All the Winners at the 2024 Berlin Film Festival By Maria Hunstig and Inaara Cigdem February 26, 2024 Mati Diop Established in 1951, the Berlin Film Festival, or Berlinale, has cemented its place in the annual calendar of the European and international film industry. Each year, it draws stars from both in front of and behind the camera—along with film enthusiasts and the press—to the vibrant backdrop of the German capital. Beyond doling out the prestigious Golden Bears, which honor outstanding cinematic accomplishments, the festival also prioritizes the nurturing of filmmakers and the fostering of emerging talent. This year’s Berlinale was the first European festival to take place since the end of the Hollywood actors' and screenwriters' strikes, during which many international releases were temporarily postponed. (At the Venice Film Festival last September, for example, the strikes meant a drastically reduced line-up of international film stars on the Lido.) In the aftermath of last year’s edition, the Berlinale management conducted a comprehensive review and restructured the festival to enhance sustainability. The primary goal was to streamline the program, making it more focused on the future. As an example, the total number of films featured in the 2024 lineup was reduced to 200, a notable decrease from the 287 showcased last February. Commenting on these changes, festival management emphasized the imperative to address significant cost increases faced by cultural institutions and festivals. They stressed the necessity of implementing structural adjustments to secure a robust budget for organizing and executing future iterations of the Berlinale. For further details on the 2024 Berlin Film Festival, please refer to the comprehensive information provided below. When and where did the 2024 Berlinale take place? The Berlinale 2023 ran from February 15 to 25, 2024. The main venue of the Berlinale has been the Theater am Potsdamer Platz since 2000. Fifteen move theaters were part of the official screening venues, though the heart of the festival remained the Berlinale Palast, which presented the Competition films and Berlinale Special Gala films—and also hosted the red carpet on its doorstep. Who was the jury president of the Berlinale 2024? As announced on December 11, 2023, Lupita Nyong'o was president of the Jury of the 74th Berlin International Film Festival, following in the footsteps of people like Isabella Rossellini (2011), Wong Kar-Wai (2013), Meryl Streep (2016), Juliette Binoche (2019), and, most recently, Kristen Stewart (2023). “Lupita Nyong’o embodies what we love about cinema: the versatile approach to different projects, the appeal to different audiences, and at the same time a consistency that is clearly visible in her roles, as different as they may be. We are happy and proud that she has accepted our invitation to be the Jury President of the 74th Berlinale,” announced Berlinale directors Mariëtte Rissenbeek and Carlo Chatrian. Who else was on the International Jury? On February 1, the Berlinale 2024 announced its International Jury, responsible for awarding the Golden and Silver Bears. On it was actor and director Brady Corbet (USA), director Ann Hui (Hong Kong, China), director Christian Petzold (Germany), director Albert Serra (Spain), actress and director Jasmine Trinca (Italy), and writer Oksana Zabuzhko (Ukraine). Who won prizes at the Berlinale 2024? Golden Bear for Best Film: Dahomey by Mati Diop, produced by Eve Robin, Judith Lou Lévy, Mati Diop Silver Bear, Grand Jury Prize: Yeohaengjaui pilyo (A Traveler’s Needs), dir. Hong Sangsoo Silver Bear, Jury Prize: L’Empire (The Empire), dir. Bruno Dumont Silver Bear for Best Director: Nelson Carlos De Los Santos Arias for Pepe Silver Bear for Best Acting in a Leading Role: Sebastian Stan for A Different Man, dir. Aaron Schimberg Silver Bear for Best Acting in a Supporting Role: Emily Watson for Small Things Like These, dir. Tim Mielants Silver Bear for Best Screenplay: Matthias Glasner for Dying, dir. Matthias Glasner Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Achievement: Martin Gschlacht for his work as D.P. of The Devil’s Bath, dir. Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala Honorary Bear for Martin Scorsese: One winner was announced ahead of the award ceremony this weekend: Director, producer, and screenwriter Martin Scorsese was awarded the Honorary Golden Bear for his lifetime achievement. His thriller Departed was shown after the award ceremony in Berlin. In addition, the arthouse cinema association AG Kino - Glide e.V. awarded the Guild Film Prize to the best film in the international film competition for the 34th time, which this year went to Dying by Matthias Glasner. https://www.vogue.com/article/all-the-winners-2024-berlin-film-festival ------------------------------------------------------------- Berlinale 2024: Golden Bear goes to Mati Diop’s restitution documentary 'Dahomey' The Berlinale has awarded its 2024 Bears... The winner is Dahomey by French-Senegalese director Mati Diop By David Mouriquand Published on 24/02/2024 - 21:28 Updated 27/02/2024 - 12:03 A strange set of choices for the winners of this year's Berlinale - but the Golden Bear is merited, with the