The 74th Berlin International Film Festival came to an end on Saturday Awarding of the Golden Bear. This year the award for the best film in the competition went to the documentary fiction Dahomey by the French-Senegalese director Mati Diop (Atlantics).
Ghost documentary wins Berlinale main prize
In Dahomey, the journey is accompanied by 26 looted cultural assets that France returned to Benin. However, it is not a conventional documentation. The pictures are accompanied by one ghostly narrator from the off: the voice of King Ghezo or his statue, which is safely packed and sent back to its strange old homeland. By the way, John Boyega played this very King Ghezo in the Hollywood story The Woman King.
After Last year’s Adamant, Dahomey is only the second documentary to receive the Golden Bear at the Berlinale.
Les Films du Bal – Fanta Sy
Dahomey was awarded the Golden Bear
This year’s festival acting awards went to Sebastian Stan (for A Different Man) and Emily Watson, who stars in the opening film Small Things Like These.
Bruno Dumont’s bizarre science fiction adventure The Empire, in which the forces of good and evil descend on a small town in northern France, was awarded the Jury Prize, while Hong Sang-soo’s tragicomedy A Traveler’s Needs with Isabelle Huppert won the Grand Jury Prize received.
Golden Bear and more: The winners of the international competition at the Berlinale 2024
Golden Bear for Best Film
Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize
Silver Bear Jury Prize
Silver Bear for Best Director
Silver Bear for Best Acting Performance in a Leading Role
Silver Bear for Best Acting Performance in a Supporting Role
Silver Bear for Best Screenplay
Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Achievement
The This year’s Honorary Golden Bear was presented to director Martin Scorsese, who is currently in the Oscar race with his historical epic Killers of the Flower Moon.
This year’s international jury at the Berlinale was led by Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave, Black Panther).
She decided on the award together with Brady Corbet (Vox Lux), Ann Hui (Tao Jie – A Simple Life), Christian Petzold (Red Sky), Albert Serra (Pacifiction), Jasmine Trinca (My Wife’s Story) and writer Oksana Zabuzhko the price.