33rd Berlin International Film Festival

The 33rd annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 18 February to 1 March 1983. The festival opened with the out of competition film Tootsie, by Sydney Pollack.

The Golden Bear was jointly awarded to Ascendancy, directed by Edward Bennett, and La colmena, directed by Mario Camus.

The retrospective titled ''Exile. Six Actors from Germany'' was dedicated to German or Austrian actors Wolfgang Zilzer, Curt Bois, Dolly Haas, Francis Lederer, Elisabeth Bergner and Hertha Thiele, who were forced to leave Germany after the 1930s rise of the Nazi regime.

Main Competition
The following people were announced as being on the jury for the festival:
 * Jeanne Moreau, French actress - Jury President
 * Alex Bänninger, Swiss publicist and writer
 * Franco Brusati, Italian playwright and filmmaker
 * Elem Klimov, Soviet filmmaker
 * Ursula Ludwig, West-German actress
 * Kurt Maetzig, East-German filmmaker
 * Joseph L. Mankiewicz, American filmmaker and producer
 * Franz Seitz, West-German filmmaker and producer
 * Huang Zongjiang, Chinese writer

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

Out of competition

 * De vlaschaard, directed by Jan Gruyaert (Belgium, Netherlands)
 * Echtzeit, directed by Hellmuth Costard and Jürgen Ebert (West Germany)
 * Das Gespenst, directed by Herbert Achternbusch (West Germany)
 * In the King of Prussia, directed by Emile de Antonio (United States)
 * Class Enemy (1983 film), directed by Peter Stein (West Germany)
 * Koyaanisqatsi, directed by Godfrey Reggio (United States)
 * War and Peace, directed by Stefan Aust, Axel Engstfeld, Alexander Kluge and Volker Schlöndorff (West Germany)
 * Sans Soleil, directed by Chris Marker (France)
 * Tootsie, directed by Sydney Pollack (United States)

Retrospective
The following films were shown in the retrospective "Exile. Six Actors from Germany":

Official Awards
The following prizes were awarded by the Jury:
 * Golden Bear:
 * Ascendancy by Edward Bennett
 * La colmena by Mario Camus
 * Silver Bear – Special Jury Prize: A Season in Hakkari by Erden Kıral
 * Silver Bear for Best Director: Éric Rohmer for Pauline at the Beach
 * Silver Bear for Best Actress: Yevgeniya Glushenko for Love by Request
 * Silver Bear for Best Actor: Bruce Dern for That Championship Season
 * Silver Bear for an outstanding single achievement: Xaver Schwarzenberger for Der stille Ozean
 * Honourable Mention:
 * Mo sheng de peng you by Lei Xu
 * Der er et yndigt land by Morten Arnfred
 * Dies rigorose Leben by Vadim Glowna

FIPRESCI Award

 * Pauline at the Beach by Éric Rohmer
 * A Season in Hakkari by Erden Kıral