BERLIN -- Organizational hiccups and a sudden snowstorm couldn't dampen spirits at the 56th Berlin International Film Festival, which kicked off Thursday with a classy, if somewhat stuffy, opening gala and the world premiere of Marc Evans' "Snow Cake."

"Well, there's no business like snow business," joked Berlin Festival director Dieter Kosslick to the audience of film executives, journalists and German politicos, referring to the blanket of white stuff still falling on the crowds outside the Berlinale Palast.

Kosslick added that at least the weather suited Evans' film, a drama about an autistic woman set in chilly northern Ontario and starring Sigourney Weaver and Alan Rickman, both of whom were in the audience in Berlin.

"I mean, try having 'Snow Cake' in Cannes, forget it," Kosslick quipped.

Kosslick has reason to be confident. This year's Berlin is a festival of superlatives, with more attendees, more films and, most importantly, more buyers and sellers than ever before.

The European Film Market, which opened for business Thursday at its new home in the swanky Martin-Gropius-Bau, was already buzzing with news of deals even before the Festival got underway. Berlin is usually a quiet festival business-wise, but 2006 is shaping up to be a powerhouse on par with Cannes or AFM.

Perhaps to emphasize its new prominence, the Berlin festival opted to exchange its usual low-key opening ceremony for a splashy gala complete with a 1920s big band orchestra in the form of local legends the Max Rabe Palast Orchestra.

Instead of local comedian Anke Engelke, the ceremony was hosted by the more earnest German actor Heino Ferch ("Downfall"). The result was less entertaining than in years past, with more emphasis on German film politics and less on insider jokes.

Part of the reason for the change was that this year's opening ceremony was broadcast live for the first time on German-Austrian-Swiss pubcaster 3Sat.

The event got off to a shaky start, however, thanks to miscommunication between festival organizers and Palast security staff, which resulted in packs of invited guests being turned away at the door. Though most made it in eventually, Berlin's reputation as the best organized of the big festivals is sure to suffer.

But Berlin's standing as the most politically engaged of the Big 3 is still intact thanks to a competition lineup that includes politically charged films like "Syriana" and Michael Winterbottom's "The Road to Guantanamo."

At a press conference Thursday, festival jury president and actress Charlotte Rampling said Berlin's political reputation was one of the things that attracted her to the festival.

"I am fascinated by the variety of social content and political content in the films we will be judging," Rampling said. "This is the kind of cinema I like a lot and the kind I think is very important."

Fellow juror Armin Mueller-Stahl also stressed the importance of the festival as a showcase for German films. Four German features are in the official competition, and dozens of new local productions are screening in the festival's various sections.

"I am particularly interested in (German) films that deal with the problems of modern Germany," native German Mueller-Stahl said. "We in Germany have always been very good at making films about World War II, but I think it is good that now German directors are making films about how we live now, how we are coping with this global world. I hope the films that we see in the festival will be ones that build bridges, that help people of various cultures better understand one another."

The 56th Berlin International Film Festival runs through Feb. 19. The Golden Bear Awards will be presented Feb. 18 at a gala ceremony.