Berlinale director Dieter Kosslick has given a group of young local filmmakers the greenlight to transform the festival into an ongoing discussion forum about the threat of war with Iraq.

Under the banner 'Freedom2Speak', the filmmakers have already produced a 20-second spot which will be shown before each film at the festival to draw attention to the venture.

So-called 'Speakers corners' will be dotted around the Berlinale to give festival guests the opportunity to voice their own opinions, and camera teams will be out and about doing vox pop interviews .

In addition, any filmmakers who want to make their own featurette on the subject can use camera equipment and editing facilities which have been made available by local companies.

The footage will then be gathered together into a feature length film to be shown during the festival.