Berlin film festival shares love with Streep, Jolie

Meryl Streep’s groaning awards cabinet is about to get fuller still on Tuesday when the Berlin film festival honours the American actress with an Honorary Golden Bear. The prize giving, at a special gala screening of ‘The Iron Lady’, falls on Valentine’s Day and two days after the 62-year-old picked up a BAFTA, Britain’s top cinema honour, for her portrayal of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Hollywood star Angelina Jolie also picked up an award in Berlin, receiving late on Monday the Cinema For Peace prize, which goes to film makers promoting the values of humanity. She has showcased her hard-hitting Bosnian war drama, ‘In the Land of Blood and Honey’, at this year’s festival, and was on the red carpet with partner Brad Pitt ahead of receiving the prize. ‘This award ... is not just so we have a film that looks back, but a cast and a project that look forward to a more prosperous future in the region, and that is what we all really want,’ Jolie told Reuters. As for Streep, her performance as Thatcher has already garnered a Golden Globe and Oscar nomination to add to the 16 she has already earned over a career that spans more than 30 years. But Streep has carried away the famous statuette just twice, once as best supporting actress for the 1979 family saga ‘Kramer vs. Kramer’ and again as best actress for the 1982 Holocaust story ‘Sophie’s Choice’. Anything but a third Oscar for Streep on Feb. 26 would be a major shock. Other notable acting credits include ‘The Deer Hunter’, ‘The French Lieutenant’s Woman’, ‘Out of Africa’, ‘Mamma Mia!’ and ‘The Devil Wears Prada’. Dieter Kosslick, director of the Berlin film festival, which is also known as the Berlinale, called Streep a ‘terrific artist and world star.’ ‘Meryl Streep is a brilliant, versatile performer who moves with ease between dramatic and comedic roles,’ he said when her lifetime achievement Golden Bear was first announced in January. The Iron Lady sees Streep reunited with Phyllida Lloyd, who also directed her in musical comedy Mamma Mia! which made a whopping $610 million at the global box office. In The Iron Lady she plays Thatcher both as a rising star in British politics and as a confused, elderly woman looking back on her 1979-90 rule. Her performance has won almost universal praise from the critics, although the film itself has had mixed reviews and scored a modest 54 percent on critic aggregating website Rotten Tomatoes. The Berlinale is screening several Streep classics during the Feb. 9-19 cinema showcase.