Berlin film festival aims for cutting edge in 2012 - by Mike Collett-White

The Berlin film festival, which last year set Iranian drama "A Separation" on the path to global fame, has selected an edgier line-up than normal in 2012 with several up-and-coming directors in the main competition.

The risk of showcasing unproven talent this year would be worth it if it helped Berlin shake off a reputation for being more conservative in its programming than rival film festivals.

The annual cinema showcase, during which hundreds of features, shorts and documentaries screen in theaters across the city, opens on Thursday with the world premiere of "Farewell My Queen" starring Diane Kruger as Marie Antoinette.

Underlining Berlin's global reach, the Golden Bear went to Turkish film "Honey" in 2010, Peru's "The Milk of Sorrow" in 2009, Brazil's "The Elite Squad" in 2008, China's "Tuya's Marriage" in 2007 and Bosnia's "Grbavica" in 2006.

For more: Berlin film festival aims for cutting edge in 2012 - chicagotribune.com

EC website hosts more than 14m European cultural items

Europe’s digital library, Europeana – a website that enables anyone to access millions of digitised books, maps, photographs and more from all cultural institutions across Europe - has increased in size to 14 million objects.

Initially targeted at providing around 10 million items, Europeana was set up to explore “new ways to bring Europe’s cultural heritage online”.

Set up in 2008, the service provides paintings, film and film fragments, music clips, books, maps, photographs, newspapers and audiovisual documents. More than 14 million are provided in total – an amount to which Ireland contributed 6.47pc (905,799 items).

For more: EC website hosts more than 14m European cultural items - Digital Life - Digital Life | siliconrepublic.com - Ireland's Technology News Service

Ultra-modern Chopin museum opens in Poland

A high-tech museum dedicated to the Polish composer and pianist Frederic Chopin opened in Warsaw on Monday to mark the bicentenary of his birth. "It is among the world's most modern museums," Poland's Culture Minister Bogdan Zdrojewski told reporters at the opening ceremony.

Located in Warsaw's revamped 17th century Ostrogski Palace, perched on a hill near the Vistula River, the museum is designed to plunge visitors into Chopin's universe via cutting-edge audiovisual and interactive technologies.

For More: Ultra-modern Chopin museum opens in Poland - News, Art - The Independent

The Complete Rembrandt, Life Size - in Amsterdam

EU-Digest

The Complete Rembrandt, Life Size - in Amsterdam

Amsterdam: Rembrandt’s birthday(403)anniversary was celebrated yesterday with a grand breakfast in the Rijkmuseum gardens. Everyone was welcome. There was white bread with herring, Rembrandt’s favorite snack, but also coffee and a huge birthday cake. At 7.00 a.m., the first "early birds" arrived and at 8.00, Mr. Frank Heemskerk, Minister for Foreign Trade, awarded the Rijksmuseum Partner Prize to to the Canal Company for being an outstanding corporate ambassador to the Rijksmuseum.

For the first time in its history Rembrandt’s complete oeuvre will be on show. By making use of the latest digital techniques all 317 paintings, 269 etches and the most relevant of Rembrandt’s drawings can be marveled at. Even mutilated and lost works have been reconstructed for this exhibition. This unique overview has been compiled by Prof Dr Ernst van de Wetering, head of the renowned Rembrandt Research Project. A collection of originals would amount to a maximum of 50 works. Rembrandt was an extraordinary painter and each of his paintings is considered exceptional. His oeuvre requires to be seen in its entirety. The Complete Rembrandt, Life Size gives the visitor the unique opportunity to experience this impressive and majestic oeuvre in one setting. The exhibit at the Rijksmuseum opened July 5 and will remain open till September 6, 2009.

Forbes.com: Tourism -Europe's Can't-Miss Cathedrals - by Rebecca Ruiz

For the complete report from Forbes.com click on this link

Tourism - Europe's Can't-Miss Cathedrals - by Rebecca Ruiz

Upon entering the dimly lit Notre Dame for the first time, the 19th-century architecture critic Eugène Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc heard organ music and thought it was emanating from the sky framed by the Parisian cathedral's rose stained glass windows.While today's visitors may not experience the same reaction, the towering spires, impressive arches and historic relics of many European cathedrals are nothing short of awe-inspiring. And since there are thousands of them, it's often difficult to determine which are must-sees.

EU-Digest: Amsterdam Worlds No 1 multi-cultural city with 177 nationalities

Multi-cultural record in the Netherlands

Amsterdam Worlds No 1 multi cultural city with 177 nationalities

Amsterdam with its 177 different nationalities is the worlds most multi-cultural city. Second in line is Antwerp with 164 followed by New York with 150. Of its 750.00 inhabitants only 530.000 are Dutch citizens.

New Statesman - Is there a European Dream? - Dreaming a continent - by Wenders

For the complete report from the New Statesman click here

Is there a European Dream? - Dreaming a continent - by Wenders

The European project will wither and die if it does not place culture and the arts at the heart of its identity, writes the legendary film-maker Wim Wenders

"Choosing to discuss the idea of "Europe's soul" carries the inverse implication - or perhaps it is more a suspicion - that Europe lacks such a thing. It would also seem to suggest that what is missing from the European project is a vision of the future, or a dream. If that is the case, we must do something about it, whether that means "we", the Europeans, or "they", the policymakers.

For most Europeans, Europe has become an abstract, alien entity. They are no longer sure whether they should identify with it or dissociate themselves from it, whether they feel represented or repressed. As such, the image of Europe is a contradictory one. The word "image" is useful; Europe's image is something quite different from the picture we have of our continent. An image is also a make, a brand, the product of a long series of past images, of stories, of tradition, of propaganda, of personal experience and reputation. Our feelings about Europe's soul relate mainly to this image. Europe needs to regain its tarnished self-esteem, in order that it can recover its soul.

At the close of an era in which economics has held sway, Europe must now develop a fresh vision of the future. This certainly involves preserving social justice, safeguarding peace and freedom, respecting human rights and fighting to restore the health of our sick planet. But in the coming age, these can no longer be accomplished by political and economic means alone. If Europe is to prove itself in the eyes of the Europeans themselves, it must now define itself through its innermost quality: the wonderful, chaotic, unique diversity of its culture."