The Teddy Award is an international film award for films with

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term ...

topics, presented by an independent jury as an official award of the

Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the fest ...

(the Berlinale). In the most part, the jury consists of organisers of gay and lesbian film festivals, who view films screened in all sections of the Berlinale; films do not have to have been part of the festival's official competition stream to be eligible for Teddy awards. Subsequently, a list of films meeting criteria for LGBT content is selected by the jury, and a 3,000-Euro Teddy is awarded to a feature film, a short film and a documentary. At the

66th Berlin International Film Festival The 66th Berlin International Film Festival was held from 11 to 21 February 2016, with American actress Meryl Streep as the President of the Jury. The Honorary Golden Bear for lifetime achievement was presented to German cinematographer Michael ...

in 2016, a dedicated "Teddy30" lineup of classic LGBT-related films was screened as a full program of the festival to celebrate the award's 30th anniversary.

History

Teddy Award Schroeter Schwules Museum 2016

In 1987 German filmmakers Wieland Speck and

Manfred Salzgeber Manfred Salzgeber (10 January 1943 in Łódź - 12 August 1994 in Berlin) was a German actor and film producer. He was director of the "Sektion Panorama" at the ''Internationales Filmfestspiel Berlin''. He was a co-founder of the ''Internation ...

formed a jury called the International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival Association (IGLFFA) to create an award for LGBT films. It was originally named the Teddy Bear Award, in accordance with the Berlinale's main awards being named as the Golden and Silver Bear; the name was later shortened to Teddy Award, although the statuette presented to winners is still shaped like a

teddy bear A teddy bear is a stuffed toy in the form of a bear. Developed apparently simultaneously by toymakers Morris Michtom in the U.S. and Richard Steiff under his aunt Margarete Steiff's company in Germany in the early 20th century, the teddy b ...

. The first Teddy Award was given to

Pedro Almodóvar Pedro Almodóvar Caballero (; (often known simply as Almodóvar) born 25 September 1949) is a Spanish filmmaker. His films are marked by melodrama, irreverent humour, bold colour, glossy décor, quotations from popular culture, and complex narra ...

for his film '' La ley del deseo'', which featured

Antonio Banderas José Antonio Domínguez Bandera (born 10 August 1960), known professionally as Antonio Banderas, is a Spanish actor and singer. Known for his work in films of several genres, he has received various accolades, including a Cannes Film Festival ...

. The awards were originally founded in a gay bookshop in

West Berlin West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under mi ...

, they were named after the cuddly toys which were sent as prizes to the winners. They were then upgraded to metal trophies but are still thought to be a deliberate parody of the main

Berlin Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the fest ...

’s Golden Bear trophy. 1990 was the first bigger festival in the LGBT centrum SchwuZ in Berlin with around 400 guests. The evening was organized from ''BeV StroganoV'' and workers of the bookstore ''Eisenherz'' in Berlin. In 1992 the award was officially made part of the Berlin International Film Festival. In 1997 ''TEDDY e.V.'', a

non-profit organisation A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

was founded, which lobbied the award.

Categories

There are three main categories in which the award is given: *

feature film A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

* documentary *

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

One additional film is singled out for a Jury Award. A Special Award is commonly, but not always, given to one or more individuals for a distinguished achievement in LGBT cinema, such as a career lifetime achievement as a director or performer, or for a person's role in a project of significance to the history of LGBT cinema. The German LGBT magazine formerly sponsored an award which was given to a film selected by a panel of the magazine's readers. This was discontinued after 2012, but was reinstituted in 2016 under the new sponsorship of the magazine ; in 2017, the award was named the Harvey in honour of

Harvey Milk Harvey Bernard Milk (May 22, 1930 – November 27, 1978) was an American politician and the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California, as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Milk was born and raised in ...