The awards ceremony for the 2023 Berlin International Film Festival, the Berlinale, has kicked off in the German capital.
Berlinale Jury President Kristen Stewart and her jury of five women and two men will pick the winners of this year’s Golden and Silver Berlin Bears from the 19 films in competition. A separate jury will select the winners of Berlin’s Encounters sidebar.
Alongside Stewart, the other members of the Berlinale Competition jury include Iranian-French actress Golshifteh Farahani, Romanian filmmaker Radu Jude, Spanish director Carla Simón, Hong Kong director Johnnie To, German director Valeska Grisebach, and U.S. casting director and producer Francine Maisler.
The first winner of the night, the Berlinale Silver Bear short film jury prize, went to directors Matthew Thorne and Derik Lynch for their Australian drama Dipped in Black. The Golden Bear for best short went to Les chenilles from Lebanese directors Michelle and Noel Keserwany.
There are no obvious frontrunners at the 73rd Berlinale. Berlin’s Artistic Director Carlo Chatrian and Executive Director Mariëtte Rissenbeek have picked a broad and eclectic mix of movies this year that have delighted and divided critics in equal measure.
Some of the best-reviewed films of the 2023 selection include Celine Song’s romantic drama Past Lives, about two childhood friends from South Korea who reconnect in New York 20 years later; Angela Schanelec’s Music, a modern-day reimagining of the Oedipus myth; Rolf de Heer’s provocative dystopian Australian-set fable The Survival of Kindness; and Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren’s 20,000 Species of Bees, a family drama centered around a Spanish 8-year-old who is starting to transition. But Berlin juries are notorious for confounding the oddsmakers, often throwing up unsuspected and controversial Golden Bear winners.
Politics could likely play a role in the jury’s decision. Berlin, always the most political of the big festivals, has doubled down on that image this year, focusing on several current and hot-button topics, including the ongoing protests in Iran, the devastation caused by the recent earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, and, above all, the ongoing war in Ukraine. A video message from Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky opened this year’s Berlinale, and on the final night, a women took to the red carpet to wave the Ukraine flag, a sign of defiance a year and a day after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of the country.
Berlin was the first major film festival to introduce gender-neutral acting awards and hands out a single prize for best leading performance and one for best supporting performance.
This year’s honorary Golden Bear for lifetime achievement was given to Steven Spielberg.
You can watch the livestream of the awards ceremony on the Berlinale’s YouTube channel below.
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Full list of Berlinale 2023 award winners.
Golden Bear for Best Film
Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize
Silver Bear Jury Prize
Silver Bear for Best Director
Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance
Silver Bear for Best Supporting Performance
Silver Bear for Best Screenplay
Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution
Encounters Awards
Best Film
Best Director
Special Jury Award
GWFF Best First Feature Award
Berlinale Documentary Award
Berlinale Short Film Awards
Golden Bear Best Short Film
Les chenilles, dirs. Michelle Keserwany, Noel Keserwany
Silver Bear Jury Prize
Dipped in Black, dirs. Matthew Thorne, Derik Lynch
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