Berlin Unveils Juries: Kenneth Lonergan & Bérénice Bejo On Competition Duty
The 70th Berlin International Film Festival has unveiled its juries.
Joining president Jeremy Irons on the international jury is actress Bérénice Bejo (Argentina / France), producer Bettina Brokemper (Germany), director Annemarie Jacir (Palestine), plawright and director Kenneth Lonergan (USA), actor Luca Marinelli (Italy) and film critic and director Kleber Mendonça Filho (Brazil).
They will award prizes including the Golden and the Silver Bears to the 18 films in this year’s Competition line up.
Berlin dropped one of its awards, the Silver Bear Alfred Bauer prize, which goes to a film that “opens new perspectives on cinematic art”, after Nazi collaborator accusations emerged against its namesake in German press this week. No word yet on whether the prize will be reintroduced with a new moniker.
The festival’s new competitive section Encounters will see Dominga Sotomayor (Chile), Eva Trobisch (Germany) and Shôzô Ichiyama (Japan) award three prizes: Best Film, Best Director and a Special Jury Award.
The youth-focused Generations strand has two juries. The Kplus section will be overseen by Abbas Amini (Iran), Jenna Bass (South Africa) and Rima Das. The 14plus competition will be overseen by Marine Atlan (France), María Novaro (Mexico) and Erik Schmitt (Germany).
The international short film jury will feature animation filmmaker Réka Bucsi (Hungary), curator Fatma Çolakoğlu (Turkey) and filmmaker Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese.
The winner of the festival’s documentary prize, which encompasses the Competition, Berlinale Special, Encounters, Panorama, Forum, Generation and Perspektive Deutsches Kino sections, will be selected by Gerd Kroske (Germany), Marie Losier (France / USA), and Alanis Obomsawin (Canada).
Finally, the jury for the Best First Feature Award, which also encompasses multiple programs, will be Ognjen Glavonić (Serbia), Hala Lotfy (Egypt) and Gonzalo de Pedro Amatria (Spain).
The festival winners will be announced at the Berlinale Palast on February 29.