“For acting from children’s roles to the eighties, for the ability to show tenderness, family humor and struggle, betrayal of our relationships and dependence on the landscape around us,” said US-Indian director M. Night Shyamalan about why the jury decided to appreciate the film Alcarrás.
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“I can’t believe it,” Simón said. “I think we should move here (to Berlin) because every time we come here, something amazing happens,” she added.
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The film tells the story of the Solé family, who spend every summer in their peach orchard in Catalonia. However, the family is in danger of losing the orchards, as the new landowners want to build a solar power plant.
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The Czechia did not compete
In addition to the main prize, which is a golden statuette, the jury also awarded Silver Bears for each category. Korean director Hong Sang-su won the Grand Jury Prize with his film Soseolgaui Yeonghwa, which was screened at the Berlinale under the English title The Novelist´s Film (The Novelist’s Film).
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Korean director Hong Sang-su
Photo: Pool, Reuters
Korean Hong Sang-su received the Best Director award at the Berlinale in 2020 with his film Domangchin yeoja (Woman on the Run). This year, the French director Claire Denis won the Silver Bear for directing for the drama Avec amour et acharnement (With Love and Determination).
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The silver bears for the actors’ performances have been gender-linked since 2021, so the jury no longer selects the best actor and the best actress, but awards the best acting performance with a statuette. This year, she was awarded to German-Turkish actress Meltem Kaptan for her role in the German-French drama Rabbi Kurnaz by George W. Bush (Rabbi Kurnaz vs. George W. Bush) directed by Andreas Dresen. For her supporting role, the jury awarded the prize to Indonesian actress Laura Basuki for her performance in Nana’s English film Before, Now & Then.
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French director Claire Denis
Photo: Christian Mang, Reuters
The jury also praised Rabiye Kurnaz’s drama against George W. Bush for the best screenplay written by German Laila Stieler.
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18 films applied for the Golden Bear. Although Czech production was not missing at the festival, the Czechia was not represented in the main competition section. However, the accompanying competition section Generation Kplus included the animated film Zuza in the Gardens by director Lucie Sunková. In the end, the jury selected the film Vlekkeloos (Spotless) by Dutch director Emmy Branderhorst.
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The film festival takes place despite the covid-19 pandemic and the peak of the coronavirus variant omicron. Hygiene rules allow only half the capacity of cinemas, a respirator is mandatory and visitors are also required to take an additional test if they do not have a booster dose to fully vaccinate. Unvaccinated people who have not had the infection cannot go to the screening. The government’s representative for culture, Claudia Roth, the festival’s executive director, Mariette Rissenbeek, and its artistic director, Carlo Chatrian, still consider the Berlinale to be the right move.
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