The Berlin International Film Festival is proceeding with plans for 2021 to host a physical festival; and a hybrid model for the European Film Market (EFM). Final implementation of the Festival and Market will take place in accordance with the then-applicable rules and regulations. Adjustments in the festival structure, the film programming and the total number of invited films will be defined by the festival management within the coming weeks.
The We Are One: A Global Film Festival, co-curated by 21 prolific festivals including Berlin International Film Festival, Cannes Film Festival, and Venice Film Festival, will feature over 100 films, in addition to talks, VR content and musical performances. The festival, produced and organized by Tribeca Enterprises and YouTube, will run exclusively May 29 – June 7 on YouTube.
Tribeca is partnering with YouTube to launch We Are One: A Global Film Festival, an unprecedented 10-day digital film festival exclusively on YouTube, to present festival programming for free to audiences around the world. Set to begin on May 29 on YouTube.com/WeAreOne, the festival will feature programming curated by the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, Berlin International Film Festival, BFI London Film Festival, Cannes Film Festival, Guadalajara International Film Festival, International Film Festival & Awards Macao (IFFAM), Jerusalem Film Festival, Mumbai Film Festival (MAMI), Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, Locarno Film Festival, Marrakech International Film Festival, New York Film Festival, San Sebastian International Film Festival, Sarajevo Film Festival, Sundance Film Festival, Sydney Film Festival, Tokyo International Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, Tribeca Film Festival, Venice Film Festival, and more.
The Iranian film There Is No Evil by Mohammad Rasoulof won the top prize, the Golden Bear for Best Film at the Berlin International Film Festival. The film also won the Guild Film Prize. Director Mohammad Rasoulof is banned from leaving Iran and was unable to accept the Golden Bear in person.
Sweet Thing by Alexandre Rockwell won the Crystal Bear for the Best Film in Generation Kplus at 2020 Berlin International Film Festival. Los Lobos (The Wolves) by Samuel Kishi Leopo, Mexico snagged the Grand Prix of the International Jury.
Berln Film Festival announced the prize winners of the section Perspektive Deutsches Kino, with the Compass-Perspektive-Award for the best film going to Janna Ji Wonders for the film Walchensee Forever. The prize is endowed with 5,000 Euros, and as a trophy, the director received a real compass, which is intended to serve as symbolic orientation and show her the direction to take going into the future.
Our Lady of the Nile (Notre-Dame du Nil) by Atiq Rahimi was awarded the Crystal Bear for the Best Film in Generation 14plus at the 2020 Berlin International Film Festival. The Grand Prix of the International Jury in Generation 14plus for the Best Film, went to My Name Is Baghdad (Meu nome é Bagdá) by Caru Alves de Souza of Brazil.
The new trailer debuted for Paradise Drifters by Mees Peijnenburg which celebrated its international premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival in the Generation 14plus program. The film starring Tamar van Waning, Jonas Smulders, Bilal Wahib, Joren Seldeslachts, Camilla Siegertsz, Steef Cuijpers, and Micha Hulshof, follows the journey of three homeless young adults who are heading to Southern Europe in search of money, love and happiness.
The Berlin International Film Festival has officially suspended the Silver Bear – Alfred Bauer Prize, after published reports that Alfred Bauer, after whom the award is named, was an active high-ranking Nazi. The management of the Berlinale has now commissioned the “Institute for Contemporary History” to academically research the context of Alfred Bauer’s function during the Nazi era. For the 70th anniversary of the festival, the Berlinale 2020 will award a special prize: The Silver Bear – 70th Berlinale.
Bleecker Street released the official trailer for The Roads Not Taken, starring Javier Bardem and Elle Fanning which is set to world premier in competition at the 2020 Berlin Film Festival.
Burhan Qurbani’s Berlin Alexanderplatz, which will have its world premiere in Competition at this year’s Berlin International Film Festival released the first English trailer via Screen Daily.
The documentary Saudi Runaway by Susanne Regina Meures has been added to Panorama program lineup of the 2020 Berlin International Film Festival. The documentary film shows a young woman striving for autonomy who flees from Saudi Arabia. She secretly films her claustrophobic everyday life with her smartphone before and during her escape.