De Niro hopes "Shepherd" first of 3 Cold War films

BERLIN, Feb 11 (Reuters) Robert De Niro has said the Cold War had captivated his imagination since he was a child and said he hoped to turn his directing effort ''The Good Shepherd'' into a trilogy of films on the US-Soviet rivalry.

''I'm fascinated by the Cold War,'' De Niro told a news conference after his third directing effort, a rather dark look at the CIA's origins and its controversial methods, made its international premiere at the Berlin Film Festival.

''Especially the Cold War in Berlin,'' he added, where his film is competing for a Golden Bear. ''As a kid, I was here a few times and went to East Berlin. I found the whole period amazing.

It's fascinating stuff. Everybody has a fascination with it.'' De Niro, 63, directed the film starring Matt Damon and Angelina Jolie, which drew cheers from a packed press screening.

He also had a small role in his film, which starts on the eve of the World War Two era and concludes with the Bay of Pigs debacle.

''I'd love to do a second part, from 1961 when the Berlin Wall went up to 1989 when the Wall fell,'' said De Niro, who added he spent parts of the last 12 years working on the film.

''And then I'd like to do a third part from 1989 to the present.'' De Niro said the Cold War might never really be over.

''I always wondered before 'When the Cold war ended, would it ever be over?'. I used to think the other shoe's going to drop.

It dropped. Nuclear weapons are easier to get and more countries are getting them. It's a little scary when you think about it.'' His film, told through the eyes of a young CIA agent played by Damon, portrays a menacing CIA, its covert activities, and a nefarious power -- which confirms stereotypes of the CIA held in many countries outside the United States.

But De Niro, who also directed ''A Bronx Tale'' in 1993 and ''The Score'' in 2001, was reluctant to tell a crowded press conference of European journalists what most wanted to hear.

''It's not a criticism,'' he said when asked if the film was an attack of the CIA. ''I don't want to criticise. I just put the things down in as straightforward, direct and honest way as I could.'' REUTERS DKS BST0505