Mati Diop’s documentary Dahomey, about artefacts being returned from Paris to present-day Benin, was awarded the Golden Bear for best film at the Berlin International Film Festival tonight (February 24).
The film, handled internationally by Les Film du Losange, is the second from the African continent to take the Berlinale’s top prize after Mark Dornford-May’s musical U-Carmen eKhayelitsha in 2005. It is also the second year in a row that a documentary has clinched the Golden Bear, following Nicolas Philibert’s On The Adamant last year.
In her speech, Diop said: “To restitute is to do justice. We can either get rid of the past as an unpleasant burden that only hinders our evolution, or we can take the responsibility and use it as the basis for moving forward. We have to choose.”
Scroll down for full list of winners
Korean director Hong Sangsoo caused some amusement from the audience when he said “I don’t know what you saw in the film” when he accepted the Silver Bear grand jury prize for A Traveler’s Needs, while the Silver Bear jury prize went to The Empire from French filmmaker Bruno Dumont.
The Silver Bear for best leading performance went to Sebastian Stan for his role as an aspiring actor undergoing a surgical procedure in Aaron Schimberg’s A Different Man, whilst the Silver Bear for best supporting performance was awarded to Emily Watson for her role in Tim Mielants’ festival opener Small Things Like These.
Meanwhile, Germany’s Matthias Glasner added the Silver Bear for best screenplay for Dying to another two awards he received from independent juries.
The Silver Bear for best director went to Nelson Carlos De Los Santos Arias for hippo drama Pepe. The Silver Bear for outstanding artistic contribution was awarded to Austrian cinematographer Martin Gschlacht for his work on The Devil’s Bath by Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala.
Looking back on the judging process, jury president Lupita Nyong’o said during the ceremony: “We definitely had spirited discussions and, while we didn’t always agree with each other, there was always respect for each other’s opinion.”
Several of the prize-winners in their speeches made statements demanding a ceasefire in Gaza, including No Other Land filmmaker Basel Adra, winner of the documentary award (see below), and Direct Action’s Cailleau and Russell, with the latter wearing a Palestinian scarf around his shoulders. In his speech, Adra said Germany must “stop sending weapons to Israel”.
It was also pointed out on stage that the ceremony was being held on the second anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Looking back on his fifth and final edition as artistic director, Carlo Chatrian said the 74th Berlinale had been “a very intensive one, but also a very rewarding one.”
“For me, the pleasure of being part of this festival and in having responsibility to bring certain stories and not other stories is to see how these films move the people and ask them to see more,” he added.
Encounters Competition
The jury of directors Lisandro Alonso, Denis Coté and Tizza Covi for the Encounters section gave their best film award to Direct Action about a French militant activist community by Guillaume Cailleau and Ben Russell.
Best director went to Juliana Rojas for Cidade; Campo, two tales of migration, memories and ghosts, produced by the veteran Brazilian producer Sara Silveira with partners from France and Germany.
The Special Jury award was presented ex aequo to Iranian filmmaker Aliyar Rasti’s The Great Yawn of History and Qiu Yang’s debut feature Some Rain Must Fall.
Documentary and Best First Feature Awards
As mentioned, No Other Land beat off competition from 19 other titles screening in different sections to receive the €40,000 documentary award. The Palestinian-Norwegian co-production had also been voted by the festival audience for the Panorama audience award as the best documentary. Direct Action earned a special mention.
Meanwhile, the German collection society GWFF’s best first feature award with a cash prize of €50,000 went to Vietnamese filmmaker Pham Ngoc Lan’s Cu Li Never Cries, described by the three-women jury of Eliza Hittmann, Andréa Picard and Katrin Porrs as “an inventive and contemplative film”.
