Outsider Michael Martelly sweeps Haiti's presidential election (Reuters)

PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) – Singer Michel Martelly, a shaven-headed political outsider with no previous government experience, won Haiti's presidential election in a landslide victory that tapped into deep popular desire for change in the poor, earthquake-battered Caribbean state.

Preliminary results announced by the Provisional Electoral Council on Monday gave the 50-year-old entertainer a clear win with nearly 68 percent of the vote, compared with just under 32 percent for his rival, former first lady Mirlande Manigat.

Celebrations erupted in the scruffy capital Port-au-Prince as cheering, jubilant Martelly supporters flooded the streets, singing, waving his portrait and setting off fireworks.

Martelly thanked voters in a brief statement on his Twitter account: "We'll work for all Haitians. Together we can do it."

Tense anticipation tinged with fears of violence had led up to the announcement of the results from the March 20 run-off, the first second-round presidential vote ever held in the politically volatile nation, one of the world's poorest.

"Sweet Micky" Martelly, an iconoclastic entertainer known for his sometimes provocative stage acts, had campaigned on a forceful promise to change the status quo, pledging to break with decades of past corruption and misrule and bring a better life to Haitians struggling to recover from a devastating 2010 earthquake.

"Martelly's victory implies a rejection of the political class that has both governed and been in the opposition," said Robert Fatton, Jr., a Haiti expert and professor in the University of Virginia's Department of Politics.

"Martelly captured the mood of the voters by cleverly using his 'bad boy' image to enhance his status as the ultimate 'outsider' who symbolized change," he told Reuters.

As president, Martelly will face the huge challenge of trying to rebuild a small Caribbean country prostrated in poverty long before an earthquake killed more than 300,000 people and bludgeoned its fragile economy last year. Hundreds of thousands of destitute earthquake victims are still living in squalid tent and tarpaulin camps.

The results are preliminary because they can be subjected to legal challenges which must be dealt with by the electoral council before it can declare them definitive later in April.

To prevent trouble before and after the results were announced, blue-helmeted U.N. peacekeepers were out patrolling Port-au-Prince and other potential flashpoints. Some stores boarded up windows in anticipation of trouble.

'LITTLE ROOM TO MANEUVER'

The United Nations and donor governments including the United States, which have pledged billions of dollars in reconstruction funds to Haiti, want the election to produce a stable, legitimate leadership to take charge of the recovery.

The elections are choosing a successor to outgoing President Rene Preval and also new members of the parliament.

The University of Virginia's Fatton said Haiti's heavy dependence on foreign assistance to tackle the huge challenge of post-quake recovery could limit Martelly's ability to radically transform Haiti's economic and political system.

"He will have to deal with the reality that he will have little room to maneuver as Haiti's sovereignty is at bay and ... for good or ill he will be thoroughly dependent on outside financial assistance," Fatton said.

"The question for Martelly is whether he can renegotiate

Haiti's dependence on better terms," he added.

After a chaotic first round of elections on November 28 marred by unrest and fraud allegations, the run-off last month passed off generally peacefully.

But in a country where calm streets can become transformed in seconds into battlegrounds of protesters and flaming tires, rumors had been swirling about threats to "burn the nation" and about machetes -- the long, curved cutlasses that are a traditional weapon of Haitians -- selling out at stores.

The international community has worked to keep the Haitian elections on track through its U.N. peacekeeping mission and electoral observers and experts from the OAS and Caricom.

Backed by diplomatic pressure from Washington, these experts persuaded Haitian authorities to revise the disputed first round results to put Martelly -- originally placed third -- in the March run-off with Manigat, at the expense of a government-backed candidate dropped due to alleged fraud.

"I think what the international community wants is basically political stability," Fatton said.

With the INITE party of outgoing President Preval expected to remain strong in parliament, the new Haitian leader will also have to manage a fractious political situation.

This has been stirred up further by the separate return from exile this year of two former presidents, both previously ousted by revolts -- left-wing populist Jean-Bertrand Aristide and former dictator Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier.

(Writing by Pascal Fletcher; Editing by Todd Eastham)

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Tech entrepreneur Sean Parker gets engaged to singer (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Technology entrepreneur Sean Parker, a co-founder of Napster and the founding president of Facebook, has become engaged, his spokesman said on Monday.

Parker proposed to girlfriend Alexandra Lenas, a singer-songwriter, said his representative Matthew Hiltzik.

Justin Timberlake played Parker as a hard-partying ladies man in last year's Oscar nominated movie "The Social Network," about Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg's creation of Facebook.

Parker has dismissed the way he was portrayed in the film as fiction. He left Facebook in 2005 and is now a managing partner at the venture capital firm Founders Fund.

Aside from his time at Facebook, Parker is also known for co-founding Napster in 1999 when he was 19 years-old.

Napster caused anguish in the music industry by allowing free peer-to-peer file sharing of songs, and it was shut down by court order in 2001 over copyright infringement claims.

It has since been revived as a subscription music streaming service, but the company is now run by Best Buy, not Parker.

(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis)

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Bullock joins Hollywood pack in aid to Japan (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Hollywood has made plenty of disaster movies, but the earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan is no fiction and the entertainment industry has responded to the dire situation there with generosity.

Oscar winner Sandra Bullock became the latest to join the cause when the American Red Cross said on Thursday that she had given $1 million to help victims of the disaster in Japan.

Several other celebrities and Hollywood studios have also pledged support to the nation.

Charlie Sheen, the embattled Hollywood bad boy, is donating $1 per ticket for all his upcoming live stage shows to the Red Cross.

Pop star Lady Gaga designed a bracelet for Japan relief and within 48 hours it raised $250,000, with sales ongoing.

Singer Katy Perry is donating sales of glow sticks on her concert tour to Red Cross relief in Japan.

Earlier this week, the Walt Disney Co donated $2.5 million to the American Red Cross for humanitarian efforts in Japan, and it also said it would match employee donations up to a total of $1 million.

The Warner Bros studio has pledged DVD and Blu-ray sales of its movie "Hereafter" to Red Cross efforts in Japan.

The donation by Bullock stands out as one of the biggest donations by a single Hollywood star.

The American Red Cross, which earlier this week announced an initial contribution of $10 million to the Japanese Red Cross Society, said it was "extremely grateful" to Bullock and her family for the gift.

