73rd Berlin Film Festival

The 73rd annual Berlin International Film Festival, usually called the Berlinale (), took place from 16 to 26 February 2023. It was the first completely in-person Berlinale since the 70th in 2020. The festival has added a new award for best television series this year. On 15 December 2022, the first Panorama and Generation titles for the festival were announced, and on 13 January 2023, many world premieres were added to out-of-competition lineup, including Israeli filmmaker Guy Nattiv's '' Golda''—a biographical film about Golda Meir, first female Prime Minister of Israel.

The festival opened with American filmmaker and novelist Rebecca Miller's drama film '' She Came to Me''. A live video stream with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was part of the opening ceremony. On 21 February 2023, American filmmaker Steven Spielberg was presented with the Honorary Golden Bear for lifetime achievement by Irish singer-songwriter Bono. Spielberg's films were screened in the Homage section for the occasion. At the award ceremony held on 25 February hosted by , ''On the Adamant'', a documentary film about a daycare centre in Paris for people with mental disorders, directed by French filmmaker Nicolas Philibert, won the Golden Bear. The Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize was awarded to ''Afire'' by German filmmaker Christian Petzold (director), Christian Petzold. The highlight of the award ceremony was the Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance won by Sofía Otero for the role of eight-year-old Lucía in ''20,000 Species of Bees''; Otero, at age nine, became the youngest winner of the award in the Berlinale history.

Festival closed on 26 February with total sales of tickets touching 320,000, and around 20,000 accredited professionals from 132 countries including 2,800 media representatives attending the festival.

Background

The film registration for the festival began in September 2022 with the closing date for submission fixed on 23 November 2022. On 13 October 2022, with the slogan of "Let's Get Together", signifying in-person interactions in all the programmes of the festival after two years of the programmes held online due to COVID-19. It was also announced that Berlinale Series Award would be inaugurated in 2023.

The festival poster was designed by Claudia Schramke, who had also created the previous year's Berlinale poster. The executive director of the Berlinale, , described the poster as the key visual for the 2023 Berlinale, saying that it directed the attention toward the audience—the indispensable core of the festival. Rissenbeek said, "We're very pleased that with this year's poster, we can honour those whose curiosity, enthusiasm, and applause make the Berlinale a vibrant, inspiring, and joyful event."

Opening and closing ceremonies

The opening ceremony of the festival was held on 16 February with jury members and international and German stars walking the red carpet. The jury president Kristen Stewart, in her opening speech, pointed out about "oppressions against our physical selves". She said that, albeit she was a woman, she represented "the least marginal version of a woman". On that topic, Golshifteh Farahani, Iranian-French actress and one of the jury members, noted that "some women are not as fortunate."

Russo-Ukrainian War, Russia's war on Ukraine and Human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran were topical discussions at the ceremony. After Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appeared via satellite and introduced by American actor and filmmaker Sean Penn, Zelenskyy remarked, "A logical question comes up: On which side should culture and art be?" and added, "Can art be outside of politics? Should cinema be outside of politics? It's an eternal question but today it is extremely [pertinent]." Afterward, the opening film of the festival, Rebecca Miller's drama film ''She Came to Me'', was screened.

The closing ceremony or award night was held on 25 February, hosted by the German radio and television presenter Hadnet Tesfai. French documentary film ''On the Adamant'', about a Paris daycare centre for people with mental disorders, by Nicolas Philibert won the Golden Bear. Stewart called the film "masterfully crafted" and a "cinematic proof of the vital necessity of human expression." Philibert asked in his acceptance speech if the jury members were "crazy" and yet nevertheless thanked them, saying "that documentary can be considered to be cinema in its own right touches me deeply."

The Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize was won by ''Afire'' by Christian Petzold (director), Christian Petzold. Sofía Otero, a nine-year-old girl was the winner of Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance for the role of eight-year-old Lucía in ''20,000 Species of Bees''. She became the youngest winner of the gender-neutral award in the Berlinale history. Stewart commented that Otero had defied "a system designed to diminish the intelligence of the performer", particularly that of child performers. After the ceremony, Otero said to the press that she wanted to dedicate her life to acting. The ceremony closed with a screening of the Golden-Bear winning film ''On the Adamant''.

