For the third time in a decade, Romania won the Berlinale Golden Bear for Best film with Radu Jude’s new film “Babardeală cu bucluc sau porno balamuc” (Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn).
The film was shot last summer during the COVID-19 pandemic with all cast and crew members wearing masks.
Berlin film festival announced the awards for its 71st edition - the first online edition - without an award ceremony.
The festival hopes to have an award ceremony with a red carpet gala in the presence of filmmaker, if the pandemic conditions allow it during the planned public summer special from 9 to 20 June, 2021.
Six former Golden Bear winners’ comprised the International Jury for this year’s edition, Ildikó Enyedi (Hungary), Nadav Lapid (Israel), Adina Pintilie (Romania), Mohammad Rasoulof (Iran), Gianfranco Rosi (Italy), and Jasmila Žbanić (Bosnia and Herzegovina).
“Four members of he jury watched the 2021 Berlinale competition in person at a theater in Berlin, socially-distanced and wearing masks; Nadav Lapid was unable to attend and had to watch the films from his home; and Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof, winner of last year's Berlinale Golden Bear for “There Is No Evil”, remains under house arrest and unable to leave the country.
Rasoulof took part in the event via a private screening room in his home in Tehran,” revealed a Hollywood reporter.
The jury said in a statement issued by the festival that “The Golden Bear goes to a film which has that rare and essential quality of a lasting art work. It captures on screen the very content and essence, the mind and body, the values and the raw flesh of our present moment in time, of this very moment of human existence”.
“It is an elaborated film as well as a wild one, clever and childish, geometrical and vibrant, imprecise in the best way. It attacks the spectator, evokes disagreement, but leaves no one with a safety distance,” the statement added.
“Babardeală cu bucluc sau porno balamuc” (Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn) is co-produced by Romania, Luxembourg, Croatia and Czech Republic, and is also considered experimental.
Romania won its first Golden Bear in 2013 with “Child’s Pose” by Cãlin Peter Netzer, the second in 2018 for “Touch Me Not” by Adina Pintilie.
Radu Jude won the Silver Bear for Best Director in 2015 for his film “Aferim!."
Two actresses won the Performance awards in the festival’s first edition to adopt gender-neutral performance awards, instead of giving awards for Best Actor and Best Actress.
Maren Eggert won a Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance for “Ich bin dein Mensch” (I'm Your Man) by Maria Schrader (Germany), and Lilla Kizlinger won a Silver Bear for Best Supporting Performance for “Rengeteg - mindenhol látlak” (Forest - I See You Everywhere) by Bence Fliegauf (Hungary).
Here is the list of all the winners:
International Competition
Golden Bear for Best Film
(Awarded to the film’s producers)
Babardeală cu bucluc sau porno balamuc (Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn) by Radu Jude (Romania / Luxembourg / Croatia / Czech Republic), produced by Ada Solomon
Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize
Guzen to sozo (Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy) by Ryusuke Hamaguchi (Japan)
Silver Bear Jury Prize
Herr Bachmann und seine Klasse (Mr Bachmann and His Class) by Maria Speth (Germany) - documentary form
Silver Bear for Best Director
Dénes Nagy for Természetes fény (Natural Light) – debut film
(Hungary / Latvia / France / Germany)
Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance
Maren Eggert in Ich bin dein Mensch (I'm Your Man) by Maria Schrader (Germany)
Silver Bear for Best Supporting Performance
Lilla Kizlinger in Rengeteg - mindenhol látlak (Forest - I See You Everywhere) by Bence Fliegauf (Hungary)
Silver Bear for Best Screenplay
Hong Sangsoo for Inteurodeoksyeon (Introduction) by Hong Sangsoo (Republic of Korea)
Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution
Yibrán Asuad for the editing of Una película de policías (A Cop Movie)
by Alonso Ruizpalacios (Mexico) - documentary form
Encounters Competition awards:
Members of the Jury, programmer Florence Almozini (France), artistic director Cecilia Barrionuevo (Argentina), and author and critic Diedrich Diederichsen (Germany).
Best Film
Nous (We) by Alice Diop (France) - documentary form
Special Jury Award
Vị (Taste) by Lê Bảo (Vietnam / Singapore / France / Thailand / Germany / Taiwan) – debut film
Best Director (ex-aequo)
Das Mädchen und die Spinne (The Girl and the Spider) by Ramon Zürcher, Silvan Zürcher (Switzerland)
Best Director (ex-aequo)
Hygiène sociale (Social Hygiene) by Denis Côté (Canada)
Special Mention
Rock Bottom Riser by Fern Silva (USA) – experimental film / debut film
Berlinale Shorts awards
Members of the Jury, the Egyptian artist Basim Magdy, the Austrian cinematographer Christine A. Maier and the German actor Sebastian Urzendowsky.
Golden Bear for Best Short Film
Nanu Tudor (My Uncle Tudor) by Olga Lucovnicova
Documentary form / Belgium, Portugal, Hungary
Silver Bear Jury Prize (Short Film)
Xia Wu Guo Qu Le Yi Ban (Day Is Done) by Zhang Dalei
Fiction / People’s Republic of China
Berlin Short Film Candidate for the European Film Awards
Easter Eggs by Nicolas Keppens
Animation / Belgium, France, Netherlands
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