On Saturday evening, the awards for the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival were announced with the documentary from Nicolas Philibert taking top honours, the Golden Bear for Sur l’Adamant. The film is about a mental facility based on the River Seine in Paris. I was over at the festival this year and it really was a great year, though the main winner is a little bit surprising. The likes of Totem and Past Lives – a film absolutely adored – were tipped for the top gong, certainly among the people I chatted to in town.
The honourary Golden Bear, a lifetime achievement award, was awarded to Steven Spielberg (pictured below), who also turned up in Germany to pick up the award personally. A series of his films were screened at the festival across the ten days, including his latest film The Fabelmans.
Here are the full list of winners for this year’s Berlinale.
Golden Bear for Best Film
Sur l’Adamant (On the Adamant), directed by Nicolas Philibert
Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize
Roter Himmel (Afire), directed by Christian Petzold
Silver Bear Jury Prize
Mal Viver (Bad Living), directed by João Canijo
Silver Bear for Best Director
Philippe Garrel for Le Grand Chariot (The Plough)
Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance
Sofía Otero in 20,000 Especies de Abejas (20,000 Species of Bees), by Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren
Silver Bear for Best Supporting Performance
Thea Ehre in Bis ans Ende der Nacht (Till the End of the Night), directed by Christoph Hochhäusler
Silver Bear for Best Screenplay
Angela Schanelec for Music, also directed by Angela Schanelec
Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution
Hélène Louvart for cinematography in Disco Boy, directed by Giacomo Abbruzzese
Panorama Audience Awards
Sira, directed by Apolline Traoré
Kokomo City, directed by D. Smith
