Scott Thomas recalls intensity of "The Party" at Berlin fest

BERLIN (AP) — Kristin Scott Thomas recalls feeling "a sort of panic" while making director Sally Potter's "The Party," in which she plays a politician celebrating a promotion.

Potter described the movie Monday as "a light and loving look at the state of England, a kind of broken England." It's one of 18 films competing at the Berlin International Film Festival for its Golden Bear award.

Filmed in black and white, the film follows a party to celebrate Scott Thomas' character's appointment as a top opposition spokeswoman, which then goes badly wrong.

Scott Thomas said it was "almost like doing a play."

She recalled "a sort of panic, knowing that we had two weeks to shoot it and ... we had to get it right the first time, because there was no room for multiple takes."