The Berlin International Film Festival delivered its verdict on Wednesday February 16 by awarding the Golden Bear for Best Film to Alcarras by Spanish director Carla Simon. The very feminine prize list confirms a real paradigm shift in the cinematographic universe.
The Berlinale 2022 will go down in history as the edition of the female breakthrough. Seven of the 18 films in competition were directed by women. And 11 of the 16 Golden or Silver Bears were awarded to women!
Starting with the Golden Bear. One of the most prestigious trophies in world cinema was won by Spaniard Carla Simon, 35, for Alcarras. A portrait both sensitive and very profound of a family of farmers shaken by the greed of a modernity wishing to replace agricultural land with solar panels.
This cinematographic fresco very committed in favor of small farmers is distinguished by the freshness of the non-professional actors and the delicacy of the camera which makes the fight of this family both visible and ” our dependence on the land “. Like the Solé family, the director dedicated her award to ” to the people who cultivate the land… to fill our plates “. Already awarded in 2017 at the Berlinale for her first film Summer 1993Carla Simon confessed to consider the Berlin International Film Festival “ like [sa] movie house to which she owes everything.
Cannes, Venice and Berlin crown female directors
This declaration of love is also a great reward for the Berlinale, which has courageously maintained a face-to-face festival. It has thus kept its promise to be at the service of directors and films, despite the Covid pandemic. This thanks to a reinforced health protocol, with compulsory daily tests even for triple vaccinated festival-goers and the cancellation of all festive meetings. To reduce the risks as much as possible, the jury saw 18 films in 6 days and all the gala evenings for the film premieres were “sold out”.
The Berlinale thus becomes the third of the biggest festivals to award a woman the highest distinction of the seventh art, after the Palme d’Or for Titan, french female monster movie Julia Ducournau38, in Cannes, and the Golden Lion for The Eventchronicle of a clandestine abortion in France in the 1960s, by the Frenchwoman Audrey Diwan, 42, at the Venice Film Festival. Without forgetting the Oscar 2021 for nomadland by Chinese-American Chloé Zhao, a story that also has a heroine.
Berlin thus confirms a real paradigm shift (which began at the Venice Film Festival in 2020) in the cinematic universe regarding gender, female stories being told, and generation.
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South Korean Hong Sangsoo, 61, Silver Bear for The Novelist’s Film (featuring two women), and the Franco-Cambodian Rithy Panh, 57, winner of the Extraordinary Artistic Contribution prize for Everything will be okay (a film without actors), are practically the only men receiving a very large prize at the Berlinale 2022.
Not to mention that no male actor has received an interpretation award, because the interpretation award has been renamed since 2021 as the award for Best interpretation of a leading role, therefore without gender distinction. It was awarded to the German of Turkish origin Meltem Kaptan for her incredible acting in Rabiye Kurnaz vs. George W. Bushdirected by Andreas Dresen whose screenwriter Laila Stieler received the screenplay award.
Natalia López Gallardo, 42, Jury Prize winner, is part of this new generation of directors telling women’s stories. Robe of Gems depicts three Mexican women from different generations and social strata marked by such intangible and mysterious violence, but exercised by men. In this sense, the Frenchwoman Claire Denis, Golden Bear for best director for With love and determination, appears almost as an exception in this feminine tidal wave, with its 75 years and featuring a traditional male-female couple while emphasizing that “ it wouldn’t have been possible without actors and actresses like Juliette Binoche and Vincent Lindon “.
► Read also : Berlinale 2022: Claire Denis caresses the explosion of a couple in love
The winners of the 72nd Berlinale
Feature films
Golden Bear: Alcarrasby Carla Simón (Spain, Italy)
Silver Bear – Grand Jury Prize: The Novelist’s filmby Hong Sang-soo (South Korea)
Silver Bear – Jury Prize: Dress of gems, by Natalia López Gallardo (Mexico, Argentina)
Silver Bear for Best Director: Claire Denis for With love and determination (France)
Silver Bear for Artistic Contribution: Everything Will Be OKby Rithy Panh (Cambodia)
Screenplay Silver Bear: Laila Stieler for Rabiye Kurnaz vs. George W. Bushby Andrea Dresen (Germany, France)
Silver Bear for Best Performance: Meltem Kaptan in Rabiye Kurnaz vs. George W. Bushby Andrea Dresen (Germany, France)
Silver Bear for Best Supporting Actor: Laura Basuki in girlby Kamila Andini (Indonesia)
Fipresci Prize (International Federation of Cinematographic Press): Leonora addioby Parolo Taviani (Italy)
Prize for the first film (all sections combined): ringsby Kurdwin Ayub (Austria)
Section Encounters
Special Jury Prize: See you Friday Robinsonby Mitra Farahani (France, Switzerland, Iran, Lebanon)
Best Director Award: Cyril Schäublin for Unrest (Swiss)
Best film : Mutzenbacherby Ruth Beckermann (Austria)
Short films
Golden Bear: Trapby Anastasia Veber (Russia)
Silver Bear: Sunday morningby Bruni Ribeiro (Brazil)
Special mention : Bird in the Peninsulaby Atsushi Wada (Japan)
Documentaries
Golden Bear: myanmar diariesfrom a collective of anonymous filmmakers from Myanmar
Special mention : No U-Turnby Ike Nnaebue (Nigeria)