18/02/2021 - The German festival is still set to take place in two stages, in March and in June

Clockwise from top left: Adina Pintilie (© Dirk Michael Deckbar/Berlinale), Nadav Lapid (© Alexander Janetzko/Berlinale), Mohammad Rasoulof (© Cosmopol Film), Jasmila Žbanić (© Andreas Teich/Berlinale), Gianfranco Rosi and Ildikó Enyedi (both © Ali Ghandtschi/Berlinale)

UPDATE (18 February 2021): The festival has also announced the Encounters section jury (consisting of French programmer Florence Almozini, Argentinian artistic director Cecilia Barrionuevo and German editor-publisher Diedrich Diederichsen), the Generation section jury (German actress Jella Haase, Dutch director Mees Peijnenburg and German director Melanie Waelde) and the International Short Film jury (Egyptian artist Basim Magdy, Austrian cinematographer Christine A Maier and German actor Sebastian Urzendowsky).
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(1 February 2021) With the Berlinale industry event scheduled to unspool from 1-5 March 2021 – followed by the “summer special” (9-20 June) – the international juries will still decide on the prizewinners in the Competition, Berlinale Shorts, Encounters and Generation in the spring.

For the Competition, it will be up to the directors of six Golden Bear-winning films to decide after viewing the movies on the big screen in Berlin, it has been announced by the event – and in truly democratic fashion, as a jury presidency is not planned. The jurors range from last year's champion, Mohammad Rasoulof, director of There Is No Evil [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], to Nadav Lapid, Adina Pintilie, Ildikó Enyedi, Gianfranco Rosi and, finally, Jasmila Žbanić, awarded the top prize in 2006 for Grbavica [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Barbara Albert
interview: Jasmila Zbanic
film profile].

“I’m happy and honoured that six filmmakers I admire a great deal have enthusiastically accepted our invitation to take part in this unique edition,” said artistic director Carlo Chatrian. “They express not only different ways of making uncompromising films and creating bold stories, but also, they represent a part of the history of the Berlinale. In this moment in time, it is meaningful and a great sign of hope that the Golden Bear winners will be in Berlin watching films in a theatre and finding a way to support their colleagues.”

The selection will be announced soon, from 8-11 February, starting with Retrospective and Generation, followed by Berlinale Shorts, Forum and Forum Expanded, then Encounters, Panorama and Perspektive Deutsches Kino, and finally Competition and Berlinale Special on the 11^th. The summer special promises to give the audience a chance to experience the movies in cinemas, in the presence of the filmmakers when possible.

“Films from all Berlinale sections will be shown at around ten venues in Berlin,” noted executive director Mariette Rissenbeek. “With the summer special, we wish to create the longed-for festival atmosphere for the audience.”