41st Berlin International Film Festival

The 41st annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 15 to 26 February 1991. The festival opened with Uranus by Claude Berri.

The Golden Bear was awarded to Italian film The House of Smiles directed by Marco Ferreri.

The retrospective dedicated to Cold War films was shown at the festival.

Jury
The following people were announced as being on the jury for the festival:
 * Volker Schlöndorff, German filmmaker and producer - Jury President
 * Chantal Akerman, Belgian filmmaker and actress
 * Laurie Anderson, American musician and writer
 * José Luis Borau, Spanish filmmaker
 * Judith Godrèche, French actress and writer
 * Yuri Klepikov, Soviet writer
 * Renate Krößner, German actress
 * Gillo Pontecorvo, Italian filmmaker
 * Simon Relph, British producer
 * Catharina Stackelberg, Swedish screenwriter
 * Mircea Veroiu, Romanian filmmaker

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

Retrospective
The following films were shown in the retrospective:

Official Awards
The following prizes were awarded by the Jury:
 * Golden Bear: The House of Smiles by Marco Ferreri
 * Silver Bear – Special Jury Prize:
 * The Conviction by Marco Bellocchio
 * Satan by Viktor Aristov
 * Silver Bear for Best Director:
 * Jonathan Demme for The Silence of the Lambs
 * Ricky Tognazzi for Ultrà
 * Silver Bear for Best Actress: Victoria Abril for Amantes
 * Silver Bear for Best Actor: Maynard Eziashi for Mister Johnson
 * Silver Bear for an outstanding single achievement: Kevin Costner for Dances with Wolves
 * Honourable Mention:
 * Snake Fang
 * The Little Gangster by Jacques Doillon
 * Li Lianying: The Imperial Eunuch

FIPRESCI Award

 * The Little Gangster by Jacques Doillon