The 56th Berlin International Film Festival will present the 2006 Honorary Golden Bears to Polish director and screenwriter Andrzej Wajda (above, left) and British actor Ian McKellen (above, right).
Andrzej Wajda, one of Poland's best-known filmmakers, has had several of his films in competition in Berlin, including Pan Tadeusz: The Last Foray in Lithuania, Miss Nobody, and Holy Week. Among his forty or so features, most of which are highly politicized, are A Generation, Kanal, Ashes and Diamonds, Danton, Man of Marble, and Man of Iron. In 2000, Wajda was given an honorary Oscar for his career achievements.
Wajda will be handed the Honorary Golden Bear on February 15 at 8.30 pm in the Kino International. At the director's request, his film Pilate and Others (1972) will be screened after the ceremony in the original German version.
Among stage and screen star Ian McKellen's film credits are the screen adaptation of Richard III; Gods and Monsters (above, with Brendan Fraser), for which he received a best actor Academy Award nomination; the X-Men films; the Lord of the Rings trilogy, in which he played Gandalf; and David MacKenzie's Asylum, which was screened at last year's Berlinale Competition.
McKellen also happens to be one of the very few openly gay film stars around.
Ian McKellen will receive his Honorary Golden Bear on February 11 at 11.00 pm in the Kino International. Richard III will be screened after the ceremony.