Prize contenders at Berlin film festival

The 66th Berlinale, Europe's first major film festival of the year, will award its Golden and Silver Bear prizes Saturday selected by a jury led by Meryl Streep.

Eighteen pictures are vying for the top honours.

Here is the complete list including the English title, director, well-known stars and countries where the films were produced:

"24 Wochen" (24 Weeks), Anne Zohra Berrached, Germany

"Alone in Berlin", Vincent Perez starring Emma Thompson and Brendan Gleeson, Germany/France/Britain

"Boris sans Beatrice" (Boris without Beatrice), Denis Cote, Canada

"Cartas da guerra" (Letters from War), Ivo M. Ferreira, Portugal

"Chang Jiang Tu" (Crosscurrent), Yang Chao, China

"Ejhdeha Vared Mishavad!" (A Dragon Arrives!), Mani Haghighi, Iran

"Fuocoammare" (Fire at Sea), Gianfranco Rosi, Italy/France (documentary)

"Genius", Michael Grandage starring Colin Firth, Jude Law, Nicole Kidman, Laura Linney and Guy Pearce, Britain/US (debut film)

"Hele Sa Hiwagang Hapis" (A Lullaby to the Sorrowful Mystery), Lav Diaz, Philippines/Singapore

"Inhebbek Hedi" (Hedi), Mohamed Ben Attia, Tunisia/Belgium/France (debut film)

"Kollektivet" (The Commune), Thomas Vinterberg, Denmark/Sweden/Netherlands

"L'avenir" (Things to Come), Mia Hansen-Love starring Isabelle Huppert, France/Germany

"Midnight Special", Jeff Nichols starring Michael Shannon, Joel Edgerton, Kirsten Dunst and Adam Driver, US

"Quand on a 17 ans" (Being 17), Andre Techine starring Sandrine Kiberlain, France

"Smrt u Sarajevu" (Death in Sarajevo), Danis Tanovic, France/Bosnia

"Soy Nero", Rafi Pitts, Germany/France/Mexico

"Zero Days", Alex Gibney, US (documentary)

"Zjednoczone Stany Miłosci" (United States of Love), Tomasz Wasilewski, Poland/Sweden