(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis: Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

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No script. All riff. Sheen tour details trickle out (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Charlie Sheen plans to "riff like an artist" from memory rather than use a script on his 21-date "Torpedo of Truth" tour next month, delivering a mostly spoken word performance of about 80 minutes, according to one of the show's producers.

Joey Scoleri told E! News in an interview on Friday that audiences would also get to ask questions of the fired "Two and a Half Men" actor, and he promised a "wild ride of highs and lows and dark and light and laughter and being surprised."

Few details have so far been released of the tour, which sold out quickly in several U.S. cities after the massive publicity enjoyed by Sheen's bizarre rants and his exit from the most-watched comedy on television.

The description on the Ticketmaster website for "Charlie Sheen's Violent Torpedo of Truth Defeat Is Not an Option" show reads merely; ""Will there be surprises? Will there be guests? Will there be mayhem? Will you laugh? Will you scream? Will you know the truth? WILL THERE BE MORE?!?! This IS where you will hear the REAL story from the Warlock. Bring it. I dare you to keep up with me."

Scoleri told E! News that Sheen was not using any writers.

"It's all Charlie. I don't think it's a script, as much as he is going to riff like an artist...He will probably do most of it from memory, he's that talented."

"There will be some multimedia, but largely just him and a microphone and he's going to talk, and having heard some of the stuff he is going to say, people are going to be pleasantly surprised. There will be some things that are shocking and provoking, but you're going to laugh," he added.

Sheen, who has been in and out of drug and alcohol rehab in the past year, was the highest paid actor on U.S. television before he was fired on March 7 because of what executives called his "dangerously self-destructive conduct".

Sheen fired back with a $100 million lawsuit against Warner Bros. Television and the show's producer Chuck Lorre claiming he was wrongfully terminated.

Scoleri said Sheen could make "several hundred thousand" dollars from each of his live shows but declined to give precise figures.

Celebrity website TMZ on Friday estimated he could rake in $7 million from ticket sales, merchandising and after-parties -- the equivalent of his salary for about four episodes for playing a skirt-chasing bachelor on "Two and A Half Men."

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

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Charlie Sheen merchandise clampdown has begun (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – Now that Charlie Sheen is going on tour and selling merchandise bearing his famous slogans, his reps are clamping down on vendors selling goods that trade off the much-followed Sheen saga.

FEA Merchandising, a subsidiary of Live Nation, has been busy in the past 48 hours, sending takedown notices and cease-and-desist letters in an attempt to own the exclusive market on Charlie Sheen merchandise. In the process, the company has stepped on the toes of a woman's rights group protesting the Sheen saga with a charitable endeavor.

As we reported Thursday, a number of companies and individuals have already beaten Sheen to the trademark office, registering such catch-phrases as "winning," "tiger blood," and "Adonis DNA." Without a firm trademark stake over these marks, FEA has been exploiting a different protection maneuver -- claiming that products that bear Sheen's words violate his publicity rights.

For example, Kate Durkin says she was horrified by the reception that Charlie Sheen has been receiving in the media and among people on Twitter. So she, along with several others, set up an organization called Unfollow Charlie, intending to sell the t-shirt design bearing that slogan and donating the proceeds to the charity RAINN (Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network).

After setting up shop at Zazzle.com, an online retailer that allows users to upload images and create their own merchandise, Durkin was notified that the design would be taken down as the result of infringement. She got an e-mail that stated:

"Unfortunately, your product was removed because it featured a design that does not meet Zazzle Acceptable Content Guidelines. Specifically, your product contained content that violates Charlie Sheen's rights of celebrity/publicity. Charlie Sheen's name and likeness are protected by rights of celebrity/publicity and may not be used on Zazzle products without permission."

Durkin followed up, questioning whether her product was removed because her group was critical of Sheen's following.

FEA doesn't seem overly concerned with Sheen's image, however, as much as attempting to lock down the market.

Another Zazzle retailer who was attempting to sell a t-shirt with "#winning" emblazoned on the front reports also being subject to a takedown notice over Sheen's publicity rights.

The use of publicity rights to protect slogans is extremely rare but not unprecedented. Nearly thirty years ago, for instance, Johnny Carson sued a toilet manufacturer who attempted to sell portable toilets bearing the phrase, "Here's Johnny," supposedly inspired by the late night talk show host's introduction each night on his program. Carson was successful in the lawsuit.

More recently, in a lawsuit that involved publicity rights in merchandise, FEA and Live Nation sued Rolling Stone magazine for slapping its famous cover images of musicians on t-shirts, tote bags and other items. The publication asserted in a summary judgment motion that it had a First Amendment right to the merchandise, which a judge declined to grant without seeing more evidence. Before the case got to trial, however, the dispute was settled.

The big issue in FEA's claims is whether it is overstepping its authority. Is a term like "Unfollow Charlie" evocative of Sheen's "personality" to the extent a judge would see it as unfair commercial exploitation of the actor? Does a charity organization attempting to express a viewpoint deserve free speech protections?

FEA hasn't responded yet to our inquiries.

(Editing by Zorianna Kit)

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Kevin Dillon to star in 'Gentleman' pilot for CBS (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – Kevin Dillon has been tapped to star in CBS pilot, "How to Be a Gentleman."

The comedy, written by "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia's" David Hornsby, centers on Alan (Hornsby), a magazine writer who pens a column on how to be a gentleman.

Dillon, a regular on HBO's "Entourage," will play the role of Bert.

Hornsby will serve as an executive producer on the project, and "Friends" veteran Adam Chase will executive produce. Chase currently works on ABC comedy "Better With You."

The project is based off the book "How to Be a Gentleman: A Contemporary Guide to Common Courtesy."

Dillon has also appeared in Fox's "24." The final season of "Entourage" airs this summer.

(Editing by Zorianna Kit)

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Katherine Schwarzenegger out from Arnold's shadow (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Katherine Schwarzenegger is not your average 21 year-old college student. She is the first-born child of ex-California Governor and Hollywood movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger and his wife Maria Shriver.

