Renee Zellweger to join 60th Berlin film fest jury

(AFP PHOTO GABRIEL BOUYS)

Oscar-winning actress Renee Zellweger will join the jury for the 60th Berlin Film Festival next month that will pick the winner of the coveted Golden Bear top prize, organisers said Tuesday.

The star of the "Bridget Jones" franchise will sit on a seven-member panel chaired by Academy Award-nominated German director Werner Herzog at the February 11-21 event, the festival said in a statement.

Also judging the competition will be Chinese actress Yu Nan, Italian director Francesca Comencini, Somali novelist Nuruddin Farah, German actress Cornelia Froboess and Spanish producer Jose Maria Morales.

The jury is to hand out the prizes at a glittering awards ceremony on February 20.

Highlights of this year's line-up include fresh releases by Roman Polanski, Martin Scorsese and Michael Winterbottom and the festival opener "Apart Together" (Tuan Yuan) by China's Wang Quan'an.

Zellweger, 40, clinched an Academy Award for best supporting actress in 2004 for the US Civil War drama "Cold Mountain", which also featured in competition in Berlin.

Herzog, 67, was nominated for a best documentary Oscar in 2007 for "Encounters at the End of the World" and is a festival-circuit favourite for cult classics such as "Nosferatu", "Fitzcarraldo" and the 2005 documentary "Grizzly Man".

The Berlin Film Festival, known as the Berlinale, ranks second below Cannes among Europe's top film festivals.

Last year's jury president was Oscar-winning Scottish actress Tilda Swinton.