Berlin film festival opens with Wes Anderson’s ‘Grand Budapest Hotel,’ 1st of 20 competitors

BERLIN – The annual Berlin International Film Festival is opening with a trip back to pre-World War II Europe as Wes Anderson presents his new movie, “The Grand Budapest Hotel.”

The film, premiering Thursday, is the first in a 20-strong lineup of movies competing for the main Golden Bear award at the first of the year’s major European film festivals. The winner will be announced Feb. 15.

Actors Ralph Fiennes, Edward Norton and Bill Murray are expected in Berlin to present Anderson’s movie, set at a European hotel in the 1920s.

An eight-member jury under “Brokeback Mountain” producer James Schamus will choose the winner from a diverse and geographically varied program. Jury member Michel Gondry says the festival is “a little less about the looks than some other places.”