The 63rd Berlin International Film Festival came to a close with the presentation of the awards. The Romanian film Poziţia Copilului, (Child’s Pose) by Călin Peter Netzer took the top prize, GOLDEN BEAR for the Best Film. The Bosnian film Epizoda u životu berača željeza, (An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker) by Danis Tanović was awarded the JURY GRAND PRIX (Silver Bear).
In Poziţia Copilului, (Child’s Pose), Călin Peter Netzer portrays a mother consumed by self-love in her struggle to save her lost son and her own, long since riven family, after he son is arrested. One cold evening in March, Barbu is tearing down the streets 50 kilometres per hour over the speed limit when he knocks down a child. The boy dies shortly after the accident. A prison sentence of between three and fifteen years awaits. High time for his mother, Cornelia, to intervene. A trained architect and member of Romania’s upper class, who graces her bookshelves with unread Herta Müller novels and is fond of flashing her purse full of credit cards, she commences her campaign to save her lethargic, languishing son. Bribes, she hopes, will persuade the witnesses to give false statements. Even the parents of the dead child might be appeased by some cash. In quasi-documentary style, the film meticulously reconstructs the events of one night and the days that follow, providing insights into the moral malaise of Romania’s bourgeoisie and throwing into sharp relief the state of societal institutions such as the police and the judiciary.
Danis Tanović weaves dramatic events, including economic hardship and fear of death into a wintery tale in Epizoda u životu berača željeza, (An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker). Featuring a non-professional cast re-enacting an episode from their own lives contributes greatly to the film’s sense of authenticity and social realism.
THE AWARDS OF THE 63rd BERLIN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
