Winners have been announced at the 72nd Berlin Film Festival, with Carla Simon’s Alcarràs scooping the coveted Golden Bear prize as the best film of the festival’s International Competition. Scroll down for the full list of winners, which were revealed Wednesday night at the Berlinale Palast.
Alcarràs follows the life of a family of peach farmers in a small village in Catalonia, whose world changes when the owner of their large estate dies and his lifetime heir decides to sell the land, suddenly threatening their livelihood. (Read Deadline’s review of the film here.)
Simon previously picked up Berlin’s Best First Feature Award in 2017 for her debut Summer 1993.
Berlin Review: Golden Bear Winner ‘Alcarràs’ From Director Carla Simon
Other winners in the International Competition included Hong Sang-soo’s The Novelist’s Film, which won the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize (review here); Natalia Lopez Gallardo, who picked up the Silver Bear Jury Prize for Robe of Gems (review here); and Claire Denis, who won the Silver Bear for Best Director for Fire (or Both Sides of the Blade) (review here).
Berlin introduced gender-neutral acting awards ahead of last year’s festival, with the winner of this year’s Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance going to Meltem Kaptan for Rabiye Kurnaz vs George W. Bush (review here) and the Silver Bear for Best Supporting Performance going to Laura Basuki for Before, Now & Then (review here).
Laila Stieler won the Silver Bear for Best Screenplay for Rabiye Kurnaz vs George W. Bush. Rithy Panh picked up the Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution for his stop-motion animation Everything Will Be Ok (review here), while Michael Koch’s A Piece of Sky (review here) received a special mention from the international jury, which was presided over by M. Night Shyamalan. He was joined on the panel by Karim Aïnouz, Anne Zohra Berrached, Saïd Ben Saïd, Tsitsi Dangarembga, Ryûsuke Hamaguchi and Connie Nielsen.
The 2022 festival took place in a condensed format due to the Covid situation, opening February 10 and hosting a jam-packed program of premieres in just six days before this evening’s awards ceremony. The remaining days of the event, which runs until February 20, will be dedicated to catch-up screenings.
It was a challenging year for the festival, with organizers pushing on despite the difficult Covid-related circumstances that Germany is experiencing, with the Omicron wave appearing to peak during the event. When the fest opened last week, there were question marks in local press about whether it should take place at all, but from an outside perspective it appears to have run about as smoothly as could be expected.
“It’s a very special night. More than ever I am very grateful to everyone who made the festival possible,” said Berlinale co-director Carlo Chatrian during this evening’s ceremony. “The last month and a half were very stressful, but the team is very committed. For a festival director, every film is like his own kid, so I want to thank all the filmmakers for being with us. The festival is a collective work.”
Elsewhere, the Berlin Documentary Award went to Myanmar Diaries, directed by the Myanmar Film Collective, an anonymous group of filmmakers living in the embattled Asian nation. Deadline conducted an interview with the Collective, via an intermediary, as their filmmaking activities put their lives at risk, during the festival this year.
The Best First Feature prize went to Sonne by Kurdwin Ayub. The film was produced by Ulrich Seidl. In the Encounters section, Best Film went to Ruth Beckermann for Mutzenbacher (review here) while Best Director went to Cyril Schaublin for Unrest. Mitra Farahani’s See You Friday, Robinson received a Special Jury Award.
Isabelle Huppert was the recipient of the festival’s honorary prize last night, though was unable to travel to Berlin having tested positive for Covid, instead picking up her prize via video link. The Generation programs also confirmed their awards earlier today.
Below is the full list of winners.
Prizes of the International Jury
Golden Bear for Best Film
Alcarràs
By Carla Simon
Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize
The Novelist’s Film
By Hong Sang-soo
Silver Bear Jury Prize
Robe Of Gems
By Natalia Lopez Gallardo
Silver Bear for Best Director
Claire Denis for Fire (or Both Side Of The Blade)
Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance
Meltem Kaptan for Rabiye Kurnaz vs George W. Bush
By Andreas Dresen
Silver Bear for Best Supporting Performance
Laura Basuki for Before, Now & Then
By Kamila Andini
Silver Bear for Best Screenplay
Laila Stieler for Rabiye Kurnaz vs George W. Bush
By Andreas Dresen
Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution
Everything Will Be Ok
By Rithy Panh
Special Mention
A Piece Of Sky
By Michael Koch
Prizes of the Encounters jury
Award for Best Film
Mutzenbacher
By Ruth Beckermann
Award for Best Director
Cyril Schaublin for Unrest
Special Jury Award
See You Friday, Robinson
By, Mitra Farahani
GWFF Best First Feature Award
Sonne
By Kurdwin Ayub
Berlinale Documentary Award
Myanmar Diaries
By The Myanmar Film Collective
Prizes of the International Short Film Jury
Golden Bear Best Short Film
Trap
By Anastasia Veber
Silver Bear Jury Prize (Short Film)
Sunday Morning
By Bruno Ribiero
Generation 14plus:
Grand Prix
Kind Hearts
by Olivia Rochette and Gerard-Jan Claes
Generation 14plus Short Film
Au revoir Jérôme !
by Adam Sillard, Gabrielle Selnet and Chloé Farr
Generation Kplus
Grand Prix
An Cailín Ciúin
by Colm Bairéad
Generation Kplus Short Film
Gavazn
by Hadi Babaeifar
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