73rd Berlin International Film Festival

The 73rd annual Berlin International Film Festival, usually called the Berlinale, took place from 16 to 26 February 2023. It was the first completely in-person Berlinale since the 70th in 2020. The festival added a new competition section for television series.

The festival opened with American filmmaker and novelist Rebecca Miller's drama film She Came to Me. A live video stream with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was part of the opening ceremony. On 21 February 2023, American filmmaker Steven Spielberg was presented with the Honorary Golden Bear for lifetime achievement by Irish singer-songwriter Bono. Spielberg's films were screened in the Homage section for the occasion.

On the Adamant, directed by French filmmaker Nicolas Philibert, won the Golden Bear. The Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize was awarded to Afire by German filmmaker Christian Petzold. The Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance was awarded to Sofía Otero for 20,000 Species of Bees; Otero, at age nine, became the youngest winner of the award in the Berlinale history.

Festival closed on 26 February with total sales of tickets touching 320,000, and around 20,000 accredited professionals from 132 countries including 2,800 media representatives attending the festival.

Background
The film registration for the festival began in September 2022 with the closing date for submission fixed on 23 November 2022. On 13 October 2022, with the slogan of "Let's Get Together", signifying in-person interactions in all the programmes of the festival after two years of the programmes held online due to COVID-19. It was also announced that Berlinale Series Award would be inaugurated in 2023.

The festival poster was designed by Claudia Schramke, who had also created the previous year's Berlinale poster. The executive director of the Berlinale, Mariette Rissenbeek, described the poster as the key visual for the 2023 Berlinale, saying that it directed the attention toward the audience—the indispensable core of the festival. Rissenbeek said, "We're very pleased that with this year's poster, we can honour those whose curiosity, enthusiasm, and applause make the Berlinale a vibrant, inspiring, and joyful event."

Opening and closing ceremonies


The opening ceremony of the festival was held on 16 February with jury members and international and German stars walking the red carpet. The jury president Kristen Stewart, in her opening speech, pointed out about "oppressions against our physical selves". She said that, albeit she was a woman, she represented "the least marginal version of a woman". On that topic, Golshifteh Farahani, Iranian-French actress and one of the jury members, noted that "some women are not as fortunate."

Russia's war on Ukraine and Human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran were topical discussions at the ceremony. After Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appeared via satellite and introduced by American actor and filmmaker Sean Penn, Zelenskyy remarked, "A logical question comes up: On which side should culture and art be?" and added, "Can art be outside of politics? Should cinema be outside of politics? It's an eternal question but today it is extremely [pertinent]." Afterward, the opening film of the festival, Rebecca Miller's drama film She Came to Me, was screened.



The closing ceremony or award night was held on 25 February, hosted by the German radio and television presenter Hadnet Tesfai. French documentary film On the Adamant, about a Paris daycare centre for people with mental disorders, by Nicolas Philibert won the Golden Bear. Stewart called the film "masterfully crafted" and a "cinematic proof of the vital necessity of human expression." Philibert asked in his acceptance speech if the jury members were "crazy" and yet nevertheless thanked them, saying "that documentary can be considered to be cinema in its own right touches me deeply."

The Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize was won by Afire by Christian Petzold. Sofía Otero, a nine-year-old girl was the winner of Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance for the role of eight-year-old Lucía in 20,000 Species of Bees. She became the youngest winner of the gender-neutral award in the Berlinale history. Stewart commented that Otero had defied "a system designed to diminish the intelligence of the performer", particularly that of child performers. After the ceremony, Otero said to the press that she wanted to dedicate her life to acting. The ceremony closed with a screening of the Golden-Bear winning film On the Adamant.

