Rolling Stones Rock Berlinale

Veteran musicians, the Rolling Stones, are touching down in the capital tomorrow to attend the premiere of Martin Scorsese's rockumentary "Shine A Light", about the band. The film is sure to set the appropriate tone of this year's Berlin Film Festival which has a strong musical theme for 2008.

Meanwhile the Queen of pop Madonna no doubt asked her husband for a few pointers whilst making her first feature film as a director. "Filth and Wisdom" is a rollercoaster romp starring a Roma punk ban that delivers an anarchic slice of music mayhem. On a similar note, Patti Smith, dubbed the godmother of punk, will be attending a screening of a documentary on her career plus feature in a live performance on the festival's sidelines. Finally golden oldie Neil Young will present a film about Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young's 2006 Freedom of Speech Tour, alongside pictures about Sudanese hip-hop artists and Argentinian tango.

Of course this year's Berlinale won't all be about music, and some of Hollywood's biggest stars will be traipsing down red carpets and flashing their million dollar smiles. Penelope Cruz stars in "Elegy", a picture by Spain's Isabel Coixet based on a Philip Roth novel, while Scarlet Johansson goes head-to-head with Natalie Portman in "The Other Boleyn Girl". Daniel Day-Lewis will also be in attendance, presenting an epic battle over oil in "There Will Be Blood". Pretty woman, Julia Roberts is also on the guest list, starring in the family tragedy "Fireflies in the Garden", whilst Oscar-winning filmmaker Errol Morris will offer an uncompromising look at the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal at the Abu Ghraib jail in "Standard Operating Procedure".

One of the most highly anticipated screenings will be "Katyn" by Polish director Andrzej Wajda, nominated for a best foreign film Oscar this year. The film recounts the 1940 Soviet cold-blooded execution of twenty thousand Polish soldiers, including Wajda's father.