Photo by Sebastian Reuter/Getty Images.
The winners were announced at the 73rd Berlin Film Festival: On the Adamant by Nicolas Philibert won the coveted Golden Bear for Best Film in the Festival’s International Competition. scroll down for the full list of winners, which was unveiled at the Berlinale Palast on Saturday evening.
The film tells of a unique day care center in the heart of Paris that welcomes adults with mental disorders and provides them with the kind of care that grounds them in time and space and helps them recover or keep happy.
Introducing the film, Jury Chair Kristen Stewart said the image was “masterfully done” and “a cinematic testament to the vital need for human expression.”
Other International Competition winners included Philippe Garrel, who received the Silver Bear for Best Director for his latest film, Le Grand Chariot. Garrel dedicated the award to the late filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard. The Jury Silver Bear went to Joᾶo Canijo for Bad Living, and German filmmaker Christian Petzold won the Grand Jury Prize Silver Bear for his latest picture Red Sky. review here.
Berlin introduced gender-neutral acting awards in 2021, and the winner of this year’s Silver Bear for Best Actress went to child actress Sofía Ortero for her screen debut in 20,000 Kinds of Bees, and the Silver Bear for Best Supporting Actress was picked up by Thea honor for Until the End of the Night.
German filmmaker Angela Schanelec won the Silver Bear for Best Screenplay for Music and French cinematographer the Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution for her work in Disco Boy by Giacomo Abbruzzese.
Away from the main competition, the Festival’s Ecumenical Jury awarded the top competition prize to Lila Avilés’ Tótem, Léa Fehner’s Sages-femmes (Midwives) won the Panorama Prize and Mehran Tamadon’s Jaii keh khoda nist (Where God Is Not) won Forum. Sur l’Adamant (On the Adamant) by Nicolas Philibert received a special mention from the jury.
The ceremony was a relatively uncomplicated affair as the festival jury and guests arrived on the red carpet as the Berlin skies opened up and sleet began to pour. Elsewhere, early Saturday morning, Apolline Traoré’s Sira was announced as the winner of the Panorama Audience Award for Best Feature Film, while D. Smith’s Kokomo City accepted the Audience Award in the Panorama Documents section.
This year the festival opened with Rebecca Miller’s latest She Came to Me starring Peter Dinklage, Marisa Tomei, Joanna Kulig, Brian d’Arcy James and Anne Hathaway.
Dubbed an exploration of “love in all its forms,” the picture is set in New York City and follows composer Steven Lauddem (Dinklage) who is creatively blocked and unable to complete the score for his big comeback – to complete the opera. At the behest of his wife Patricia (Anne Hathaway), his former therapist, he goes in search of inspiration. What he discovers, the synopsis states, is much more than he expected or imagined.
The film was shown out of competition as a special gala in the Berlinale Palast.
Actress Kristen Stewart chaired the international competition jury. She was joined by Iranian-French actress Golshifteh Farahani, German director Valeska Grisebach, Romanian director Radu Jude, US casting director and producer Francine Maisler, Spanish director Carla Simón and legendary Hong Kong director and producer Johnnie To.
This year’s Honorary Golden Bear was presented to Steven Spielberg. The legendary Jaws director accepted the award in person on Tuesday, where he delivered a rousing speech at the Berlinale Palast.
Check out the list of winners below:
International Jury Awards
Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution
Hélène Louvart for the camera in Disco Boy.
Silver Bear for Best Screenplay
Angela Schanelec for music
Silver Bear for Best Fringe Achievement
Thea Honor for Until the End of the Night
Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance
Sofia Ortero for 20,000 bee species
Silver Bear for Best Director
Philippe Garrel for Le Grand Chariot (The Plow)
Jury Prize Silver Bear
Bad Living (Mal Viver) by Joᾶo Canijo
Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize
Red Sky by Christian Petzold
Golden Bear for Best Film
On the Adamant by Nicolas Philibert
encounter jury
Special Jury Prize
Orlando, my political biography by Paul B. Preciado
Samsara by Lois Patino
Best Director
Tatyana Huezo
Best Film Award
Here by Bas Devos
GWFF Award for Best First Feature
The Klezmer Project (Adentro mío estoy bailando) by Leandro Koch and Paloma Schachmann
Berlinale Documentary Film Award
The Echo of Tatiana Huezo