'Cloud Atlas' director to head Berlin film fest jury

Tom Tykwer, the German director behind "Cloud Atlas" and "Perfume" and the cult hit "Run Lola Run", will head the jury of next year's Berlin film festival, organisers said Thursday.

Tykwer, 52, and his jury will select the winner of the coveted Golden Bear top prize at the February event, which ranks with Cannes and Venice among Europe's top cinema showcases.

"Tom Tykwer is one of the highest-profile German directors and has established himself on the international stage as a great filmmaker," festival director Dieter Kosslick said in a statement.

"His outstanding talent and innovative trademark have been on display in a variety of film genres."

Tykwer worked as a movie projectionist in Berlin before releasing in 1998 his international breakout hit, the innovative three-stories-in-one thriller "Run Lola Run".

The success of that movie paved the way to his first English-language feature, 2002's "Heaven" with Cate Blanchett in the lead.

His 2006 adaptation of the Patrick Sueskind bestseller, "Perfume: The Story of a Murderer", about a serial killer preying on young women to capture their scent, and the Clive Owen drama "The International" were followed by two projects with Tom Hanks.

The first, 2012's "Cloud Atlas," based on the intricately plotted bestseller by David Mitchell, was co-directed by Tykwer and Hollywood filmmakers the Wachowskis, the pair behind the "Matrix" trilogy.

And last year, he released the Hanks feature "A Hologram for the King" based on the Dave Eggers novel.

Most recently, Tykwer co-directed 16 episodes of "Babylon Berlin", set in the interwar Weimar Republic and billed as the most expensive German series of all time.

Following its premiere on German television last month, the show has been sold to television markets around the world.

Tykwer has presented six of his films at the Berlinale, as the festival is known.

"The Berlinale has always been my favourite and my home film festival, and has supported me since I began working as a filmmaker," Tykwer said.

The festival will run from February 15-25.