany |
| Find Me Guilty | Sidney Lumet | United States | |
| Grbavica | Jasmila Žbanić | Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Germany | |
| It's Winter | Zemestan | Rafi Pitts | Iran |
| Invisible Waves | คำพิพากษาของมหาสมุทร | Pen-Ek Ratanaruang | Netherlands, Thailand, Hong Kong |
| Isabella | 伊莎貝拉 | Pang Ho-cheung | Hong Kong, China |
| Longing | Sehnsucht | Valeska Grisebach | Germany |
| The Minder | El custodio | Rodrigo Moreno | Argentina, France, Germany |
| Offside | آفساید | Jafar Panahi | Iran |
| Requiem | Requiem | Hans-Christian Schmid | Germany |
| The Road to Guantanamo | Michael Winterbottom, Mat Whitecross | United Kingdom | |
| Romanzo Criminale | Michele Placido | Italy, United Kingdom, France | |
| A Soap | En Soap | Pernille Fischer Christensen | Denmark, Sweden |
| Slumming | Michael Glawogger | Austria, Switzerland | |
| Snow Cake (opening film) | Marc Evans | United Kingdom, Canada | |
The following prizes were awarded by the Jury: [6] [10]