"Standard Operating Procedure" - Director Errol Morris's film about the controversial Abu Ghraib prisons scandal focuses on intimate conversations with many of the soldiers involved in the sexual and physical abuse of prisoners in Iraq. While expressing their remorse, the soldiers also make evident that the interrogative procedures they practiced were often not an aberration but part of standard orders from their superiors. This is the first ever documentary to compete in Berlinale's Competition section. (Running time: 118 minutes)

"Shine A Light"- A film by Martin Scorsese about one of the greatest rock-and-roll bands in history, The Rolling Stones. It opened the Berlin Film Festival. Filmed with 16 cameras, Scorsese followed the bandmates over the course of two concerts held on Oct. 29th and November 1st, 2006 at Beacon Theatre, New York. Highlights include behind-the-scenes interviews and archival footage. Guest performances by Jack White of The White Stripes, Christina Aguilera, and Buddy Guy. (Running time: 122 minutes)

"Corridor #8"- An avant-garde travel film featured in the Forum section of the festival (for new, experimental, and primarily young filmmakers), director Boris Despodov examines the everyday life of residents along a planned infrastructure connecting the Balkans. The non-existent highway stretches from Bulgaria where it meets the Black Sea through Macedonia and ends in Albania at the Adriatic Sea. Through a question and answer format, the attitudes of members of the neighboring countries reveal just how disconnected they really are from one another. (Running time: 74 minutes)


This meager list is only meant to whet your appetite, but the three films do at least show the diversity of pictures in the documentary realm at this year's festival...so Kudos to Berlin! Feel free to share more insights on these films or any others!