BERLIN film festival opened Thursday with a movie about the Nazis’ persecution of Gypsy-jazz great Django Reinhardt and a vow by Hollywood’s Maggie Gyllenhaal that Americans were “ready to resist” Donald Trump.

    A total of 18 movies are vying for the festival’s Golden Bear top prize, which will be awarded Saturday by a jury led by director Paul Verhoeven (“RoboCop,” “Elle”).

    “I hope we will see a lot of movies that are different, hopefully controversial,” the Dutch filmmaker told reporters, adding that he was ready for “heated arguments” with the jury.

    The 11-day Berlinale, Europe’s first major cinema showcase of the year, will screen nearly 400 movies from 70 countries.

    The festival’s kick-off film “Django” marked the directorial debut of Etienne Comar, a French screenwriter and producer.

    A virtuoso guitarist and composer who shot to global renown with his delicate melodies, Reinhardt was a member of the Sinti minority who was forced to flee German-occupied Paris in 1943 as Gypsies were being rounded up and sent to concentration camps.

    The Nazis tried to enlist Reinhardt for propaganda and morale-boosting for the troops but insisted that he strip out the “Negro sound” from his music including swing and syncopation.

    He refused the German tour and, recognizing the grave threat to his clan and fellow musicians, Reinhardt, his elderly mother and pregnant wife became refugees.

    However they got waylaid awaiting safe passage to Switzerland in the French border town of Thonon-les-Bains, where he was arrested by German troops, briefly imprisoned and forced to perform.

    Comar admitted he took some liberties with the actual story but said its essence was true to history and the Catch-22 faced by artists under repressive regimes.

    The 2016 Golden Bear went to Italy’s “Fire at Sea,” a portrait of the refugee crisis on the island of Lampedusa, from a jury led by Meryl Streep.

    It is nominated for an Academy Award for best documentary this month.

    (SD-Agencies)