But in her own right, Katherine is an author, and she raises money for charities including her uncle Anthony Shriver's group, Best Buddies, a volunteer program to support people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Recently, Schwarzenegger teamed with luxury goods company Montblanc to promote a partnership in which Montblanc will donate to Best Buddies 11 percent of the money it earns from 11 stores over an 11-day period in March. She spoke with Reuters about it, her book, and what life is like now that her famous dad is back home after his term as governor.

Q: Both your parents have accomplished a lot in life. What traits do you think you inherited from them?

A: "They're both so similar in their working minds. I think my dad is the kind of person who, no matter how much criticism he gets, keeps trucking right through and does exactly what he sets his mind to. So the ability to follow your dreams and your heart, I probably got from him. But I also got that from my grandma (Eunice Kennedy Shriver). When she was starting Special Olympics, people thought she was insane for doing it."

Q: Your dad was a Hollywood star and governor. What was the difference in the two, for you?

A: "It's definitely different going to visit your dad at work on a movie set and visiting him in the state Capitol. I was in 7th or 8th grade when he ran for governor. The biggest change for me was having California Highway Patrol officers follow us everywhere, which was a huge thing to get used to for me and my siblings (laughs)...I also think being a politician's child brings more pressure to be on your best behavior than being an actor's child."

Q: Has life returned to what it was, pre-governor?

A: "I don't think it can ever go back. We can't get rid of the fact that for seven and a-half years our dad was a politician. In those seven and a-half years we became the people we are today...Then, of course, coming home and having my dad always there is another interesting adjustment (laughs). He has to keep in mind I'm not 13 anymore like I was when he ran for governor. I live in my own apartment. I am in college.

Q: For you, has your name been a help or a hindrance?

A: "It depends if people like my dad or not. If they don't like him, you're totally in trouble because you're related. If they do like him, then they automatically love you."

Q: Other than being a supportive family member, why get involved in this venture with Best Buddies and Montblanc?

A: "Many people are afraid of those who have intellectual disabilities. I remember in high school my friends were terrified. It's important to show that they are normal people who enjoy friendship and sports and working on projects."

Q: How did you go about showing that?

A: "I was in charge of the Best Buddies group in high school and recall many times where my friends were out of their comfort zone when they partnered with someone on an art project or participated in a soccer game. But 45 minutes out of their day playing kickball makes the other person's entire week."

Q: You published a book last year about body image called "Rock What You've Got: Secrets to Loving Your Inner and Outer Beauty from Someone Who's Been There and Back." At 21, don't you think you're a little young to have "been there and back"?

A: "In high school I was absolutely miserable with my body and my appearance and didn't feel confident in my own skin. Then I went off to college and realized what a waste of time it was to focus on that. I think the reality is that if you're 20, 25 or 30 years-old, you've been there and back, hopefully."

Q: Was there an incident prompting you to write the book?

A: "I have so many young girls in my family and in my life and I saw how they talk about their bodies and their appearance. Eight-year-old girls looking in the mirror and saying 'I'm fat.' At that age you shouldn't have those concerns. I knew I had to write something."

Q: You could do so many things. Why go to college?

A: "I would never not think of getting a college education. I've taken several classes that have sparked my interest in the issue of body image and women's role in the media. That definitely drove my interest in writing parts of the book."

Q: What is your ultimate goal?

A: "I want to leave my footprint in the world and change something for the better. I don't know if it's going to be by talking to young girls or my various other interests. If I've helped one person or more, that's my biggest goal."

(Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

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Jerry Seinfeld and wife win cookbook battle (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Comedian Jerry Seinfeld has been cleared of defaming an author who contended that his wife's cookbook stole her ideas, in what his lawyers hailed as as a victory for the right to tell jokes.

In a decision made public on Friday, New York State Supreme Court Justice Marcy Friedman found that Seinfeld's mocking tirade on television against cookbook author Missy Chase Lapine could not be considered defamation.

Friedman also dismissed Lapine's plagiarism claims against HarperCollins, the publisher of Jessica Seinfeld's "Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets To Get Your Kids Eating Good Food."

"Seinfeld's statements are protected not because they were made in a comedic context nor because they are themselves comedic, but because, as the context and content demonstrate, they are not defamatory as a matter of law," Friedman said, referring to comments Seinfeld made on "The Late Show with David Letterman" in 2007.

Seinfeld's law firm Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher said the decision "is a complete victory for Jerry - and also a victory for the First Amendment and the right of comedians to tell jokes."

"The decision also vindicates HarperCollins and Jessica Seinfeld yet again, confirming what the two different federal courts have already ruled: Jessica independently created her bestselling book 'Deceptively Delicious'," the attorneys added.

Lapine's attorney, Howard Miller, said "we are evaluating the opinion for an appeal."

Lapine also lost a 2008 lawsuit in a New York federal appeals court in April in which she claimed Jessica Seinfeld plagiarized her book.

Seinfeld's book, published in 2007, showcases techniques for sneaking healthy foods into child-friendly dishes.

Lapine's book, published a few months earlier, was titled "The Sneaky Chef: Simple Strategies for hiding Healthy Foods in Kids' Favorite Meals."

In his "Late Show" appearance, Seinfeld joked that Lapine was a "whacko" who had accused his wife of "vegetable plagiarism."

(Reporting by Basil Katz; Editing by Jill Serjeant and Christine Kearney)

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Paparazzi lie in wait for prince's bride-to-be (Reuters)

LONDON (Reuters Life!) – When Kate Middleton said "yes" to Prince William's marriage proposal, she was not just agreeing to become the wife of a future British king.

She was also signing up to massive media intrusion in her private life and years of intense attention from paparazzi photographers.

The question she and her future husband will now be pondering is whether that attention can be managed or if they will suffer from the same insatiable press frenzy that ultimately led to the death of William's mother, Princess Diana.

"There's huge interest. William has become the star of the royal family that his mother was and Kate's an attractive girl, so from a paparazzi point of view she potentially means a lot of money," said Max Clifford, Britain's best-known publicist.

"And these days the paparazzi are anyone -- anyone with a camera, anyone with a mobile phone," he told Reuters.

The couple's wedding on April 29 comes almost 14 years after Diana was killed with her lover Dodi al-Fayed when their limousine crashed into the wall of a Paris tunnel as they tried to escape from a posse of chasing paparazzi.

A British inquest in 2008 concluded the actions of the photographers were partly to blame for the fatal accident.

