Yoji Yamada to be honored at Berlin Film Festival

Japanese film director Yoji Yamada will be given this year's special award for services at the Berlin Film Festival.

Yamada announced the news at the premiere of his new movie "Ototo", or "About Her Brother", on Saturday.

The prize, the Berlinale Camera, is awarded to a person or institution with whom the festival feels especially attached.

Osaka-born Yamada made his debut as a director in 1961. He is well-known for the long-running Tora-san film series, about a vagabond who is unlucky in love but still loved by his family for his kind heart.

The Berlin Film Festival is one of the world's leading film festivals. Many of Yamada's works have been featured at international film festivals including the one in Berlin.