18/02/2006

After 10 exciting days and over 400 films, the top winners of the 56th Berlinale were finally announced tonight. European productions (German films, in particular) made a splash among the members of the international jury, which awarded the Golden Bear to Austrian/German/Bosnian/Croatian co-production Grbavica [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Barbara Albert
interview: Jasmila Zbanic
film profile], the directorial debut of Jasmila Zbanic. Zbanic was moved to receive the award, and thanked the jury for having considered a small film from a small country on, however, a subject of enormous scale. Set in Sarajevo, Grbavica uses the story of a mother and daughter to tell a larger, political tale of the aftermath of war in Bosnia in general, and the mass rape of women in particular. The director further admitted that, to her, the prize represents a bigger responsibility for future projects: "I thought I would be relaxed doing my second film. Now it is going to be hard”!

Moritz Bleibtreu conquered the jury's heart and the Best Actor Silver Bear for his role in Oskar Roehler's The Elementary Particles [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Franka Potente & Moritz Ble…
interview: Oskar Roehler
film profile] (Elementarteilchen), and young theatre actress Sandra Müller thrilled Berlinale audiences with her outstanding performance in Hans-Christen Schmid's Requiem [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Hans-Christian Schmid
interview: Hans-Christian Schmid
interview: Sandra Hueller
film profile] and walked away with the Silver Bear for Best Actress. Jürgen Bleibtreu, lead actor, co-writer and co-producer of The Free Will (Der Freie Will), received the Silver Bear for Best Artistic Contribution.

At the press conference following the awards ceremony, the three actors stressed the existence of a new wave in German cinema, which allows young directors to make independent films and experiment in a domain previously neglected in Germany. "It's a unique moment! We have a lot of freedom," said Bleibtreu.

Alfred Bauer Award winner El Custodio [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Rodrigo Moreno was also a German co-production, backed by Pandora Films and supported by the Berlin's World Cinema Fund.

Michael Winterbottom and Mat Whitecross share the Silver Bear for Best Director for their controversial docudrama Road to Guantanamo [+see also:
trailer
film profile], while the night's biggest surprise was Danish title A Soap [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Lars Bredo Rahbek
interview: Pernille Fischer Christensen
film profile] (En Soap), directed by Pernille-Fischer Christensen, which received the Best First Feature Award and the Jury Grand Prize ex-aequo with Iranian film Offside.

The list of winners:

Golden Bear for Best Film (to the producers)
Grbavica [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Barbara Albert
interview: Jasmila Zbanic
film profile] (Austria, BA/DE/HR)
by Jasmila Zbanic

Silver Bear-Grand Jury Prize
ex-aequo
A Soap [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Lars Bredo Rahbek
interview: Pernille Fischer Christensen
film profile] (DK)
by Pernille Fischer Christensen
Offside (Iran)
by Jafar Panahi

Silver Bear for Best Director
Michael Winterbottom & Mat Whitecross
Road to Guantanamo [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (GB)

Silver Bear for Best Actress
Sandra Hoeller
Requiem [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Hans-Christian Schmid
interview: Hans-Christian Schmid
interview: Sandra Hueller
film profile] (DE)

Silver Bear for Best Actor
Moritz Bleibtreu
The Elementary Particles [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Franka Potente & Moritz Ble…
interview: Oskar Roehler
film profile] (DE)

Silver Bear for An Artistic Contribution
Jürgen Vogel as Actor, co-Author and Co-Producer of
The Free Will (DE)

Silver Bear for Best Music
Isabella (HK) by Pang Ho-cheung

Alfred Bauer Award
El Custodio de Rodrigo Moreno (AR, DE, FR)

Best First Feature Film Award
A Soap [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Lars Bredo Rahbek
interview: Pernille Fischer Christensen
film profile] (DK)
by Pernille Fischer Christensen

Teddy Award
Combat

FIPRESCI Award (Competition)
Requiem [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Hans-Christian Schmid
interview: Hans-Christian Schmid
interview: Sandra Hueller
film profile]

FIPRESCI Award (Panorama)
Knallhart [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (Tough Enough)

FIPRESCI Award (Forum)
In Between Days