So far William and Kate, who began dating while at university in Scotland, have been largely spared the level of scrutiny that Diana suffered, partly through media restraint and because of more robust action from the royal family itself.

MOBBED

However, Middleton was mobbed by photographers on her way to work on her 25th birthday in 2007 and later that year formally complained to Britain's media watchdog, the Press Complaints Commission (PCC), after one newspaper published a picture of her which she said was taken as the result of harassment.

William has also complained that photographers on motorbikes had aggressively followed them after leaving a nightclub, while Queen Elizabeth has written to editors about paparazzi intruding on the royal family's privacy.

The crucial factor for the future will be the attitude of newspaper and magazine editors. If they do not use or pay for paparazzi pictures, there will clearly be less incentive for photographers to hound the royal couple.

"The judgment that editors will make will be 'can we justify showing this photo, breaking this news story, with our readers?'" Clifford said.

"Is it going to put them off or make more of them want to buy the paper or magazine? And that's the most important thing to all newspaper editors."

He predicted the couple's easy ride would continue initially, because upsetting the popular newlyweds is likely to upset their readers too.

"As time goes by, if opportunities come along then of course the media will exploit her because it sells papers," he said.

"They will be looking to see if there's an angle there that obviously the more sensational, the more people will want to read it."

OUT OF TOUCH

Following Diana's death, the public turned against both the media and the royal family, regarding the latter as an aloof and out of touch institution which left Diana to suffer at the hands of a remorseless press.

Now, royal aides have developed a more intuitive, thoughtful, sensible, and workmanlike approach, experts say.

"What they've done is develop a kind of stick and carrot approach to the world media and in particular to the paparazzi, and they have warned the paparazzi off quite severely," royal biographer Christopher Wilson told Reuters.

"They have sensed certainly within the British media there's still this residual feeling of guilt about Diana and the way she was treated which means (the press) has very much more been prepared not to intrude too much and give them their space."

Bob Satchwell, Executive Director of Britain's Guild of Editors, said aides now accepted the public had an interest in and a right to know more than had been thought in the past.

A new code of practice brought in by the PCC in the wake of Diana's death which stated people were entitled to privacy was also taken very seriously, he added. Editors would now think hard before using the sort of pictures printed 20 years ago.

"That (the code) made a significant difference to the way papers looked at not just royal princesses or royal princes, it made a huge difference and took away most of the market for paparazzi in this country," he told Reuters.

"I think editors will think more than twice before they publish pictures which might be considered intrusive."

Middleton herself, at 29, is viewed as much older and wiser than Diana who emerged from obscurity as a 19-year-old to become Prince Charles's bride and front page news.

GROOMED

Having dated William for so long, Kate has been groomed for her future role, and the media spotlight will not be such a shock. She is expected to get far more advice and be under greater control, with her exposure kept to a minimum unless on official duties.

"Kate comes from a much more stable background -- she is already eight years older than Diana was when she got married and is, in every sense, more mature, well-grounded and comfortable in her own skin," said Claudia Joseph, author of "Kate: The Making of a Princess".

"You have to remember that she has been dating the prince since they were at university so has had some practice for the role. Kate may well be as glamorous as Diana but they are very different people and come from totally different backgrounds."

Clifford said Kate is never going to have the kind of freedom that Diana found that she had in some ways.

"Obviously Diana exploited that freedom to become the most photographed woman in the world and Kate won't have that opportunity," Clifford said. "The palace and all those around will have learned from what happened with Diana and they will be very, very guarded to make sure that doesn't happen again."

However, it is not just the notoriously aggressive British media that the couple will have to cope with.

"If you think the UK media is obsessed with celebrity you should look at European media and American media who go even wilder," said Satchwell.

"And they don't get the same feedback that the UK media gets about the activities of the paparazzi involving the royals."

Most predict that once the wedding is over, the paparazzi will resume normal service.

"I don't think they'll ever change. Everybody is competitive with everyone else and they want to get a better story and they're prepared to go further than the competition," Wilson said.

He said Middleton has been shrouded in secrecy for the last seven years with occasional opportunities for photographs, but when she becomes a public figure after her marriage to William on April 29 the light-handed approach may end.

"I think that a lot of self-restraint that has been exercised so far will probably start to drip away."

(Editing by Paul Casciato)

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Michael Jackson estate earns $310 million in revenue (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Michael Jackson's estate has generated $310 million in revenue from album sales, a film, merchandising and other products since the "Thriller" singer died in 2009, according to court papers filed on Thursday.

His estate's administrators have used $159 million to pay down the pop star's debt, which when Jackson died amounted to more than $400 million, court records show.

"Although there remain unresolved creditor claims, pending litigation and additional challenging business, tax and legal issues, and the estate is not yet in a condition to be closed, the executors have made substantial progress in reducing the estate's debt," the documents state.

The records, which were made public as part of the estate's probate proceedings, are the most detailed accounting yet of the finances of Jackson's estate from his death until December 31, 2010.

Beneficiaries of the estate are Jackson's children, his mother and various charities. Attorney John Branca and music executive John McClain were named administrators in a will the "Thriller" singer signed before he died in June 2009 from an overdose of drugs, most prominently the anesthetic propofol.

The singer's physician at the time, Dr. Conrad Murray, has been charged with involuntary manslaughter in the death and has pleaded not guilty.

Jackson's 1982 release "Thriller" remains the best selling album of all time. Industry players think his estate can generate cash for years to come, just as dead stars like Jimi Hendrix, John Lennon and Elvis Presley continue to rake in millions.

Among the projects making money for Jackson's estate are the new album "Michael," which contains previously unreleased songs, and the concert movie "This Is It," which compiled videotaped rehearsals for a series of comeback concerts in London. Various merchandising and licensing deals have also swelled the coffers. Jackson's recordings are released by Epic Records, a unit of Sony Corp.

Noteworthy costs included a $900,000 payment to Forest Lawn Memorial cemetery where Jackson's body is interred, and $35,000 in expenses listed as "costume for memorial."

Administrators paid $27.2 million in taxes, as well as $5.3 million for Jackson family members and properties he owned. They made $4 million in mortgage payments on his properties.

(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte and Dean Goodman)

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Susanne Bier brings "A Better World" to Hollywood (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (Reuters)- When Danish filmmaker Susanne Bier arrived in Hollywood some four years ago to direct her first big U.S. film, she was "excited and hopeful" it would give her career an international boost.

