The 2016 Berlin Film Festival draws to close but not before announcing the top picks of the annual festival. This years jury – headed by three-time Oscar winning legend Meryl Streep – opted for the acclaimed documentary hybrid Fire at Sea to take top honors, the prestigious Golden Bear. The Italian entry, directed by Gianfranco Rosi, depicts with harrowing detail life on the Mediterranean island of Lampedusa. Of the film, Streep stated, “It’s a daring hybrid of captured footage and deliberate storytelling that allows us to consider what documentary can do. It is urgent, imaginative and necessary filmmaking.”
Things to Come, a French drama starring Isabelle Huppert; directed by Mia Hansen-Løve (Eden, the Cannes-winning Father of My Children) took home the directors prize while Tomasz Wasilewski’s Polish drama United States of Love won for Best Script. Trine Dyrholm, Danish actress who has appeared in films like A Royal Affair, Love Is All You Need and Thomas Vinterberg’s The Celebration took the Best Actress prize for collaborating again with Vinterberg in the 1970s-set drama The Commune. Vinterberg has also directed the Oscar nominated The Hunt, It’s All About Love with Joaquin Phoenix and Claire Danes as last springs’ Far From the Madding Crowd.
In recent years, Berlinale has proved somewhat prescient in handing out prizes to eventual Oscar favorites including Boyhood, The Grand Budapest Hotel and last years’ Best Actress win for eventual Academy Award nominee Charlotte Rampling (45 Years). These year, the Berlin selection may be less evident. Have a look below at what films took prizes:
- GOLDEN BEAR (Best Film): Fire at Sea (Italy/France) – directed by Gianfranco Rosi
- SILVER BEAR (Grand Jury Prize): Death in Sarajevo (France, Bosnia and Herzegovina) – directed by Danis Tanovic
- SILVER BEAR (Best Director): Mia Hansen-Løve, Things to Come
- SILVER BEAR (Best Actor): Majd Mastoura, Inhebbek Hedi
- SILVER BEAR (Best Actress): Trine Dyrholm, The Commune
- SILVER BEAR (Best Script): United States of Love – Tomasz Wasilewski
- SILVER BEAR (Outstanding Artistic Achievement): Mark Lee Ping-Bing (cinematography), Crosscurrent
- BEST FIRST FEATURE: Inhebbek Hedi (Tunisa/Belgium/France) – directed by Mohamed Ben Attia
- ALFRED BAUER PRIZE (for a feature that opens new perspectives): A Lullaby for a Sorrowful Mystery (Philippines/Singapore) – directed by Lav Diaz
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