Juries

Main Competition

The following were on the jury for the Berlinale Main Competition section:
* Kristen Stewart, American actor, director, and screenwriter (Jury President)
* Golshifteh Farahani, Iranian-French actor
* Valeska Grisebach, German director and screenwriter
* Radu Jude, Romanian director and screenwriter
* Francine Maisler, American casting director and producer
* Carla Simón, Spanish director and screenwriter
* Johnnie To, Hong Kong director and producer

Encounters

* Angeliki Papoulia, Greek actress and theatre director
* Dea Kulumbegashvili, Georgian film director and writer
* Paolo Moretti, Italian festival programmer and academic

International Short Film

* Cătălin Cristuțiu, Romanian editor
* Sky Hopinka, American visual artist and filmmaker
* Isabelle Stever, German director and screenwriter

Generation Kplus International

* Venice Atienza, Filipino documentarist
* Alise Ģelze, Latvian producer
* Gudrun Sommer, German festival programmer

Generation 14plus International

* Kateryna Gornostai, Ukrainian film director, screenwriter and film editor
* Fion Mutert, German cinematographer and media educator
* Juanita Onzaga, Colombian filmmaker and artist

GWFF Best First Feature Award

* Judith Revault d'Allonnes, French festival programmer
* Ayten Amin, Egyptian director
* Cyril Schäublin, Swiss film director

Documentary Award

* Emilie Bujès, artistic director of Switzerland's Visions du Réel
* Diana Bustamante, Colombian producer, director and programmer
* Mark Cousins (filmmaker), Mark Cousins, Northern Irish director and writer

Berlinale Series Award

* André Holland, American actor
* Danna Stern, Israeli international executive, founder of Shtisel and Your Honor firm, Yes Studios
* Mette Heeno, Danish screenwriter, showrunner and executive producer

Perspektive Deutsches Kino

* Dela Dabulamanzi, German actor
* Anne Fabini, German film editor
* Jöns Jönsson, Swedish director

Heiner Carow Prize

* Freya Arde, German film composer, guitarist and music producer
* Peter Kahane, German director
* Mirko Wiermann, German film archivist .

Competition

The following 19 films were selected for the main competition for the Golden Bear and Silver Bear awards:
:Highlighted title indicates the Golden Bear winner.

Encounters

The following 16 films are selected for the Encounters section:
:Highlighted title indicates award winner.

Berlinale Special Events

The following titles received were selected for the sections below:

Berlinale Series Competition

Berlinale Short Films Competition

Panorama

The following films are selected for the Panorama section:
:Highlighted title indicates award winner.

''Perspektive Deutsches Kino''

The following films are selected for the ''Perspektive Deutsches Kino'' () section:

Forum

The following films are selected for the Forum section:

Generation

Generation Kplus

Generation 14plus

Homage films

This section of the 73rd Berlinale was dedicated to American filmmaker, screenwriter, and producer Steven Spielberg, who was awarded an Honorary Golden Bear for lifetime achievement.

The Retrospective

This section presented the following films:

The Classics

A 4K restoration of David Cronenberg's ''Naked Lunch (film), Naked Lunch'' opened the classics section.

Awards

Main Competition

* Golden Bear'': On the Adamant'' by Nicolas Philibert

* Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize: ''Afire'' by Christian Petzold (director), Christian Petzold

* Silver Bear Jury Prize: ''Bad Living'' by João Canijo

* Silver Bear for Best Director: Philippe Garrel for ''The Plough (film), The Plough''

* Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance: Sofía Otero for ''20,000 Species of Bees''

* Silver Bear for Best Supporting Performance: Thea Ehre for ''Till the End of the Night''

* Silver Bear for Best Screenplay: Angela Schanelec for ''Music (2023 film), Music''

* Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution: Hélène Louvart for ''Disco Boy (film), Disco Boy'' (cinematography)

Encounters

* Best Film: ''Here'' by Bas Devos

* Best Director: Tatiana Huezo for ''The Echo (2023 film), The Echo''

* Special Jury Award:
** ''Orlando, My Political Biography'' by Paul B. Preciado
** ''Samsara'' by Lois Patiño

Berlinale Series Award

* ''The Good Mothers'' by Elisa Amoruso and Julian Jarrold
** Jury Special Mention: ''The Architect'' (Arkitekten) by

Short Films Competition

* Golden Bear: ''Les Chenilles'' by Michelle Keserwany, Noel Keserwany

* Silver Bear: ''Dipped in Black'' by Matthew Thorne, Derik Lynch

* Special Mention: ''It's a Date'' by Nadia Parfan

Generation

Youth Jury Awards

* Crystal Bear for the Best Film: ''Adolfo'' by Sofía Auza

* Special Mention: ''And the King Said, What a Fantastic Machine'' by Axel Danielson and Maximilien Van Aertryck