But her drama "Things We Lost in the Fire," starring Halle Berry and Benicio Del Toro, flopped at box offices and Bier, whose previous Danish film "After the Wedding" earned an Oscar nomination for foreign language film, soon returned home.

Now, Bier is back in Hollywood and back at the Oscars, the world's top movie awards that will be given out on February 27, with her most recent film drama "In A Better World." But unlike "Things We Lost," her new movie has built a strong fan base and its tale of a young boy and the friend who protects him from bullying is more in keeping with who she is, as a filmmaker.

"Back home and in the rest of Europe, I'm seen as this very mainstream filmmaker, while over here, they see me as this art-house type," Bier said.

"In A Better World" will compete for the Oscar against Mexico drama "Biutiful," starring Javier Bardem, Canadian film "Incendies," Greek entry "Dogtooth" and "Outside the Law" ("Hors-la-loi") from Algeria.

Oscar pundits think "Biutiful," which is directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, and Bier's "In A Better World" have the upper hand. In a similar match-up at January's Golden Globe Awards, it was Bier who walked away with the statue.

"It's a very big deal," Bier said of the Oscar nomination and ceremony. "It's like the World Cup -- everyone watches."

OLD DOGME, NEW TRICKS

Her movie, which lands in theaters in major U.S. cities on April 1, revolves around the friendship between two young boys, one of whom is bullied at school.

He befriends a new kid in their small coastal town in which they live, and the new boy beats up the bully.

After witnessing his new friend's pacifist father also get routed by a loutish adult, the new boy is bent on revenge and he builds a bomb with potentially tragic results.

"I wanted to explore the relationships between parents and children and fragility of the idyllic Danish society," Bier said. "It's so easy for things to spin out of control, for violence to suddenly erupt, and it's so hard for people to act like decent human beings sometimes.

"I wanted to explore all those dark themes. But at the same time, I'm an optimist. It doesn't end so badly."

"In A Better World" marks Bier's fifth collaboration with writer Anders Thomas Jensen, who like Bier came out of the influential avant-garde "Dogme" movement championed by another Danish director, Lars von Trier.

In 1995, von Trier and his group issued their 'Dogme 95' set of rules for filmmaking that included no flashbacks, use of handheld cameras, natural lighting and everything shot on location with no props, no sets and no added music.

"In A Better World" has some Dogme elements. There are no flashbacks. It uses real locations, and handheld cameras for the most part, but Bier is quick to add she used artificial lighting and music throughout. She called it "sort of hybrid."

"I just couldn't work like that, although I tried," she said about Dogme. "It was too hard and limiting for me. But it was very educational, and I feel like I went to school and now I apply all those lessons to my films whenever I need to."

And with a possible Oscar waiting, it would seem that her "hybrid" blend of filmmaking is working pretty well.

(Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

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Holy smokes Batman! Oscar voters go mainstream (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – If any of the frontrunners for the best film Oscar win the world's top movie award in nine days, the idea that voters are out of touch with mainstream movie fans may be over after two years of trying.

For that, Oscar owes a big "thank you" to Batman and Clint Eastwood. Or, to director Christopher Nolan and his 2008 Batman movie "The Dark Knight," and Eastwood with his feature "Gran Torino," neither of which was even nominated for the best film of 2008 despite being popular hits.

In each of the movie years 2009 and 2010, when Academy Award organizers doubled the number of best film nominees to 10 from five, the combined box office for the nominees was bigger than the total of all 15 contenders in the three years before.

The 10 nominees of 2010 have accounted for nearly $1.3 billion in U.S. and Canadian ticket sales, and for 2009, it was $1.7 billion. In each of 2008, 2007 and 2006, it was $354 million, $357 million and $296 million, respectively.

"Popular movies and Academy voters have come together in this perfect storm of events, and it's nice to see that," said Paul Dergarabedian, head of box office tracker Hollywood.com.

In 2008, mainstream movie fans complained loudly that Oscar voters were out of touch. At that time, it seemed as if almost every nominee for best film came mostly from art houses or were specialty films, such as "The Reader" or "Milk."

That year, Nolan's "The Dark Knight" was a hit with critics and the No. 1 film at domestic box offices with $533 million. "Gran Torino" similarly was a 2008 smash hit. But neither was nominated for best movie, raising hackles from fans.

The best picture Oscar winner for 2008, "Slumdog Millionaire," took in $141 million. But of the other four nominees, only "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" could top $100 million.

PUMP UP THE VOLUME

The next year, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences raised the number of nominees to broaden the pool of contenders, and five films topped the magic $100 million, led by smash hit "Avatar" with $761 million. The list included "Up" at $293 million and "The Blind Side" at $256 million.

For 2010, four films -- "Toy Story 3," Nolan's "Inception," "True Grit," and "Black Swan" -- have crossed $100 million and "The King's Speech" ($96 million) will likely do so.

"The Social Network" ($97 million) is close and a sixth, "The Fighter" at $86 million, will easily top $90 million.

Dergarabedian reckons two factors were at work. One is the widening of the best film category, and the second is that no one movie dominated box offices through Hollywood's award season which, generally speaking, begins in November.

"That left opportunity for these films to become mainstream hits," Dergarabedian said.

The Academy and TV network ABC couldn't be happier because more popular films, traditionally, mean more TV viewers for the Academy Awards ceremony.

Indeed, last year's TV audience of 41 million was the highest in five years. Ironically, the biggest box office hit of that group of films, "Avatar" lost best movie to one of the lowest performers, war film "The Hurt Locker" ($17 million).

But in this second year of change, the frontrunner for best film, "The King's Speech," is both a critical and popular hit, as are "Social Network", "Inception", "Toy Story 3", "True Grit", "The Fighter" and "Black Swan."

(Editing by Jill Serjeant)

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Details of dramatic changes for Oscars telecast (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – The Oscars are entering the world of virtual reality.

This year's Academy Awards telecast is taking a radical departure from past years. Producers of the February 27 show are abandoning the concept of a traditional set. Instead, they will rely on a series of "projections" to give the show a constantly changing look.

