Art-house cinema in 3D to star at Berlin film fest

A slimmed-down competition will see 16 films from around the world vying for the Berlinale's Golden Bear top prize, to be awarded by a jury led by Italian-American actress and director Isabella Rossellini on February 19.

And at the event's booming European Film Market where rights are traded, out-takes from a new movie made by Madonna are slated for a sneak preview, possibly in the presence of the pop superstar.

The festival will kick off with Joel and Ethan Coen's reimagining of the classic Western "True Grit", a US box office smash starring Jeff Bridges and Matt Damon that is nominated for 10 Academy Awards.

"Margin Call", the feature film debut of US director J.C. Chandor starring Spacey, Demi Moore and Jeremy Irons and set at an investment bank at the start of the financial crisis, will launch the competition Friday.

"One of the trends that we tried to set this year was toward younger directors and more young female directors in particular," festival director Dieter Kosslick, now on his 10th Berlinale, told reporters.

"We also wanted to discover new forms, which is why we opened up the programme to films made in 3D."