International films shooting in Berlin during the Berlinale is becoming something of a tradition.

Last year, Roman Polanski’s The Ghost Writer - which has its world premiere at the Berlinale Palast tonight - was shooting in the centre of Berlin during the festival for scenes set in London (with the obligatory red double-decker bus!).

US producer Joel Silver’s Dark Castle Entertainment now has two films shooting in the region as part of its five-year strategic alliance sealed with Studio Babelsberg in December 2008.

Liam Neeson and Diane Kruger are headlining Jaume Collet-Serra’s thriller Unknown White Male which has used such city centre locations as the U-Bahn at Friedrichstraße and the new Hauptbahnhof, while production cranked up here last week on Todd Lincoln’s horror film The Apparition with a cast including Ashley Greene, Sebastian Stan and Tom Felton.

In addition, veteran Polish filmmaker Agnieszka Holland has been using local locations for her Second World War drama Hidden, including the Berliner Straße set at the Babelsberg Studios. The German-Canadian-Polish co-production is being handled internationally by Beta Film.

At the same time, Roland Emmerich is preparing his Euros 27.5m Shakespeare drama Anonymous, with UK Shooting Star Edward Hogg in one of the leads, to begin filming from late March at the Babelsberg studios.

And David Cronenberg could be coming to the region this summer for his next feature The Talking Cure with Christoph Waltz, Michael Fassbender and Keira Knightley. Berlin-based Lago Films will produce the adaptation of the Christopher Hampton play of the same name, with HanWay handling international sales.