GERMANY: Robert De Niro and Matt Damon discuss the Cold War, CIA and Angelina Jolie as they premiere 'The Good Shepherd' at the Berlin Film Festival

Robert De Niro and Matt Damon discussed the Cold War, CIA and Angelina Jolie as they premiered 'The Good Shepherd' at the Berlin Film Festival. Hollywood stars took over the Berlinale on Saturday (February 10) as Robert De Niro's Cold War and espionage drama 'The Good Shepherd' received it's International premiere at the film festival. The actor-turned-director said the Cold War had captivated his imagination since he was a child and said he hoped to turn his directing effort "The Good Shepherd" into a trilogy of films on the U.S.-Soviet rivalry. "I'm fascinated by the Cold War. I'm a child of the Cold War, Berlin, you know, when I was a kid, I've been here a few times, going into East Berlin and it's just amazing that whole period. The intelligence world, all that stuff is fascinating stuff, you see it with James Bond and all that and the other films," De Niro told a news conference after his third directing effort, a rather dark look at the CIA's origins and its controversial methods, screened at the festival. De Niro, 63, directed the film starring Matt Damon and Angelina Jolie, which drew cheers from a packed press screening. He also had a small role in his film, which starts on the eve of the World War Two era and concludes with the Bay of Pigs debacle. "You know, there's so much, I'd love to do a second part from '61 when the wall went up to when the wall went down in '89 and that could, if we're lucky, maybe we could do that and I'd love to do a third part from '89 till the present," said De Niro, who added he spent parts of the last 12 years working on the film. His film, told through the eyes of a young CIA agent played by Damon, portrays a menacing CIA, its covert activities, and a nefarious power, which confirms stereotypes of the CIA held in many countries outside the United States. The star of De Niro's film, Damon, paid compliments to Berlin as he appeared on the red carpet Saturday night. "I lived here a few years ago, we shot the second Bourne movie here, the Bourne Supremacy and I love Berlin. This is a very different way to see Berlin, I mean it was very low key last time I was here but it's really wonderful. I love this city and I love the people here. It's good to be premiering it in Europe, here," he said. A large crowd of fans and autograph hunters gathered around the red carpet as De Niro and Damon arrived for the screening of the film, which is competing for a Golden Bear. But to their disappointment, Damon's co-star Angelina Jolie was not in town for the premiere. Damon had nothing but kind words for his Jolie and her boyfriend Brad Pitt, who at the time of the shooting of the film were subjects of tremendous media scrutiny "She doesn't bring any of that stuff into work with her. I'd be aware that she was working because I'd go to work and suddenly there would be 50 photographers standing around waiting to get a picture of her walking into the set. But she doesn't, I think it affected the rest of us more than her. She is so calm and she takes all that in stride. A lot like her husband does, I mean, they are both very good that way, they are both really, really great, underrated actors, both of them and they do it very gracefully despite the pressure that the rest of us don't really have to deal with," he said. 'The Good Shepherd' is one of 22 movies in competition at the Berlinale. The Golden and Silver bears will be handed out on Saturday (February 17).

ITN Source | February 15, 2007

Tags:. .cold. .actors. .bear. .despite. .affected