(Berlin) A documentary about psychiatry by Frenchman Nicolas Philibert won the Golden Bear at the Berlinale on Saturday, which awarded its interpretation prize to an eight-year-old Spanish girl for a film about childhood and trans identity.
Posted 3:07pm Updated 5:03pm
Céline LE PRIOUX and François BECKER in the Paris Agence France-Presse
Two decades after the immense success of Sein und haben, the 72-year-old documentary filmmaker is dropping out of school for this dive into the psychiatric universe, the first of a trilogy on the subject.
With no voice overs, examining the patients’ faces in this unique structure where they are given great freedom, Sur l’Adamant shows the blurring line between nurses and patients.
“The stereotypes are persistent, the film tries to unravel them, (but) there’s still a long way to go,” he said.
We can see patients participating in therapeutic or artistic workshops, but also forgetting their sick leave to build a life together, for example by helping to control the budget.
“The craziest people aren’t who you think they are,” added the director of this long-running documentary.
Documentary films are regularly selected in major international film competitions, but rarely win awards. Last year the Venice Film Festival awarded its Golden Lions to a film about the opiate crisis in the United States directed by Laura Poitras (All Beauty and Blood Spilled).
This award “is a recognition of documentary, my kind of art,” explained Nicolas Philibert, hoping that it will help other documentary filmmakers to develop their projects.
“This festival is here to push the boundaries,” said American actress Kristen Stewart, who at 32 was the youngest jury president in the festival’s history. “The invisible parameters forged by industry and science of what a film is don’t stand a chance with this one,” she added.
Sur l’Adamant will be released in France on April 19th.
“He is a humanist author who is honored. And also his heroes, the patients and carers of the psychiatric world. A story of humanity and commitment,” welcomed French President Emmanuel Macron in a tweet on Saturday night.
Another Frenchman, Philippe Garrel, 74, received the Silver Bear for best director for Le Grand Chariot, a film that looks like an artistic testament filmed with his children.
childhood and trans identity
The jury, which also included former Golden Bear winners Radu Jude and Carla Simon or Franco-Iranian actress Golshifteh Farahani, also rewarded the performance of an 8-year-old girl, Spain’s Sofia Otera, for her role in 20,000 species of bees.
With tears in her eyes, the aspiring actress received the award for best interpretation, which is gender-neutral and replaces the award for best actor or actress in Berlin.
In the film, signed by Estíbaliz Urresola from Spain, she plays a nine-year-old child who was born a boy and considers himself a girl. The question of gender and trans identity, which more and more filmmakers are grappling with, was present at the awards like never before.
Austrian trans actress Thea Honor received the Supporting Character Award for her role in Till The End of The Night, and thinker Paul B. Preciado, a key figure on these issues, won in parallel sections for his first film (Orlando, My Political Biography). .
Beyond the competition, this 73rd edition of the Berlinale has allowed a return to normal after the restrictions related to COVID-19 and a number of celebrities have returned.
We were able to see Sean Penn, who had come to present a documentary about his wartime wanderings in Ukraine, singer Bono and legendary director Steven Spielberg, who received an honorary Golden Bear award.