French-Senegalese director Mati Diop providing a fascinating and multifaceted look at a timely issue centred around the ills of colonialism. An unseasonably warm Berlin celebrates a new Golden Bear winner. This Berlin International Film Festival has come to a close, and the jury of the 74th edition, led by Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years A Slave, Black Panther, Us), has elected its winner out of the 20 films in Competition. The coveted Golden Bear for Best Film went to Dahomey, by French-Senegalese filmmaker Mati Diop, who previously won the Grand Prix at Cannes for her 2019 film Atlantics. This docu-fiction essay details the return of twenty-six artefacts from France to the Republic of Benin, which were among thousands plundered from the Kingdom of Dahomey by French colonialist troops in 1892. Dahomey is the second documentary in a row to take Berlin’s Golden Bear, following On the Adamant from French filmmaker Nicolas Philibert last year. The documentary is a timely choice for the Golden Bear, as Diop not only gives a literal voice to the past, but explores the wreckage wrought by colonialism. She joins the ongoing discussion regarding the repatriation of stolen artefacts and probes thorny issues surrounding Europe's return of looted antiquities to Africa. “To restitute is to do justice - we can either get rid of the past or we can take responsibility for it,” said Diop, accepting the award. Earlier on in the festival, during the press conference for Dahomey, Diop said: “The question of returning these looted goods has always been at the heart of what I do as a filmmaker.” She added: “I have been working on films like this for about 10 years now. The restitution of works of art in a tangible sense, handed back by France – it took me a very long to become fully aware of what it really signified. That’s one of the reasons why I am a filmmaker. I want to make it possible for people to understand these issues.” When asked about what she would like to see from the French government in terms of the restitution of other African artefacts, Diop stated: “It’s quite clear that they were way too few compared with the 7,000 works that are still held captive in these museums. These 26 works are good but are not enough, and I certainly think that it is humiliating. I would say we need to think about more than just the way it was staged and all the governmental communication of this process.” Diop added: “France has exploited this place for centuries. You need to do more. You need to go further. You need to breathe new life into this question, and that is what I was trying to do in this film. We need to think of restitution in a broad sense.” Dahomey stands as a taut and textured point of entry into a knotty debate and ongoing conversation, and what the filmmaker manages to do in the short space of 67 minutes is rather remarkable. However, there’s no denying that no Bears for one of the festival’s most critically lauded films, My Favourite Cake, feels like a missed opportunity on behalf of the jury. It’s one of many, as the Berlinale has a history of its juries making some surprising or downright baffling choices. This year was no different. The winners of the 74th Berlinale Competition are as follows: Golden Bear for Best Film - 'Dahomey' by Mati Diop A fair choice, if slightly on-the-nose, considering the subject matter and (whisper it), a tad disappointing when looking at the film’s competition – specifically My Favourite Cake, The Devil’s Bath and Architecton. Still, a second win in a row for a documentary is a strong signal that the genre is having a moment. And that is to be celebrated. Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize - 'A Traveler’s Needs' by Hong Sangsoo South Korean arthouse favourite Hong Sangsoo, after having won back-to-back-to-back Silver Bears in 2020 (The Woman Who Ran), 2021 (Introduction) and 2022 (The Novelist’s Film) can now add a fourth bear to his collection, winning the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize for A Traveler’s Needs, his third collaboration with French star Isabelle Huppert. While hardly surprising, considering the frankly staggering amount of times Hong Sangsoo has been included in Competition – it borders on the pathological at this point - this fourth award feels like complete overkill. The filmmaker’s ubiquity could have been sacrificed this year for a new talent to get their time in the spotlight. "I don't know what the jury saw in the film," said the director when accepting the award. Neither do we, maestro. Neither do we. Silver Bear Jury Prize - 'L’ Empire' by Bruno Dumont Even as fans of Bruno Dumont and his particular blend of absurd humour, we had a hard time with his sci-fi spoof L’Empire, which is not as funny or clever as it thinks it is. A baffling choice and frankly, not one we expected to pop up in the winners list. Silver Bear for Best Director - Nelson Carlos De Los Santos Arias for 'Pepe' Dominican filmmaker Nelson Carlos De Los Santos Arias was something of a surprise, as his unclassifiable mash-up of documentary and fiction about a hippo brought to Columbia by drug king Pablo Escobar proved extremely divisive amongst critics. Oh, and the film is partly narrated by the hippo. You’re either with it, or you’re not, and we sadly stand in the latter category, all things considered. Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance - Sebastian Stan for 'A Different Man' Marvel alum Sebastian Stan is an odd choice for Best Leading Performance for his role in Aaron Schimberg’s muddled fable A Different Man. He’s perfectly fine in the role, but the calibre of acting pales compared to what Anja Plaschg achieved in The Devil’s Bath. Still, hard to get too mad at the devilishly handsome Stan. Silver Bear for Best Supporting Performance - Emily Watson for 'Small Things Like These' One of the awards that was spot on. As we said in our review of Tim Mielant’s drama Small Things Like These, about the horrific abuse of women by the Catholic Church in Ireland, Watson briefly but memorably steals the show. We couldn’t be happier with this win. Silver Bear for Best Screenplay - Matthias Glasner for 'Sterben (Dying)' The German film is an uneven but occasionally powerful three-hour melodrama that focuses on a German conductor (Lars Eidinger) and his dysfunctional family. It’s a fair enough choice for Screenplay, considering its bold tonal shifts. But is it a film we're dying (sorry for the pun) to watch again? Not really. Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution - Martin Gschlacht for the cinematography for 'The Devil’s Bath' It’s a genuine shame that The Devil’s Bath - arguably the most striking film in Competition this year - went home with only one prize. However, the cinematography is a deserved gong for this uniquely disquieting film that is without a doubt our favourite film of the Competition this year. Stay tuned to Euronews Culture for our full debrief of the 74th Berlinale, as well as the top Berlinale films seen this year that audiences have to look forward to in 2024. https://www.euronews.com/culture/2024/02/24/berlinale-2024-golden-bear-goes-to-mati-diops-restitution-documentary-dahomey ------------------------------------------------------------- Mati Diop’s ‘Dahomey’ Wins Golden Bear at 2024 Berlin Film Festival (Complete Winners List) By Ryan Lattanzio February 24, 2024 1:13 pm After two weeks of new cinema, the Berlin Film Festival comes to a close this Sunday, February 25, with its annual awards ceremony. This year’s event marks one of change, as festival artistic director Carlo Chatrian, at his post since 2018, steps down to make way for Tricia Tuttle, who will take over for next year’s outing. This year’s Berlinale has already stirred plenty of buzz for films like Alonso Ruizpalacios’s “La Cocina,” a drama set in a New York City kitchen and starring Rooney Mara, and Tim Mielants’ opener “Small Things Like These,” starring likely Oscar winner Cillian Murphy. Both films are eligible for awards, along with “Timbuktu” director Abderrahmane Sissako’s “Black Tea,” “Goodnight Mommy” filmmakers Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala’s “The Devil’s Bath,” “The Guilty” director Gustav Möller’s “Sons,” Olivier Assayas’ “Suspended Time,” plus Aaron Schimberg’s Sundance hit “A Different Man,” and many more. This year’s auteur-packed main competition jury was led by Lupita Nyong’o and included Brady Corbet, Ann Hui, Christian Petzold, Albert Serra, Jasmine Trinca, and Oksana Zabuzhko, and they’ll reveal Sunday’s winners in a ceremony out of the festival grounds. Willem Dafoe Revisits ‘The Lighthouse’ and Robert Pattinson’s Approach to Rehearsals: He Felt They ‘Inhibited Spontaneity’ ‘Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter,’ the Zellners’ Now Hard-to-See Sundance Classic, Will Return to Theaters Last year’s Berlin jury was led by Kristen Stewart, who also appeared at the festival this year to promote “Love Lies Bleeding.” Winners in the 2023 main competition were led by Golden Bear taker “On the Adamant,” followed by Silver Bear runner-up “Afire” (from Petzold). We’ll update the 2024 winners live below as they happen in Berlin. Main Competition Golden Bear: “Dahomey,” Mati Diop Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize: “A Traveler’s Needs,” Hong Sangsoo Silver Bear Jury Prize: “The Empire,” Bruno Dumont Silver Bear for Best Director: “Pepe,” Nelson Carlos De Los Santos Arias Silver Bear for Best Lead Performance: “A Different Man,” Sebastian Stan Silver Bear for Best Supporting Performance: “Small Things Like These,” Emily Watson Silver Bear for Best Screenplay: “Dying,” Matthias Glasner Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution: “The Devil’s Bath,” Martin Gschlacht, cinematography Encounters winners: Best Film: “Direct Action,” Guillaume Cailleau and Ben Russell Best Director: “Cidade; Campo,” Juliana Rojas Special Jury Award: “The Great Yawn of History,” Aliyar Rasti; “Some Rain Must Fall,” Qiu Yang Documentary winners: Best Documentary: “No Other Land,” Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor Documentary Special Mention: “Direct Action,” Guillaume Cailleau and Ben Russell Berlinale Shorts winners: Golden Bear: “An Odd Turn,” Francisco Lezama Silver Bear: “Remains of the Hot Day,” Wenqian Zhang Special Mention: “That’s All From Me,” Eva Könnemann https://www.indiewire.com/awards/results/berlin-film-festival-2024-winners-list-1234956157/