"Our design this year is actually going to reflect more content than you would usually expect of an awards show of this type," producer Don Mischer told The Hollywood Reporter in an interview with fellow producer Bruce Cohen in the Kodak Theater. "We're using our environment to take us to different places, different times, and it will change dramatically. The look will change from act to act."

Producers plan to take viewers on a trip through Hollywood history.

"We're doing six or seven scenic transitions during the show, but they are each sort of a different concept," Cohen explained. "In other words, one might be a scene from a film, one might be a more specific time in history, one might be a specific event, one might be a specific genre. The hope is that we briefly leave the Kodak in 2011 -- not literally, but metaphorically -- and take the audience, both in the room and on television, to a specific time and place."

Pressed for more detail, Cohen added, "This is the tenth anniversary of the best animated feature Oscar, so we go to an animated environment to present that Oscar -- actually two, animated feature and animated short -- but the reason we are there is to celebrate that this is the tenth anniversary of the best animated feature Oscar."

The transitions, Mischer explained, will not be long segments, but 30-45 second set-ups. "We are not going back to teach history, but to put the awards in context."

The design scheme grew out of the theme that the two producers devised once they began working on the show back in June. In an extensive review of past broadcasts, they were struck by the two-fold nature of the assignment. On the one hand, they have to come up with something new and different. On the other, they wanted to recognize the previous 82 years of Oscar history.

"Is there any way to approach the show where those two ideas are working together and not fighting each other with every single decision?" they asked themselves. The solution, they decided, was somehow to combine the old and the new.

To that end, they cast Anne Hathaway and James Franco -- two of the youngest hosts to ever front the Oscars -- as audience surrogates for the journey.

"Yes, they are famous, but they are on their way up," Cohen said of the two stars. "They are not untouchable, they are not unreachable. We hope they will offer a way in. So everyone come along, and we'll see through the eyes of these two up-and-coming stars."

The hosts' job, he said, will be "to take the audience on this journey of a show that will hopefully start in one place, and if it all goes according to plan, it will take you back to where we started at the end."

To realize that on stage visually, the producers have been working with production designer Steve Bass, who's previously worked with Mischer on such shows as the "62nd Primetime Emmy Awards" and "We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial."

While the production has moved into the Kodak to set up the show, it's been using the daytime hours to hang the physical scenery on which the projections will be displayed, and then during the night another team has been programing the projections. Working throughout this weekend, the goal is to have the whole system up-and-running by Monday.

(Editing by Zorianna Kit)

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Anna Nicole Smith: big in life, now big in opera (Reuters)

LONDON (Reuters) – The tabloid life of Playboy centerfold Anna Nicole Smith, who bought big breasts, married an oil billionaire and gave birth on TV, has made it to the opera stage in London in a production true to operatic tradition.

Like her sexy operatic sisters Salome, Lulu and Manon, the Texan babe with the silicone monsters who becomes addicted to pain killers for consequent back troubles, dies just before the final curtain, of a drug overdose at age 39.

That's when the cheering of the sold-out opening night audience erupted for the Royal Opera House production of a two-hour opera by librettist Richard Thomas, of "Jerry Springer: The Opera" fame, and British composer Mark-Anthony Turnage.

The staging included a tour-de-force performance by Dutch soprano Eva-Maria Westbroek as Anna, wearing prosthetic breasts most of the time, and who is zipped up in a body bag as the lights go out.

"The way we look at it is Anna in this opera is a fabulous eccentric who fell on bad times," Thomas told Reuters Television before the Thursday night premiere of the first of six performances.

The run has been sold out for weeks and, given the risque material, has been the talk of the London music scene and even Britain's tabloids, which normally eschew opera.

The papers were particularly exercised about the prospect of fellatio being performed onstage as Anna attempts to wheedle a ranch from her octogenarian billionaire "paw paw," J. Howard Marshall, who died a little more than a year after they married.

A crowd that gathers blocks out all view while the act supposedly is performed, leaving everything to the imagination.

QUITE AN EYEFUL

The audience, however, got quite an eye and earful for its money. The tone was set with a special cerise-colored curtain topped with a gaudy cameo of Anna Nicole above the proscenium.

The production included an utterly believable re-creation of a lap-dancing club set in Smith's native Texas and a riotous, cocaine-fueled onstage party that featured a guest appearance by Led Zeppelin bass guitarist John Paul Jones, a long-time friend of the composer.

Jones turning up as part of a jazz trio gives only a small clue to the depth and breadth of Turnage's score for the 80-piece ROH orchestra, under the baton of conductor Antonio Pappano.

Turnage, 50 and writing his third opera, pulled from a huge range of styles, including a banjo-tinged tune reminiscent of Smith's native American south.

There also was a witty ensemble for the furious billionaire Marshall's offspring from previous marriages who inform Anna in no uncertain terms she's not getting a dime of his money to a reworking of Sly and the Family Stone's "We Are Family."

"Some people say, 'Why an opera?' and actually she's very much an opera figure," Turnage said.

"It needs that big treatment...as soon as I started working on this I felt this, I could see her singing, Anna Nicole singing. That was very important to me, that I could musicalise her."

The Royal Opera has been at pains to underscore that despite strong parallels to Smith's life, the production is not, as the company's press spokeswoman Ann Richards put it, a "bio-op."

This stance may in part be designed to ward off spillover from the endless legal battle that arose from Smith's efforts to claim part of Marshall's estate, and litigation initiated by the attorney Howard Stern, who was her partner at the end.

Larry Birkhead, the father of Smith's surviving child Dannielynn, told Reuters on Thursday her estate was considering legal options against the makers of the opera.

Thomas said there was "no intention to write a sort of defamatory-prone script," while Turnage said he'd gone out of his way to give Stern, sung with immense finesse by Canadian baritone Gerald Finley, "beautiful music."

The opera's ultimate message, though, is delivered by the woman who wanted to be Marilyn Monroe and instead wound up an overweight addict and laughing-stock of reality television.

"I want to blow you all, blow you all, a kiss," Anna sings near the opera's opening, and again at its tragic conclusion.

(Additional reporting by Nickie Omer; Editing by Matthew Jones)

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10 easy steps to remaking the movie academy (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – When Bruce Davis steps down as executive director of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on June 30 after more than 20 years, it will create the most significant leadership shift in the organization's recent history.