Main Competition




The following were on the jury for the Berlinale Main Competition section:
 * Kristen Stewart, American actor, director, and screenwriter (Jury President)
 * Golshifteh Farahani, Iranian-French actor
 * Valeska Grisebach, German director and screenwriter
 * Radu Jude, Romanian director and screenwriter
 * Francine Maisler, American casting director and producer
 * Carla Simón, Spanish director and screenwriter
 * Johnnie To, Hong Kong director and producer

Encounters

 * Angeliki Papoulia, Greek actress and theatre director
 * Dea Kulumbegashvili, Georgian film director and writer
 * Paolo Moretti, Italian festival programmer and academic

International Short Film

 * Cătălin Cristuțiu, Romanian editor
 * Sky Hopinka, American visual artist and filmmaker
 * Isabelle Stever, German director and screenwriter

Generation Kplus International

 * Venice Atienza, Filipino documentarist
 * Alise Ģelze, Latvian producer
 * Gudrun Sommer, German festival programmer

Generation 14plus International

 * Kateryna Gornostai, Ukrainian film director, screenwriter and film editor
 * Fion Mutert, German cinematographer and media educator
 * Juanita Onzaga, Colombian filmmaker and artist

GWFF Best First Feature Award

 * Judith Revault d'Allonnes, French festival programmer
 * Ayten Amin, Egyptian director
 * Cyril Schäublin, Swiss film director

Documentary Award

 * Emilie Bujès, artistic director of Switzerland's Visions du Réel
 * Diana Bustamante, Colombian producer, director and programmer
 * Mark Cousins, Northern Irish director and writer

Berlinale Series Award

 * André Holland, American actor
 * Danna Stern, Israeli international executive, founder of Shtisel and Your Honor firm, Yes Studios
 * Mette Heeno, Danish screenwriter, showrunner and executive producer

Perspektive Deutsches Kino

 * Dela Dabulamanzi, German actor
 * Anne Fabini, German film editor
 * Jöns Jönsson, Swedish director

Heiner Carow Prize

 * Freya Arde, German film composer, guitarist and music producer
 * Peter Kahane, German director
 * Mirko Wiermann, German film archivist.

Main Competition
The following 19 films were selected for the main competition for the Golden Bear and Silver Bear awards:

Berlinale Special Events
The following titles received were selected for the sections below:

Encounters
The following 16 films are selected for the Encounters section:

Panorama
The following films are selected for the Panorama section:

Perspektive Deutsches Kino
The following films are selected for the Perspektive Deutsches Kino (lit. 'Perspective on German Cinema') section:

Forum
The following films are selected for the Forum section:

Homage films
This section of the 73rd Berlinale was dedicated to American filmmaker, screenwriter, and producer Steven Spielberg, who was awarded an Honorary Golden Bear for lifetime achievement.

The Retrospective
This section presented the following films:

The Classics
A 4K restoration of David Cronenberg's Naked Lunch opened the classics section.

Official Awards






Main Competition

 * Golden Bear: On the Adamant by Nicolas Philibert
 * Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize: Afire by Christian Petzold
 * Silver Bear Jury Prize: Bad Living by João Canijo
 * Silver Bear for Best Director: Philippe Garrel for The Plough
 * Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance: Sofía Otero for 20,000 Species of Bees
 * Silver Bear for Best Supporting Performance: Thea Ehre for Till the End of the Night
 * Silver Bear for Best Screenplay: Angela Schanelec for Music
 * Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution: Hélène Louvart for Disco Boy (cinematography)

Honorary Golden Bear

 * Steven Spielberg

Berlinale Camera

 * Caroline Champetier

Encounters

 * Best Film: Here by Bas Devos
 * Best Director: Tatiana Huezo for The Echo
 * Special Jury Award:
 * Orlando, My Political Biography by Paul B. Preciado
 * Samsara by Lois Patiño

Berlinale Series Award

 * The Good Mothers by Elisa Amoruso and Julian Jarrold
 * Jury Special Mention: The Architect (Arkitekten) by Kerren Lumer-Klabbers

Short Films Competition

 * Golden Bear: Les Chenilles by Michelle Keserwany, Noel Keserwany
 * Silver Bear: Dipped in Black by Matthew Thorne, Derik Lynch
 * Special Mention: It's a Date by Nadia Parfan

