The documentary “Sur l’Adamant” by French director Nicolas Philibert has won the Golden Bear at the Berlinale. The film tells about a center for people with mental health problems in Paris. The new film by German director Christian Petzold also received an award – “Red Sky” received the Grand Jury Prize. The film festival announced the decisions on Saturday evening in Berlin.
The young Spanish actress Sofía Otero has been honored as the best leading actress at the Berlinale. The eight-year-old received the Silver Bear at the Berlinale Gala in Berlin on Saturday for her role in the Spanish film “20,000 especies de abejas”. The young girl, who was in front of the camera for the first time, plays a boy who is in search of his identity and wants to be treated as a girl by his family.
Otero was cast for the role by director Estibaliz Urresola. “Rarely do you see so many emotions and at the same time harrowing simplicity,” the jury justified its decision. Otero tearfully thanked the jury, as well as her family and the film’s contributors. “Thank you for this wonderful award,” she said. According to the film festival, the young actress is the youngest winner in the history of the Berlinale.
The Austrian Thea honor received the Silver Bear for the best acting performance in a supporting role. In Christoph Hochhäusler’s crime thriller “Until the End of the Night,” Honor plays a trans woman who is supposed to investigate undercover with a police officer in the drug scene. The German filmmaker Angela Schanelec was awarded the Screenplay Prize for her Oedipus adaptation “Music”. The Frenchman Philippe Garrel received the Silver Bear for best director, in his film “Le grand chariot” he portrays a family of puppeteers.
The jury prize went to Portuguese director João Canijo’s psychodrama “Mal Viver”, which tells the story of several women in an old hotel. Cinematographer Hélène Louvart received the Silver Bear for outstanding artistic achievement in the drama “Disco Boy”. In it, Franz Rogowski plays a man who flees to France and joins the Foreign Legion.
Alongside Cannes and Venice, the Berlinale is one of the major film festivals. The American actress Kristen Stewart (“Spencer”, “Twilight”) headed the international jury this year. Together with the other jury members, she decided on the awards. Last year, the drama “Alcarràs – The Last Harvest” won the Golden Bear. This year’s Berlinale ends on Sunday.