* Crystal Bear for the Best Short Film: ''And Me, I'm Dancing Too'' (Man khod, man ham miraghsam) by Mohammad Valizadegan

* Special Mention: ''From the Corner of My Eyes'' (Szemem sarka) by Domonkos Erhardt

Generation 14plus

* Grand Prix: ''Hummingbirds'' by Silvia Del Carmen Castaños, Estefanía “Beba” Contreras

* Special Mention: ''Mutt (film), Mutt'' by Vuk Lungulov-Klotz

* Special Prize for the Best Short Film: ''Infantry'' (Infantaria) by Laís Santos Araújo

* Special Mention: ''Incroci'' by Francesca de Fusco

The Perspektive Deutsches Kino Award

* Compass-Perspektive-Award: ''Seven Winters in Tehran'' by Steffi Niederzoll

* Honorable Mention: ''The Kidnapping of the Bride'' (El secuestro de la novia) by Sophia Mocorrea

* Kompagnon Fellowships:
** ''Paraphrase on the Finding of a Glove'' by Mareike Wegener
** ''My Beloved Man's Female Body'' by Anna Melikova

* Heiner Carow Prize: ''Bones and Names'' by Fabian Stumm

* GWFF Best First Feature Award: ''The Klezmer Project'' by Leandro Koch, Paloma Schachmann

Documentary Award

* ''The Echo (2023 film), The Echo'' by Tatiana Huezo

Panorama Audience Award

Panorama Audience Award 2023 winner – Feature film

* 1st place: ''Sira (film), Sira'' by Apolline Traoré

* 2nd place: ''The Burdened'' by Amr Gamal (director), Amr Gamal

* 3rd place: ''Midwives'' (Sages-femmes) by Léa Fehner

Panorama Audience Award Winner – Documentary

* 1st place: ''Kokomo City'' by D. Smith

* 2nd place: ''The Eternal Memory'' by Maite Alberdi

* 3rd place: ''The Cemetery of Cinema'' (Au cimetière de la pelliculle) by Thierno Souleymane Diallo

Honorary awards

* Honorary Golden Bear: Steven Spielberg

* Berlinale Camera award for lifetime achievement: Caroline Champetier

Independent awards

Teddy Award

* Best Feature Film:'' All the Colours of the World Are Between Black and White'' by Babatunde Apalowo

* Best Documentary Film: ''Orlando, My Political Biography'' by Paul B. Preciado

* Jury Award: Vicky Knight as Franky for ''Silver Haze (film), Silver Haze'' by Sacha Polak

* Best Short Film: ''Dipped in Black'' by Matthew Thorne and Derik Lynch

Amnesty International Film Award

* ''The Burdened'' by Amr Gamal (director), Amr Gamal

Prizes of the Ecumenical Jury

* Competition'': Tótem (film), Tótem'' by Lila Avilés

* Panorama: ''Midwives'' by Léa Fehner

* Forum: ''Where God Is Not'' by Mehran Tamadon

* Special Mention'': On the Adamant'' by Nicolas Philibert

Prize of the International Federation of Film Critics, FIPRESCI

* Competition: ''The Survival of Kindness'' by Rolf de Heer

* Encounters: ''Here'' by Bas Devos

* Panorama: ''The Quiet Migration'' (Stille Liv) by Malene Choi

* Forum: ''Between Revolutions'' (Între revoluții) by Vlad Petri

Prize of the Guild of German Art House Cinemas

* 20,000 Species of Bees by Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren

AG KINO GILDE – CINEMA VISION 14plus

* ''And the King Said, What a Fantastic Machine'' by Axel Danielson, Maximilien Van Aertryck

Cicae Art Cinema Prizes

* Panorama: ''The Teachers' Lounge'' by İlker Çatak

* Forum: ''The Face of Jellyfish'' by Melisa Liebenthal

Berliner Morgenpost Reader's Jury Award

* ''20,000 Species of Bees'' by Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren

Tagesspiegel Reader's Jury Award

* ''Orlando, My Political Biography'' by Paul B. Preciado

Caligari Film Prize

* ''De Facto'' by Selma Doborac

Peace Film Prize

* ''Seven Winters in Tehran'' by Steffi Niederzoll

ARTEKino International Award

* ''Peeled Skin'' by Leonie Krippendorff

Notes

References

External links

*

73rd Berlin International Film Festival at IMDb

{{DEFAULTSORT:Berlin International Film Festival, 73rd
Berlin International Film Festival, 73
2023 film festivals
2023 festivals in Europe
2023 in German cinema