SHEMTKHVEVITI PAEMNEBI (BLIND DATES) by Levan Koguashvili has received three awards altogether at the Sofia International Film Festival. In addition to the main prize of the international competition, the Georgian film was given the award for best director and the FIPRESCI award.

BLIND DATES tells of teacher and perennial bachelor Sandro, who falls for the mother of one of his pupils. When her husband is released from jail, Sandro is unwittingly drawn into his dealings, stoically going along with things instead of taking matters into his own hands.

As always, the Arsenal Cinema will be screening a selection of this year's Forum titles over the coming week: L'ENLÈVEMENT DE MICHEL HOUELLEBECQ (THE KIDNAPPING OF MICHEL HOUELLEBECQ) by Guillaume Nicloux, QUE TA JOIE DEMEURE (JOY OF MAN'S DESIRING by Denis Côté, IRANIEN by Mehran Tamadon, STO SPITI (AT HOME) by Athanasios Karanikolas, DAS GROSSE MUSEUM by Johannes Holzhausen and SHEMTKHVEVITI PAEMNEBI (BLIND DATES) by Levan Koguashvili.

The independent juries of the Berlinale have awarded prizes to five Forum films: The Award of the Conféderation Internationale des Cinémas D'Art et Essai (C.I.C.A.E.) was given to SHE'S LOST CONTROL by Anja Marquard. STO SPITI (AT HOME) by Athanasios Karanikolas received the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury. The 24th NETPAC-Preis (Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema) was given ex aequo to CHOL-AE-KUM (A DREAM OF IRON) by Kelvin Kyung Kun Park and NON-FICTION DIARY by Jung Yoon-suk. The Tagesspiegel Readers' Jury awarded ZAMATOVÍ TERORISTI (VELVET TERRORISTS) by Pavol Pekarčík, Ivan Ostrochovský and Peter Kerekes and AL MIDAN (THE SQUARE) by Jehane Noujaim received the Amnesty International Award.

DAS GROSSE MUSEUM (THE GREAT MUSEUM by Johannes Holzhausen receives this year's Caligari Award. The Prize, presented by the German Association of Municipal and Cultural Cinemas in cooperation with the German magazine FILM-DIENST, includes a €4,000 endowment, half of which is given to the award recipient while the other half is used to fund the distribution of the winning film in Germany. In addition, the Trikoton company awards a blanket from their "Voice Knitting Collection" in which excerpts from Guiseppe Becce's score to the expressionist silent film The Cabinet of Dr Caligari are knitted into the design.

If a film is listed as "sold out" on the Berlinale website, this simply means that there are no more tickets available to purchase online, but not that the film is completely sold out. It is likely that tickets will be available at the cinema where the film is showing on the day of the screening.

The prize of the Internatioanl Federation of Film Critics for a film in the Forum's programme goes to FORMA by Ayumi Sakamoto. This year's jury was made up of Mihai Fulger, Luuk Imhann and Bettina Schuler.

Two films from the Forum Expanded program have received TEDDY Awards: MONDIAL 2010 by Roy Dib was awarded best short film. PIERROT LUNAIRE by Bruce LaBruce received the Special Jury Award. The jury statement reads: "The Teddy Jury would like to recognize Bruce LaBruce’s important new piece Pierrot Lunaire as a significant addition to his oeuvre, that continues to explore the notion of ‘Queer’ in every sense. Melding theatricality with edgy cinematic language, a remarkable performance by Susanne Sachse, with sophisticated use of music, Bruce recombines these elements to renew the classic avant-garde.