“Sur l’Adamant” is about a day clinic floating on the Seine in Paris, where people with mental health problems are treated. The documentary was a “masterfully designed film,” declared the Berlinale jury. Philibert said he was “deeply touched” that a documentary won the Golden Bear.
With his film, he tried to turn around the image that society has “of the so-called crazy people,” said the 72-year-old. “As we all know, the craziest people aren’t who we think they are,” said Philibert.
The international jury, headed by US actress Kristen, awarded the Silver Bear for the best performance in a leading role to the young Spaniard Sofía Otero. The girl who was in front of the camera for the first time plays a child in the Spanish film “20,000 especies de abejas” who is looking for her own identity.
“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. The Silver Bear for the best performance in a supporting role went to the Austrian actress Thea Ehre for the film “Until the end of the night”.
Two German productions were also among the winners. The film “Red Sky” by Christian Petzold was awarded the Grand Jury Prize. The relationship drama is about four young people who spend a summer together in a holiday home on the Baltic Sea.
German filmmaker Angela Schanelec won the Silver Bear for Best Screenplay. In her film “Music”, which she also directed, the 61-year-old brought the Greek myth of Oedipus into the near present. The jury found that she proved to be a “master of elliptical storytelling”.
The 74-year-old Frenchman Philippe Garrel, who competed at the Berlinale with his family drama “Le Grand Chariot”, was honored as best director. The Portuguese film director João Canijo won the Jury Prize for his film “Mal Viver”. The film is about five women who run a hotel that they want to save from dilapidation. Hélène Louvart won the Silver Bear for outstanding artistic achievement for her cinematography in the film “Disco Boy”.
Minister of State for Culture Claudia Roth (Greens) called this year’s 73rd Berlinale an “artistic ray of hope in a dark time of violence and destruction”. The winners stand “for a cinematic art of being human and humanity,” explained Roth.
At this year’s film festival, 19 productions competed for the coveted main prizes, five of which came from Germany. 16 of the films celebrated their world premiere in Berlin. US director Steven Spielberg was honored with the honorary bear for his life’s work on Tuesday.
The Berlinale ends on Sunday with a public day. All competition films are to be shown again. A total of 287 entries from 67 countries were shown during the Berlinale, which lasted around a week. Last year, the Spanish drama “Alcarràs” won the Golden Bear.