Here are 10 tips for remaking the august group behind the Oscars.

1. PUT AN OUTSIDER IN CHARGE

Academy staffers went into shock when news spread that Tom Sherak, the Academy's president (an elected position, unlike the executive director), had hired recruitment firm Spencer Stuart to search for Davis' replacement instead of automatically promoting from within. He was absolutely right. During Davis' reign, the Academy has gone from being a low-key institution to a multimillion-dollar powerhouse that oversees the Oscars, a vast library, a film-restoration center and a host of other operations. Moving forward, it needs a visionary to define its mission for the future.

2. SCRAP THE MUSEUM

Davis made one big mistake: committing to a $400 million movie museum to be built near Hollywood and Vine. It's a boondoggle. Land has been bought, but Sherak says it's "on hold" until the economy changes. He adds, though, "we'd like to see it happen in our lifetime." There are better ways to spend money. Kill it.

3. REFINE MEMBERSHIP

The Academy has 5,755 voting members. That means people who lost their connection to the business years ago are still making key decisions. The Academy must make room for genuine change. One way: Move anyone who hasn't worked for 10 years to nonvoting status.

4. FIX THE FOREIGN-LANGUAGE RULES

The Academy keeps defending its mindboggling foreign-language process, whereby each country nominates one film, comparing it to the Olympics. Think China, Iran and North Korea are as serious about aesthetics as athletics? Think again.

5. GO BACK TO FIVE NOMINEES FOR BEST PICTURE

Last year, the Academy upped its number nominees from five to 10 in a bid to get better TV ratings. It was presented as an experiment -- and the Academy got lucky with 10 legitimate nominees. But what if a clunker like "Burlesque" or "The Tourist" had made this year's final 10, as happened at the Globes? Stick with five.

6. EXTEND THE PRESIDENT'S TERM

Sherak, like his predecessors, is elected one year at a time, with a maximum of four consecutive years in office. That makes it hard to have real power and long-term effect. Each president should have four years minimum, counterbalancing the mandarins who run the Academy on a daily basis.

7. HIRE THE RIGHT OSCAR HOST

Ever since Billy Crystal stepped down, the Academy has searched in vain for the perfect Oscar host. It got credible reviews with Hugh Jackman two years ago, but controversy helps. Who's the awards host everyone's talking about this year? Ricky Gervais. If he is too busy in 2012, then what about Sacha Baron Cohen? He was scotched last year, though first-time Academy Awards producer Adam Shankman secretly wanted him.

8. BRING IN BOARD MUSCLE

The Academy's board is made up of 43 governors elected by its various branches. Just as any major corporation hires outsiders for a different point of view, so should the Academy. What about Bill Clinton? Or Steve Jobs? Or Arianna Huffington?

9. REGIONALIZE

The Academy remains Beverly Hills-centric. Despite efforts to reach out to foreign institutions, it has done nothing to expand within this country, other than a theater in New York. Time to create regional hubs, as the AFI has with its Silver Theater and Cultural Center outside Washington.

10. BE TRANSPARENT

How many votes go to each Oscar nominee? "I don't even know myself," Sherak admits. "The only people who do know the results are PricewaterhouseCoopers." Well, they should tell us. Revealing the votes would add transparency and bring drama to an Oscarcast perilously lacking it.

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Dead baby found at Oprah school (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – The body of a newborn baby was found in a plastic bag at the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa, police have confirmed.

According to reports, a 17-year-old gave birth to the baby Wednesday.

No word whether the baby had been murdered or died of natural causes.

A case of concealment of death is being investigated.

The girl, who was a pupil at the school, is being treated at a nearby hospital.

Since opening in 2007, the $40 million school has come under scrutiny. Shortly after the academy opened, a female school staffer was accused of physically and sexually abusing students.

(Editing by Zorianna Kit)

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"King's Speech" under fire for end credit claim (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – "The King's Speech" may have a new speech impediment on its path to the Academy Awards.

The American Humane Association has contacted producers of the film and is threatening legal action over the use of phrase, "No animals were harmed," in the end credits.

The public advocacy group has a trademark on this phrase and over the years, has leveraged its rights so as to be involved in film productions and certify that no "animal actors" get harmed or killed in studio films.

The organization typically demands advanced copies of scripts and daily call sheets to review and also requires on-set access whenever animals are used.

The AHA says it was never invited to monitor "The King's Speech," however, and so it demands that The Weinstein Company, which is distributing the highly-praised film, remove the assurance to movie-goers that no animals were harmed during the production.

"We are in conversation with them and hope to work something out," says Karen Rosa, vice president of the film & television unit at the AHA.

The end-credit animals disclaimer has become so commonplace over the years that most people probably don't realize it's a registered trademark. Last year, the AHA sent out cease-and-desist letters to the producers and distributors of five films, including Oscar-nominated "District 9." However, the AHA has never gone to court to enforce its door-opening trademark.

Ken Basin, an attorney at Greenberg Glusker, says the AHA trademark is probably valid, comparing it to the "Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval" as well as other certification marks typically found in the food and beverage industry. For example, the Idaho Potato Commission has registered "Grown in Idaho" to protect its prized starchy crop.

If the AHA indeed files a lawsuit, though, it's going to be an expensive proposition. Basin says that gathering surveys to prove consumer confusion in trademark cases can be costly and few of these cases get decided on summary judgment. The AHA could try to show how the use of the trademark by The King's Speech devalued its certification system at large, and demand great damages, but Basin believes the AHA would probably have to settle for whatever "The King's Speech" would have paid to take advantage of the AHA's seal of approval. In other words, a costly lawsuit for a small reward.

"This would be about making a point," concludes Basin.

Potentially, a high profile point, though, given that the film is on the cusp of a big speech at the Oscars. A lawsuit by a former Iraqi veteran against "The Hurt Locker" a few days before last year's ceremony didn't interfere with that film bringing home the prize for Best Picture, but Hollywood has its good share of zealous animal rights advocates who might be swayed by word from the town's animal rights monitor.

Can "The King's Speech" rectify the situation by just changing the phrasing? It depends, says Rosa. "It depends on how close the language is," she says. "If there's any implication of an endorsement, it could still cause confusion."

