GERMANY: Director Eastwood says Martin Scorsese stands a good chance beating him for Best Director Oscar as he receives an honorary award at the Berlin Film Festival.

Hollywood veteran Clint Eastwood said on Sunday (February 11) his Oscar rival Martin Scorsese had a good chance of finally winning a statuette in two weeks' time, but warned against narrowing the field to a two-horse race. The 76-year-old, at the Berlin Film Festival for the European premiere of his film "Letters From Iwo Jima", walked away with the best director Oscar two years ago for "Million Dollar Baby", leaving seven-time nominee Scorsese empty-handed once again. This year Eastwood is on the shortlist again for World War Two drama "Letters From Iwo Jima" while Scorsese has been nominated for "The Departed". "I don't have anything to do with it anytime or any place, it's always the Academy that does it and he probably has a good chance, there is a lot of sympathy for him but I have no control over any of that," Eastwood told Reuters on the red carpet. "And I think that you have to, on those things it should be voted on, I always feel sorry when they try the match up deal, I always feel sorry for the others because there are other nominees and they've worked very hard on their projects, too, I don't think any two people should be singled out," he added. While not quite the same as getting an Oscar, Eastwood was honoured with the Berlinale Camera award on Sunday night. Berlin Film Festival director Dieter Kosslick said it was given to the director for "sharing the same aims as the Berlinale". The cast of Eastwood's 'Iwo Jima' joined the director on the red carpet, taking time to greet fans and speak to reporters despite a cold and rainy weather. The film follows the events on the island of Iwo Jima from the Japanese angle and stars Ken Watanabe, Tsuyoshi Ihara and Kazunari Ninomiya as outnumbered Japanese soldiers in a hopeless situation. "I think it reflects the current situation of today because these days something is missing but at the same time we have too much and that is the reason this film has been made," Ninomiya said on the red carpet. 'Letters from Iwo Jima' is screening out of the competition at the Berlin Film Festival.

ITN Source | February 23, 2007

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