Not only are bears awarded at the Berlinale, but a silver camera is also a coveted prize at the film festival. Meryl Streep has already received the Berlinale camera, and Clint Eastwood, Claude Chabrol, Rosa von Praunheim and Michael Ballhaus have also taken home the honorary prize.
Since 1986, the camera at the Berlinale has been awarded to personalities and institutions who have made outstanding contributions to film. It is closely connected to Düsseldorf. The honorary prize has been made by a goldsmith’s studio in the North Rhine-Westphalian state capital for almost 40 years.
128 individual parts
Jewelry designer Alexander Hornemann is heading to Berlin again these days. In his luggage he has the 26 centimeter high camera made of 128 individual parts with a movable panning head and tripod. This year, director and author Edgar Reitz (91) will be honored with the Berlinale Camera at the 74th International Film Festival.
Every year Hornemann brings the camera, which was made over three weeks of painstaking work in the studio on Königsallee, to Berlin. He was also often present at the award ceremony. “The funniest winner was Claude Chabrol,” says Hornemann. “He got the camera, walked all over the stage and acted as if he was filming all the audience members.”
The goldsmith’s studio of Georg Hornemann (83) and his son Alexander (60) has already made more than 100 cameras – because several personalities are often honored with them in one Berlinale year. Along with Cannes and Venice, the Berlinale is one of the world’s largest film festivals and begins on February 15th.