(Editing by Zorianna Kit)

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Berlin film festival opens with "True Grit" (Reuters)

BERLIN (Reuters) – The 2011 Berlin film festival opens on Thursday with Oscars darling "True Grit" kicking off the 10-day cinema showcase, where hundreds of movies vie for the attention of the world's media and industry buyers.

The Coen brothers' Western remake is already out in North America and so is not eligible for prizes at the closing ceremony on February 19, but it should ensure Hollywood glamour on the red carpet at Berlin's glitzy opening ceremony.

The story of a young girl's quest to track down her father's killer, starring Jeff Bridges, Hailee Steinfeld, Matt Damon and Josh Brolin, has garnered 10 Academy Award nominations, second only to "The King's Speech."

The 61st Berlin festival boasts its trademark mix of familiar faces and up-and-coming film makers, and, as usual, real world concerns are never far from the surface.

The spotlight on Thursday is likely to fall on the absent Jafar Panahi, the Iranian director who was invited to be on the jury but who was sentenced in December to six years in prison.

Panahi, whose film "Offside" won the festival's Silver Bear award in 2006, has been banned from making films or traveling abroad for 20 years.

"His conviction violates the right to freedom of expression and the freedom of art," the festival said. Five of his films, including Offside, will be screened during the event.

FINANCIAL CRISIS, REPRESSION, 3D

On Friday, "Margin Call," the debut feature of J.C. Chandor, promises to bring the drama of the 2008 financial crisis to the big screen, with Kevin Spacey and Demi Moore the big names performing in the Wall Street thriller. Also early on in the festival are two pictures focusing on the experiences of people living in dictatorships.

In competition, Paula Markovitch's directorial debut "The Prize" tells the story of seven-year-old Ceci who carries the burden of a "huge secret" in order to protect her family from repression under Argentina's military regime.

And outside the main competition lineup, "The Devil's Double" stars Dominic Cooper as the body double of Uday Hussein, the widely feared son of former Iraqi leader Saddam.

This year the festival aims to promote 3D, with the premieres of Wim Wender's 3D dance film about choreographer Pina Bausch and Werner Herzog's "Cave of Forgotten Dreams" about prehistoric paintings in France.

In competition is French director Michel Ocelot's "Tales of the Night," a 3D movie using silhouette animation introduced by Berlin director Lotte Reiniger almost a century ago.

British actor Ralph Fiennes' directorial debut "Coriolanus" is also in competition. Fiennes, nominated for Oscars for his roles in "The English Patient" and "Schindler's List," plays the title role in the Shakespeare adaptation.

As well as premieres and showbusiness parties, Berlin runs a major film market where buyers and sellers meet on the sidelines of the festival in search of distribution and production deals.

(Reporting by Mike Collett-White; editing by Philippa Fletcher)

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Jude Law, Sienna Miller break up -- again (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The on-again, off-again affair of British actors Jude Law and Sienna Miller is off, again.

Law's spokesman on Wednesday confirmed reports that the couple had broken up, but declined any further comment.

The pair famously met on the set of 2004 movie "Alfie" and began dating. They became engaged, but were never married.

Two years later, in 2006, Law got caught in a sex scandal with his ex-nanny that made headlines around the world, and the couple broke up. In 2009, they got back together again and as recently as this past Christmas holiday, celebrity magazines were characterizing the couple as together and happy.

In a 2007 interview with Reuters, Miller said "it would be nice if the focus was on something other than my personal life." And since the breakup, she has been busy in a number of movies, including big-budget "G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra."

Law also has been working in a number of movies, ranging from the major movie studio release "Sherlock Holmes" to "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus."

(Editing by Jill Serjeant)

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Berlin film festival opens with "True Grit" (Reuters)

BERLIN (Reuters) – The 2011 Berlin film festival opens on Thursday with Oscars darling "True Grit" kicking off the 10-day cinema showcase, where hundreds of movies vie for the attention of the world's media and industry buyers.

The Coen brothers' Western remake is already out in North America and so is not eligible for prizes at the closing ceremony on February 19, but it should ensure Hollywood glamour on the red carpet at Berlin's glitzy opening ceremony.

The story of a young girl's quest to track down her father's killer, starring Jeff Bridges, Hailee Steinfeld, Matt Damon and Josh Brolin, has garnered 10 Academy Award nominations, second only to "The King's Speech."

The 61st Berlin festival boasts its trademark mix of familiar faces and up-and-coming film makers, and, as usual, real world concerns are never far from the surface.

The spotlight on Thursday is likely to fall on the absent Jafar Panahi, the Iranian director who was invited to be on the jury but who was sentenced in December to six years in prison.

Panahi, whose film "Offside" won the festival's Silver Bear award in 2006, has been banned from making films or traveling abroad for 20 years.

"His conviction violates the right to freedom of expression and the freedom of art," the festival said. Five of his films, including Offside, will be screened during the event.

FINANCIAL CRISIS, REPRESSION, 3D

On Friday, "Margin Call," the debut feature of J.C. Chandor, promises to bring the drama of the 2008 financial crisis to the big screen, with Kevin Spacey and Demi Moore the big names performing in the Wall Street thriller. Also early on in the festival are two pictures focusing on the experiences of people living in dictatorships.

In competition, Paula Markovitch's directorial debut "The Prize" tells the story of seven-year-old Ceci who carries the burden of a "huge secret" in order to protect her family from repression under Argentina's military regime.

And outside the main competition lineup, "The Devil's Double" stars Dominic Cooper as the body double of Uday Hussein, the widely feared son of former Iraqi leader Saddam.

This year the festival aims to promote 3D, with the premieres of Wim Wender's 3D dance film about choreographer Pina Bausch and Werner Herzog's "Cave of Forgotten Dreams" about prehistoric paintings in France.

In competition is French director Michel Ocelot's "Tales of the Night," a 3D movie using silhouette animation introduced by Berlin director Lotte Reiniger almost a century ago.

British actor Ralph Fiennes' directorial debut "Coriolanus" is also in competition. Fiennes, nominated for Oscars for his roles in "The English Patient" and "Schindler's List," plays the title role in the Shakespeare adaptation.

As well as premieres and showbusiness parties, Berlin runs a major film market where buyers and sellers meet on the sidelines of the festival in search of distribution and production deals.

(Reporting by Mike Collett-White; editing by Philippa Fletcher)

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