- Dahomey wins Golden Bear
- Focus on looted African art
- Awards span global contributions
The Berlin International Film Festival’s top award has been awarded to “Dahomey,” a documentary by Franco-Senegalese director Mati Diop that examines the thorny issues surrounding Europe’s return of plundered antiquities to Africa.
The seven-member panel’s selection for the Golden Bear award was unveiled by Kenyan-Mexican Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o at a gala ceremony held in the German capital on Saturday.
Diop stated that the award “honours not only myself but the entire visible and invisible community that the film symbolises.”
The documentary “addresses a matter that has occupied considerable attention throughout Europe and the film industry.”
“Dahomey focuses on the Benin bronzes and the arduous process of reclaiming them.” “Director Mati Diop alluded to the entire principle of restitution when she accepted the Golden Bear award at this festival,” Kane explained.
In his third collaboration with French film stalwart Isabelle Huppert, Hong Sang-soo won the runner-up Grand Jury Prize. The award was for “A Traveler’s Needs,” a South Korean arthouse favourite.
Hong, a recurring festival attendee, expressed gratitude to the jury while teasing, “I have no idea what you saw in this film.”
Innovative Voices Shine at Berlinale
French author Bruno Dumont was awarded the third-place Jury Prize for his film “The Empire.” The film is set in a French fishing village and explores an intergalactic conflict between virtue and evil.
Best director was awarded to Dominican director Nelson Carlo de Los Santos Arias for his enigmatic documentary “Pepe,” in which he channelled the spirit of a hippopotamus that belonged to the deceased Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar.
Sebastian Stan won the Silver Bear for his performance in “A Different Man.”
Stan portrays a thespian afflicted with neurofibromatosis, a genetic disorder that results in malignant tumours. He is miraculously cured by an innovative medical procedure.
The Romanian-American actor characterised it as “a narrative that explores disfigurement and disability in addition to acceptance, identity, and self-truth – a subject that has been largely neglected due to our own prejudice.”
Emily Watson of the United Kingdom won the Silver Bear for best supporting actress. She was awarded for her portrayal of a heartless mother superior in “Small Things Like These.”
The film, which features Cillian Murphy, delves into the Magdalene laundries network, which comprised Roman Catholic penitentiary workhouses for “fallen women” and was one of the most infamous controversies of modern Ireland.
She honoured tens of thousands of young women. Their lives were obliterated as a result of the collusion between the Irish state and the Catholic church.
The Silver Bear for best screenplay was awarded to German writer-director Matthias Glasner for his semi-autobiographical tragicomedy “Dying.” In the three-hour tour de force, a dysfunctional family is portrayed by some of the nation’s finest actors.
Diverse Wins at Berlinale 2023
The Silver Bear for exceptional artistic contribution was awarded to cinematographer Martin Gschlacht for “The Devil’s Bath,” a terrifying Austrian historical horror film. It recounts how despondent women of the eighteenth century committed homicide with the intention of facing execution.
A distinct Berlinale Documentary Award was bestowed upon “No Other Land,” an organisation of Palestinian-Israeli activists that documented the displacement of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank by Israeli military and settlers.
“By accepting the award, the two men most prominent in this film—one Israeli and one Palestinian—both emphasised the urgent need for a ceasefire,” Kane said. “Many others have picked up on this sentiment, including some award recipients and presenters.”
“Cu Li Never Cries,” directed by Pham Ngoc Lan of Vietnam, was awarded the award for best first feature. The film chronicles the journey of a woman who transports the ashes of her estranged spouse from Germany to Vietnam.
The award for best short film went to Francisco Lezama’s “An Odd Turn.” The Argentine film follows a museum security man who uses a pendulum to predict dollar appreciation.
The festival, known as the Berlinale, is regarded alongside Cannes and Venice as preeminent cinema exhibits in Europe.
The Golden Bear was also awarded to a French documentary, “On the Adamant.” It examined a floating crèche for individuals with psychiatric issues the previous year.
