The Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival was awarded to Norway’s Dag Johan Haugerud for Dreams (Sex Love) tonight (February 22), the first time this honour has gone to the country.
Scroll down for full list of winners
Dreams (Sex Love) sees Haugerud complete his Sex Love Dreams trilogy with the story of a young woman whose writings about a crush on her French teacher shock her mother and grandmother, causing them to re-examine their own fantasies. M-Appeal are handling sales.
Haugerud said on stage that it was “beyond [his] wildest dreams” to win the Golden Bear and, speaking to his other life as a librarian and novelist, recommended people spend more time reading and writing.
Dreams also picked up the Fipresci competition prize and the German arthouse cinemas’ guild film prize.
Latin American winners featured strongly with Brazilian filmmaker Gabriel Mascaro picking up the Silver Bear grand jury prize as well as the Ecumenical jury prize, while Argentinian filmmaker Ivàn Fund was awarded the Silver Bear jury prize for The Message.
Rose Byrne won the leading performance award for Mary Bronstein’s If I Had Legs I‘d Kick You, whilst the supporting acting prize went to Andrew Scott for Richard Linklater’s Blue Moon.
Best director was awarded to Huo Meng for Living The Land, with former Golden Bear winner Raju Jude collecting best screenplay for Kontinental ’25.
Jude dedicated his award to the memory of Luis Bunuel who was born 125 years ago in 1900. He also made a slightly risque comment in connection with Sunday’s elections in Germany by expressing the hope that next year’s Berlinale would not be opened by Leni Riefenstahl’s Triumph Of The Will.
The Silver Bear for outstanding artistic contribution went to the creative ensemble of Lucile Hadzihalilovic’s The Ice Tower.
The international jury was presided over by Todd Haynes and also included Nabil Ayouch, Fan Bingbing, Bina Daigeler, Rodrigo Moreno, Amy Nicholson and Maria Schrader.
Brandon Kramer’s Holding Liat, about October 7 hostage Liat Beinin Atzili, was presented with the €40,000 Berlinale documentary award which was donated by the festival this year after the previous sponsor, local broadcaster RBB, stepped down last summer due to budget cuts.
Accepting the award on stage with his brother, Kramer said: “In this polarised moment, many people [said] it would be safer to shy away from telling a story like this because it didn’t fit neatly into a box or provide any easy answers. This is exactly why this story was so important to be told.”
The German collection society GWFF’s best first feature award was presented this year for the first time to a film screening in the newly created Perspectives competition for debut fiction. The cash prize of €50,000 went to The Devil Smokes by Mexican director Ernesto Martinez Bucio.
Summing up her first edition heading up the Berlinale, festival director Tricia Tuttle said: “What I really, really love and what makes me feel so excited about the future of cinema is how bold and adventurous all of our audiences are.”
Competition
Golden Bear for Best Film - Dreams (Sex Love) by Johan Haugerud
Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize - The Blue Trail by Gabriel Mascaro
Silver Bear Jury Prize - The Message by Ivan Fund
Silver Bear for Best Director - Huo Meng for Living The Land
Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance - Rose Byrne in If I Had Legs I‘d Kick You
Silver Bear for Best Supporting Performance - Andrew Scott in Blue Moon
Silver Bear for Best Screenplay - Radu Jude for Kontinental ’25
Silver Bear for an Outstanding Artistic Contribution - The creative ensemble of The Ice Tower
Perspectives
Best First Feature - The Devil Smokes (and Saves the Burnt Matches in the Same Box) by Ernesto Martínez Bucio
Special mention - We Believe You by Charlotte Devillers, Arnaud Dufeys
Berlinale Documentary Award
Holding Liat by Brandon Kramer
Special mentions: The Memory of Butterflies by Tatiana Fuentes Sadowski; and Canone Effimero by Gianluca De Serio and Massimiliano De Serio
Generation
Kplus
Children’s Jury Crystal Bear for the Best Film - Maya, Give Me a Title by Michel Gondry
Special mention - Circusboy by Julia Lemke, Anna Koch
Children’s Jury Crystal Bear for the Best Short Film - Rebels Cinema Club by Khozy Rizal
Grand Prix of Generation International Jury for Best Film - The Botanist by Jing Yi
Special mention - Seaside Serendipity by Satoko Yokohama
14plus
Youth Jury Crystal Bear for the Best Film - Sunshine by Antoinette Jadaone
Special mention - Playtime by Lucia Murat
Youth Jury Crystal Bear for the Best Short Film - Wish You Were Ear by Mirjana Balogh
Grand Prix of Generation International Jury for Best Film - Christy by Brendan Canty
Special mention - Têtes brûlées by Maja-Ajmia Yde Zellama
GWFF First Feature Award
The Devil Smokes (and Saves the Burnt Matches in the Same Box) by Ernesto Martínez Bucio
Special mention - We Believe You by Charlotte Devillers, Arnaud Dufeys
Other awards
Teddy Awards
Best feature film - Lesbian Space Princess by Emma Hough Hobbs, Leela Varghese
Best documentary - Satanic Sow by Rosa von Praunheim
Jury Award - If You Are Afraid You Put Your Heart into Your Mouth and Smile by Marie Luise Lehner
Special Award - Todd Haynes
Fipresci prizes
Competition - Dreams (Sex Love) by Dag Johan Haugerud
Perspectives - Little Trouble Girls by Urška Djukić
Panorama - Under the Flags, the Sun by Juanjo Pereira
Forum - The Memory of Butterflies by Tatiana Fuentes Sadowski
Europa Cinemas Label
Hysteria by Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay
Panorama audience awards
Feature Film - Deaf by Eva Libertad
Documentary - The Moelln Letters by Martina Priessner
Prizes of the independent juries
Amnesty International film award - The Moelln Letters by Martina Priessner
Caligari Film Prize - Fwends by Sophie Somerville
Prizes of the ecumenical jury
Competition - The Blue Trail by Gabriel Mascaro
Panorama - The Heart Is a Muscle by Imran Hamdulay by Brandon Kramer
Forum - Holding Liat by Brandon Kramer
CICAE Arthouse Cinemas award
Panorama - Deaf by Eva Libertad
Forum - If You Are Afraid You Put Your Heart into Your Mouth and Smile by Marie Luise Lehner
Guild film prize
Dreams (Sex Love) by Dag Johan Haugerud
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