The Competition is the main event of the Berlinale and was the original seed out of which the Festival, in all its many parts, has grown. The first International Film Festival Berlin was envisioned as an international cultural event that was to bring the postwar world to Berlin and Berlin to the world. Obviously this also had its political side. And in fact there was the financial side as well - this was seen as an opportunity to help get the decimated film industry in Berlin back on its feet. The Festival originally began with the intention of not being a competition at all. The Film Officer for the American High Commission originally envisioned any prize-giving as a purely public event