Berlin International Film Festival in Berlin
The Berlinale, or Berlin International Film Festival, was founded in 1951 and ranks among world cinema's most prestigious festivals alongside Cannes and Venice. Its Golden Bear top prize has been jury-decided since 1956, and since 2000 the festival has centred on the Berlinale Palast at Potsdamer Platz each February, with a substantial share of tickets sold directly to the public rather than reserved for industry only.
American military film officer Oscar Martay proposed the idea for a major film festival in West Berlin in the years after the Second World War, and the resulting event, first held in 1951, grew into what is now known as the Berlinale, one of the three festivals, alongside Cannes and Venice, generally regarded as the most prestigious in world cinema.