31st Berlin International Film Festival

The 31st annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 13 to 24 February 1981. The Golden Bear was awarded to Deprisa, deprisa directed by Carlos Saura.

The retrospective was dedicated to British film producer Michael Balcon, as well a tribute to Turkish film director Yılmaz Güney who was a political prisoner at the time. The guest of the Homage was German film director Peter Pewas.

Juries
The following people were announced as being on the jury for the festival:

Main Competition

 * Jutta Brückner, German director, screenwriter and producer - Jury President
 * Denis Héroux, French director and producer
 * Astrid Henning-Jensen, Danish director and screenwriter
 * Irina Kupchenko, Soviet actress
 * Peter Bichsel, Swiss journalist and writer
 * Antonio Isasi-Isasmendi, Spanish director, screenwriter, editor and producer
 * Chatrichalerm Yukol, Thai director
 * Jerzy Płażewski, Polish film critic, writer and film historian
 * Italo Zingarelli, Italian producer

Main Competition
The following films were in competition for the Golden Bear award:

Out of competition

 * Ordinary People, directed by Robert Redford (United States)
 * Raging Bull, directed by Martin Scorsese (United States)

Retrospective
The following films were shown in the retrospective dedicated to Michael Balcon:

The following films were shown in the homage dedicated to Peter Pewas:

Official Awards
The following prizes were awarded by the Jury:
 * Golden Bear: Deprisa, Deprisa by Carlos Saura
 * Silver Bear – Special Jury Prize: Akaler Sandhane by Mrinal Sen
 * Silver Bear for Best Actress: Barbara Grabowska for Gorączka
 * Silver Bear for Best Actor:
 * Anatoly Solonitsyn for Dvadtsat shest dney iz zhizni Dostoevskogo
 * Jack Lemmon for Tribute
 * Silver Bear for an outstanding single achievement: Markus Imhoof for Das Boot ist voll
 * Honourable Mention:
 * Le Grand Paysage d'Alexis Droeven
 * Tsigoineruwaizen