Black Coal, Thin Ice wins Golden Bear

Chinese thriller takes top prize at Berlin Film Festival, The Grand Budapest Hotel is runner-up.

by Amber Wilkinson

Golden Bear winner Black Coal, Thin Ice
Golden Bear winner Black Coal, Thin Ice Photo: Courtesy Berlinale
Chinese thriller Black Coal, Thin Ice has won the Golden Bear for best film at the 2014 Berlin Film Festival. Directed by Diao Yinan, the film also won the Silver Bear for Liao Fan, who stars in the film as an alcoholic detective.

Wes Anderson's The Grand Budapest Hotel - which will open Glasgow Film Festival on February 20 - won the Grand Jury Prize. Richard Linklater's Boyhood, which had been one of the buzz films of the festival won Richard Linklater the Silver Bear for Best Director.

The Silver Bear Alfred Bauer Prize - for a feature film that opens new perspectives - was given to Alain Resnais's adaptation of Alan Aykborn's play The Life Of Riley (Aimer, boire et chanter). The film was also named the FIPRESCI prize winner in the Competition section.

Haru Kuroki won the Best Actress Silver bear for her role as The Little House (Chiisai Ouchi), Yoji Yamada's tale of hidden passions in Japan.

The Silver Bear for Best Script was given to German film The Stations Of The Cross (Kreuzweg), written by brother and sister Dietrich and Anna Brüggemann.

The Silver Bear for artistic contribution went to cinematographer Zeng Jian for the camerawork in Blind Massage (Tui Na).

Among the other big winners across the festivals additional competitions was The Way He Looks (Hoje eu quero voltar sozinho), directed by Daniel Ribeiro, which won the FIPRESCI Panorama section prize and the Best Feature Film Teddy Award (for best queer film). It also took second place in the Panorama Audience Award, with the top prize going to Ethiopian Film Difret, directed by Zeresenay Berhane Mehari.

The Circle (Der Kreis) was the big documentary winner, taking home the Documentary Panorama Audience Award and the Documentary Teddy Award for its exploration of the only gay organisation to survive the Nazi regime.

The results of the other main competitions are below:

FIPRESCI Jury prizes awarded by the international federation of film critics

PRIZE WINNER COMPETITION 2014 Life Of Riley (Aimer, Boire et Chanter), directed Alain Resnais, France, 2013

PRIZE WINNER PANORAMA 2014 The Way He Looks (Hoje eu quero voltar sozinho), directed by Daniel Ribeiro, Brazil, 2014

PRIZE WINNER FORUM 2014 Forma, directed by Ayumi Sakamoto, Japan, 2013

Teddy Awards

BEST FEATURE FILM 2014 The Way He Looks (Hoje eu quero voltar sozinho), directed by Daniel Ribeiro, Brazil, 2014

BEST DOCUMENTARY/ESSAY FILM 2014 Der Kreis (The Circle), directed by Stefan Haupt, Switzerland, 2014

BEST SHORT FILM 2014 Mondial 2010, directed by Roy Dib, Lebanon, 2013

TEDDY JURY AWARD 2014 Pierrot Lunaire, directed by by Bruce LaBruce, Germany/Canada 2013

BEST FIRST FEATURE AWARD, ENDOWED WITH € 50,000 Güeros, directed by Alonso Ruizpalacios, Mexico, 2014 (Panorama)

CRYSTAL BEARS AND THE AWARDS BY THE BUNDESZENTRALE FÜR POLITISCHE BILDUNG (FEDERAL AGENCY FOR CIVIC EDUCATION) IN GENERATION 14PLUS

Crystal Bear for the Best Film: 52 Tuesdays, directed by Sophie Hyde, Australia, 2013

Special Mention: ärtico, directed by Gabri Velázquez, Spain, 2014

Crystal Bear for the Best Short Film: Mike, directed by Petros Silvestros, UK, 2014

Special Mention Short Film: Emo (the musical)
directed by Neil Triffett, Australia, 2013

The Grand Prix of the Generation 14plus International Jury for the best feature-length film, endowed with € 7,500: Violet, directed by Bas Devos, Belgium/Netherlands, 2013

Special Mention: Einstein and Einstein directed by Cao Baoping, People’s Republic of China, 2013

Special Prize of the Generation 14plus International Jury for the best short film, endowed with €2,500: Vetrarmorgun
 directed by Sakaris Stórá, Faroe Islands, 2013

Special Mention: Søn, directed by Kristoffer Kiørboe, Denmark, 2013

BERLINALE 2014: CRYSTAL BEARS AND DEUTSCHES KINDERHILFSWERK PRIZES IN GENERATION KPLUS

Crystal Bear for the Best Film: 
Killa, directed by Avinash Arun, India, 2014

Special Mention: Hitono Nozomino Yorokobiyo, directed by Masakazu Sugita, Japan, 2013

Crystal Bear for the Best Short Film: 
Sprout, directed by Ga-eun Yoon, South Korea, 2013

Special Mention: Sepatu Baru, directed by Aditya Ahmad, Indonesia, 2013

The Grand Prix of the Generation Kplus International Jury for the best feature-length film, endowed with € 7,500: 
Ciencias Naturales, directed by Matías Lucchesi, Argentina/France, 2014

Special Mention: Killa, directed by Avinash Arun, India, 2014

The Special Prize of the Generation Kplus International Jury for the best short film, endowed with €2,500: 
Moy lichniy los'
 directed by Leonid Shmelkov, Russian Federation, 2013

Special Mention: el, directed by Roland Ferge, Hungary, 2013

Panorama Audience Awards

First Place Fiction Film 2014: Difret, directed by Zeresenay Berhane Mehari, Ethiopia, 2013

2nd Place Fiction Film 2014: The Way He Looks (Hoje eu quero voltar sozinho), directed by Daniel Ribeiro, Brazil, 2014

3rd Place Fiction Film 2014: Patardzlebi (Brides), directed by Tinatin Kajrishvili, Georgia/France 2014

Winners of the Panorama Audience Award – Documentary Film 2014:

1st Place Documentary Fiction Film The Circle (Der Kreis), directed by Stefan Haupt, Switzerland, 2014

2nd Place Documentary Film 2014: Finding Vivian Maier, directed by John Maloof & Charlie Siskel, US, 2014

3rd Place Documentary Film 2014: My Mother, a War and Me (Meine Mutter, ein Krieg und ich), directed by Tamara Trampe & Johann Feindt, Germany, 2014

Official awards from the other independent juries can be viewed on the festival's website.

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