Competition
Golden Bear for Best Film - Dahomey by Mati Diop (Frabce/Senegal/Benin)
Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize - A Traveler’s Needs by Hong Sangsoo (South Korea)
Silver Bear Jury Prize - The Empire by Bruno Dumont (France/Italy/Germany/Belgium/Portugal)
Silver Bear for Best Director - Pepe by Nelson Carlos De Los Santos Arias (Dominican Republic/Namibia/Germany/France)
Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance - Sebastian Stan for A Different Man
Silver Bear for Best Supporting Performance - Emily Watson for Small Things Like These
Silver Bear for Best Screenplay - Dying by Matthias Glasner (Germany)
Silver Bear for an Outstanding Artistic Contribution - The Devil’s Bathby Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala (Austria/Germany).
Encounters
Award for Best Film - Direct Action by Guillaume Cailleau and Ben Russell (Germany/France)
Award for Best Director Cidade: Campo by Juliana Rojas (Brazil/France/Germany)
Special Jury Award - ex aequo The Great Yawn of History by Aliyar Rasti (Iran) and Some Rain Must Fall by Qiu Yang (People’s Republic of China/USA/France)
Generation
Kplus
Children’s Jury Crystal Bear for the Best Film - It’s Okay! by Kim Hye-young (South Korea)
Children’s Jury Crystal Bear for the Best Short Film - Butterfly by Florence Miaihle (France)
Grand Prix of Generation International Jury for Best Film - Reinas by Klaudia Reynicke (Switzerland/Spain/Peru)
14plus
Youth Jury Crystal Bear for the Best Film - Last Swim by Sasha Nathwani (UK)
Youth Jury Crystal Bear for the Best Short Film - Cura Sana by Lucia G. Romero (Spain)
Grand Prix of Generation International Jury for Best Film - Who By Fire by Philippe Lesage (Canada/France)
Berlinale Documentary Award
No Other Land by Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor (Palestine/Norway).
Special Mention - Direct Action by Guillaume Cailleau and Ben Russell (Germany/France)
GWFF First Feature Award
Cu Li Never Cries by Pham Ngoc Lan (Vietnam/Singapore/France/Philippines/Norway)
Other awards
Teddy Awards
Best feature film - All Shall Be Well by Ray Yeung (Hong Kong/China)
Best documentary - Teaches Of Peaches by Philipp Fussenegger and Judy Landkammer (Germany)
Jury Award - to the ensemble of Crossing by Levan Akin (Sweden/Denmark/France/Turkey/Georgia)
Special Award - Lothar Lambert
Fipresci prizes
Competition - My Favourite Cake by Maryam Moghaddam & Behtash Sanaeeha (Iran/France/Sweden/Germany)
Encounters - Sleep with Your Eyes Open by Nele Wohlatz (Brazil/Taiwan/Argentina/Germany)
Panorama - Faruk by Aslı Özge (Germany/Turkey/France)
Forum - The Human Hibernation by Anna Cornudella Castro (Spain)
Europa Cinemas Label
Sex by Dag Johan Haugerud (Norway)
Panorama audience awards
Feature Film - Memories of a Burning Body by Antonella Sudasassi Furniss (Costa Rica/Spain)
Documentary - No Other Land by Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor (Palestine/Norway).
Prizes of the independent juries
Amnesty International film award - The Strangers’ Case by Brandt Andersen (Jordan)
Peace Film Prize - Favoriten by Ruth Beckermann (Austria)
Caligari Film Prize - Shahid by Narges Kalhor (Germany)
Prizes of the ecumenical jury
Competition - My Favourite Cake by Maryam Moghaddam & Behtash Sanaeeha (Iran/France/Sweden/Germany)
Panorama - Sex by Dag Johan Haugerud (Norway)
Forum - Maria’s Silence by Davis Simanis (Latvia)
Prizes of the guild of German arthouse cinemas & AG Kino Gilde prize
Competition - Dying by Matthias Glasner (Germany)
Generation 14plus - Last Swim by Sasha Nathwani (UK)
CICAE Arthouse Cinemas award
Panorama - Sex by Dag Johan Haugerud (Norway)
Forum - Shahid by Narges Kalhor (Germany)
No comments yet