Berlin  - The Berlin Film Festivals's competitive phase ends Saturday on a rather subdued note.

While 18 films are competing for the Berlinale's coveted Golden Bear, less than a handful have emerged as favourites for the festival's top honours after a ten-day movie marathon which fell short of the expectations of both critics and the industry.

The result has been that the 59th Berlinale competition for top movie comes to a close with the field wide open in the race for the festival's main prizes, which are to be handed out a Hollywood-style gala Saturday.

Among the leading contenders are Paris-born Rachid Bouchareb's London River and Israeli-born Oren Moverman's post-Iraq war film The Messenger. Both helped to raise hopes about the Berlinale's main competition after a slow and uninspiring start to what is one of world's top three festivals.

With the Berlinale never prepared to shy away from hard-edged political stories, London River is a compelling story of a Muslim father and a Christian mother searching for their children in the aftermath of London's July 7 terrorist attacks. It stars Brenda Blethyn and Sotigui Kouyate.

Meanwhile, US actor Ben Foster turns in a strong performance as a young American army officer just back from active service in The Messenger.

He stars alongside Woody Harrelson as one of two US soldiers assigned to inform families that their loved ones have been killed in the Iraq war.

Iranian director Asghar Farhadi's Darbareye Elly About Elly, has also emerged as a possible favourite for the Golden Bear. Farhadi's film explores the fine line between truth and lies in middle-class Iranian society after a young woman suddenly vanishes.

But film festival juries are notoriously difficult to predict. The Berlinale's seven-member international jury, headed up by Academy Award-winning British actress Tilda Swinton, also have to hand out festival prizes for best director, as well as awards for best actor and actress.

Indeed, top Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi could also be recognized by the jury for her role as the lover of famed 20th century Peking opera star Mei Lan-fang, in Beijing director Chen Kaige's lavishly filmed Forever Enthralled.

Other possible contenders include German director Maren Ade's Alle Anderen (Everyone Else) about a young couple that find their relationship is put to the test and British-born Peter Strickland's Katalin Varga.

Set in Transylvania, Strickland's first feature film tells the story of a woman who embarks on a journey of revenge as she travels through the Carpathian Mountains in search of her son's real father.

Once again, a major focus of the Berlinale was stories about women. Another film that could stand a chance of going home with a prize is British-born Richard Loncraine's
1950's comedy My One and Only, which was a last minute entry in the Berlinale's main competition.

It stars Hollywood actress Renee Zellweger as a mother who takes her two teenage sons on a road trip across America in search of a husband.

Certainly the main focus of the world's leading film festivals is about star power and this year's Berlinale has again managed to attract some of the biggest names in the business, including Clive Owen, Kate Winslet, Michelle Pfeiffer, Demi Moore, Steve Martin, Keanu Reeves and Gael Garcia Bernal.

But overhanging this year's Berlinale was the deepening sense of gloom in the global movie business as it braces itself for what is expected to be a tough 12 months of cost-cutting, layoffs and projects being put on hold.

Many of those attending the European Film Market (EFM) - the business side of the Berlinale - appear somewhat relieved that the numbers of deals arranged over the last ten days meant that the EFM was not quite as bad as many had expected.

Unusually for the world's top film festivals, the Berlinale opens up its screenings to the general public. There appears to be no shortage of enthusiasm for the festival among ordinary moviegoers.

By its midway point the Berlinale had sold a record 270,000 tickets. Last year ticket sales totalled 240,000. After Saturday's awards, Berlinale movie screenings will continue for a final day on Sunday as the festival draws to a close. dpa)