Alcarràs takes Golden Bear

Carla Simon's family drama wins top prize in Berlin

by Amber Wilkinson

Alcarràs won the Golden Bear
Alcarràs won the Golden Bear Photo: Courtesy of Berlinale

Spanish director Carla Simon’s Alcarràs won the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival yesterday.

The film, which charts the tale of a family of peach farmers facing the squeeze in Eighties Catalonia was praised for its "extraordinary" child performances by the jury, headed by M Night Shyamalan.

The Grand Jury Prize Silver Bear went to Hong Sangsoo’s The Novelist’s Film, while Natalia Lopez Gallardo’s Robe Of Gems won the Jury Prize and Claire Denis' Fire took home the best eirector Silver Bear.

The acting awards are gender neutral, with the top prize going to Meltem Kaptan for Rabiye Kurnaz vs George W Bush - which also saw Laila Stieler take best screeenplay - and Laura Basuki taking the best supporting performance for Before, Now And Then.

Ruth Beckermann’s Mutzenbacher was named best film prize in the Encounters section, with Cyril Schaublin winning the best director accolade for Unrest and See You Friday, Robinson taking home the Special Jury award.

The best debut feature went to Kurdwin Ayub’s Sonne and the documentary award went to the Myanmar Film Collective for The Myanmar Diaries.

The full list of main competition winners is below:

  • Golden Bear for Best Film - Alcarras
  • Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize – The Novelist’s Film, dir. Hong Sangsoo
  • Silver Bear Jury Prize – Robe of Gems, dir. Natalia Lopez Gallardo
  • Silver Bear for Best Director – Claire Denis, Fire
  • Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance – Meltem Kaptan, Rabiye Kurnaz vs George W Bush
  • Silver Bear for Best Supporting Performance – Laura Basuki, Before, Now and Then
  • Silver Bear for Best Screenplay – Laila Stieler, Rabiye Kurnaz vs George W Bush
  • Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution – Rithy Panh, Sarit Mang, Everything Will Be OK
  • Special mention - A Piece of Sky, dir. Michael Koch

Encounters

  • Best film – Mutzenbacher, dir. Ruth Beckermann
  • Best director – Cyril Schablin, Unrest
  • Special jury – See You Friday, Robinson, dir. Mitra Farahani
  • Best first feature award – Sonne, dir. Kurdwin Ayub
  • Documentary award – The Myanmar Diaries, dir. Myanmar Film Collective

Generation Kplus

  • Crystal Bear – Comedy Queen dir. Sanna Lenken
  • Special mention – The Quiet Girl dir. Colm Bairéad
  • Grand Prix – The Quiet Girl
  • Special mention – Shabu dir. Shamira Raphaela

14plus

  • Crystal Bear – Alis dir. Clare Weiskopf and Nicolas van Hemelryck
  • Special mention – Stay Awake dir. Jamie Sisley
  • Grand Prix – Kind Hearts dir. Olivia Rochette and Gerard-Jan Claes and Skhema dir. Farkhat Sharipov, ex aequo

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