Youth Jury Awards

 * Crystal Bear for the Best Film: Adolfo by Sofía Auza
 * Special Mention: And the King Said, What a Fantastic Machine by Axel Danielson and Maximilien Van Aertryck
 * Crystal Bear for the Best Short Film: And Me, I'm Dancing Too by Mohammad Valizadegan
 * Special Mention: From the Corner of My Eyes by Domonkos Erhardt

Generation 14plus

 * Grand Prix: Hummingbirds by Silvia Del Carmen Castaños, Estefanía “Beba” Contreras
 * Special Mention: Mutt by Vuk Lungulov-Klotz
 * Special Prize for the Best Short Film: Infantry by Laís Santos Araújo
 * Special Mention: Incroci by Francesca de Fusco

Children's Jury Generation Kplus

 * Crystal Bear for the Best Film: Sweet As by Jub Clerc
 * Special Mention: Zeevonk by Domien Huyghe
 * Crystal Bear for the Best Short Film: Closing Dynasty by Lloyd Lee Choi
 * Special Mention: Deniska umřela by Philippe Kastner

The Perspektive Deutsches Kino Award

 * Compass-Perspektive-Award: Seven Winters in Tehran by Steffi Niederzoll
 * Honorable Mention: The Kidnapping of the Bride by Sophia Mocorrea
 * Kompagnon Fellowships:
 * Paraphrase on the Finding of a Glove by Mareike Wegener
 * My Beloved Man's Female Body by Anna Melikova
 * Heiner Carow Prize: Bones and Names by Fabian Stumm

GWFF Best First Feature Award

 * The Klezmer Project by Leandro Koch, Paloma Schachmann

Documentary Award

 * The Echo by Tatiana Huezo

Panorama Audience Award – Feature film

 * 1st place: Sira by Apolline Traoré
 * 2nd place: The Burdened by Amr Gamal
 * 3rd place: Midwives by Léa Fehner

Panorama Audience Award – Documentary

 * 1st place: Kokomo City by D. Smith
 * 2nd place: The Eternal Memory by Maite Alberdi
 * 3rd place: The Cemetery of Cinema by Thierno Souleymane Diallo

Teddy Award

 * Best Feature Film: All the Colours of the World Are Between Black and White by Babatunde Apalowo
 * Best Documentary Film: Orlando, My Political Biography by Paul B. Preciado
 * Jury Award: Vicky Knight as Franky for Silver Haze by Sacha Polak
 * Best Short Film: Dipped in Black by Matthew Thorne and Derik Lynch

Amnesty International Film Award

 * The Burdened by Amr Gamal

Prizes of the Ecumenical Jury

 * Competition: Tótem by Lila Avilés
 * Panorama: Midwives by Léa Fehner
 * Forum: Where God Is Not by Mehran Tamadon
 * Special Mention: On the Adamant by Nicolas Philibert

Prize of the FIPRESCI

 * Competition: The Survival of Kindness by Rolf de Heer
 * Encounters: Here by Bas Devos
 * Panorama: The Quiet Migration by Malene Choi
 * Forum: Between Revolutions by Vlad Petri

Prize of the Guild of German Art House Cinemas

 * 20,000 Species of Bees by Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren

AG KINO GILDE – CINEMA VISION 14plus

 * And the King Said, What a Fantastic Machine by Axel Danielson, Maximilien Van Aertryck

Cicae Art Cinema Prizes

 * Panorama: The Teachers' Lounge by İlker Çatak
 * Forum: The Face of Jellyfish by Melisa Liebenthal

Berliner Morgenpost Reader's Jury Award

 * 20,000 Species of Bees by Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren

Tagesspiegel Reader's Jury Award

 * Orlando, My Political Biography by Paul B. Preciado

Caligari Film Prize

 * De Facto by Selma Doborac

Peace Film Prize

 * Seven Winters in Tehran by Steffi Niederzoll

ARTEKino International Award

 * Peeled Skin by Leonie Krippendorff