Berlin Film Festival Winners: French Documentary ‘On The Adamant’ By Nicolas Philibert Wins Golden Bear
Winners have been announced at the 73rd Berlin Film Festival, with On the Adamant by Nicolas Philibert scooping the coveted Golden Bear prize as the best film of the festival’s International Competition. Scroll down for the full list of winners, which were revealed Saturday evening at the Berlinale Palast.
The film chronicles a unique day-care center in the heart of Paris that welcomes adults suffering from mental disorders, offering the kind of care that grounds them in time and space and helps them to recover or keep up their spirits.
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Introducing the film, jury head Kristen Stewart said the pic is “masterfully crafted” and acts as “cinematic proof of the vital necessity of human expression.”
Other winners in the International Competition included Philippe Garrel, who picked up the Silver Bear for Best Director for his latest pic Le grand chariot (The Plough). Garrel dedicated the award to the late filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard. The Silver Bear Jury Prize was picked up by Joᾶo Canijo for Bad Living (Mal Viver) (review here), and German filmmaker Christian Petzold nabbed the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize for his latest pic Roter Himmel. Review here.
Berlin introduced gender-neutral acting awards in 2021, and the winner of this year’s Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance went to child actor Sofía Ortero for her debut screen performance in 20,000 Species of Bees, and the Silver Bear for Best Supporting Performance was picked up by Thea Ehre for Till the End of The Night.
German filmmaker Angela Schanelec won the Silver Bear for Best Screenplay for Music and French cinematographer Hélène Louvart won the Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution for her work in Disco Boy by Giacomo Abbruzzese.
Away from the main competition, the festival’s Ecumenical Jury gave the top competition prize to Lila Avilés’s Tótem, Léa Fehner’s Sages-femmes (Midwives) took the Panorama prize, and Mehran Tamadon’s Jaii keh khoda nist (Where God Is Not) topped Forum. The jury’s special mention was Sur l’Adamant (On the Adamant) by Nicolas Philibert.
The ceremony was a relatively straightforward affair, with the festival jury and guests arriving on the red carpet as the Berlin sky opened and sleet began to flow. Elsewhere, early Saturday morning, Sira by Apolline Traoré was announced as the winner of the Panorama Audience Award for the best feature film, while Kokomo City by D. Smith picked up the audience award in the Panorama Dokumente section.
This year, the festival opened with Rebecca Miller’s latest She Came to Me, starring Peter Dinklage, Marisa Tomei, Joanna Kulig, Brian d’Arcy James, and Anne Hathaway.
Billed as an exploration of “love in all its forms,” the pic is set in New York City and follows composer Steven Lauddem (Dinklage), who is creatively blocked and unable to finish the score for his big comeback opera. At the behest of his wife Patricia (Anne Hathaway), formerly his therapist, he sets out in search of inspiration. What he discovers, the synopsis reads is much more than he bargained for or imagined.
The film was screened out of competition as a Special Gala at the Berlinale Palast.
Actress Kristen Stewart headed the international competition jury. She was joined by Iranian-French actress Golshifteh Farahani, German director Valeska Grisebach, Romanian director Radu Jude, US casting director and producer Francine Maisler, Spanish director Carla Simón, and iconic Hong Kong director and producer Johnnie To.
This year’s Honorary Golden Bear was handed to Steven Spielberg. The legendary Jaws director accepted the award in person on Tuesday, where he gave a rousing speech at the Berlinale Palast.
Check out the list of winners below:
Prizes of the International Jury
Silver Bear for an Outstanding Artistic Contribution
Hélène Louvart for the cinematography in Disco Boy.
Silver Bear for Best Screenplay
Angela Schanelec for Music
Silver Bear for Best Supporting Performance
Thea Ehre for Till the End of The Night
Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance
Sofía Ortero for 20,000 Species of Bees
Silver Bear for Best Director
Philippe Garrel for Le grand chariot (The Plough)
Silver Bear Jury Prize
Bad Living (Mal Viver) by Joᾶo Canijo
Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize
Roter Himmel by Christian Petzold
Golden Bear for Best Film
On the Adamant by Nicolas Philibert
Encounters Jury
Special Jury Award
Orlando, My Political Biography by Paul B. Preciado
Samsara by Lois Patino
Best Director
Tatiana Huezo
Award For Best Film
Here by Bas Devos
GWFF Best First Feature Award
The Klezmer Project (Adentro mío estoy bailando) by Leandro Koch and Paloma Schachmann
Berlinale Documentary Award
The Echo by Tatiana Huezo
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