The 70th Berlin Film Festival, aka Berlinale, one of the world's most prestigious film festivals, kicked off Thursday.

This year's festival will feature 18 films in the main competition section.

Italian film critic and curator Carlo Chatrian is the Berlin Film Festival's new artistic director, while Mariette Rissenbeek is responsible for its management. The official jury will be headed by British actor Jeremy Irons.

Turkey has opened a booth at the European Film Market (EFM), held as part of the festival. The booth, opened in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and Boğaziçi Culture and Arts Foundation, welcomes industry professionals from around the world.

It will carry out work on landing new projects during the festival, which is one of the most important platforms for co-productions.

At the EFM Landmark platform on Feb. 25, ministry officials will introduce filming opportunities in Turkey, with foreign film incentives, as introduced by the country's new cinema law, at the "Movie Opportunities in Turkey" event.

Turkish actress Ece Yüksel, film editor Selda Taşkın and director-producer Emine Yıldırım have all been selected for th Berlin Film Festival's "Berlinale Talents" section.

Fatih Özcan's "Mavzer" ("Mauser"), Faysal Soysal's "Ceviz Ağacı" ("Walnut Tree") and Ercan Kesal's "Nasipse Adayız" ("You Know Him") will hold screening at festival.

The festival ends on March 1.