Giovanni Ribisi and Cate Blanchett star in Heaven

James Nesbitt, recently seen in Lucky Break and ITV1's Cold Feet, stars in the film alongside Tim Pigott-Smith and Nicholas Farrell.

Another Golden Bear entry from the UK is director Richard Eyre's Iris, starring Kate Winslet, Jim Broadbent and Judi Dench.

It tells the story of novelist Iris Murdoch's battle with Alzheimer's disease.

Other films vying for the Golden Bear include three US entries - Wes Anderson's The Royal Tenenbaums, Marc Forster's Monster's Ball and Lasse Hallstrom's The Shipping News.

German talent

Some 120,000 visitors are expected to descend on the German capital during the festival, seen as one of the top three in Europe - along with Venice and Cannes.

The programme includes 400 feature films from across the world, but this year festival director Dieter Kosslick is keen to promote German film talent to overseas audiences.

The festival's opening movie on Wednesday was Heaven, by German director Tom Tykwer, a thriller and love story starring Cate Blanchett and Giovanni Ribisi.

Heaven is based on a screenplay by Krzysztof Pieseiwicz and the late Polish director Krzysztof Kieslowski, best known for his award-winning Three Colors trilogy.

Mr Tykwer, who had a hit with Run Lola Run in 1999, is one of four German directors with films competing for the Golden Bear, the highest number for a quarter-century.

The French film, Intimacy, directed by Patrice Chereau won the top Golden Bear award in 2001.