Director Carla Simon with her award (Abdelhamid Hasbes/Anadolu Agency)
Spanish director Carla Simon’s “Alcaras” won the biggest awards Berlin Film Festival International (Berlinale) on Wednesday.
The film is about the divisions that afflict the members of a tight-knit family of farmers in Cataloniawhen they were expelled from their ancestral land.
Simone herself had grown up on a peach farm in the village of Alcaras, and her film relied on amateur actors from that area whom she selected from village markets and trained to play the roles of several generations of a smallholder family.
Congratulations to all winners! We’re so excited to finally see this year’s winners with their well-deserved awards. “Alcarràs” by Carla Simón and produced by María Zamora, Stefan Schmitz, Tono Folguera and Sergi Moreno took home the Golden Bear for Best Film. Pure joy on stage! pic.twitter.com/b3TjLJ5KiV
— Berlinale (@berlinale) February 16, 2022
When the head of the jury, Nate Shyamlan, announced the award for Best Film in the first edition of the direct screenings at the festival, after closing last year; Due to the coronavirus pandemic, he praised the director’s skill in orchestrating strong performances from a cast of actors ranging in age from childhood to eighty.
“This is really cool because it’s a little story about farmers and my family of farmers and a small village, and because it’s so local, it feels good to go international,” Simon said afterwards, standing on the red carpet and celebrating the global attention she hopes her film will garner with the award.
She described her film as a study in intergenerational tension, and how this tension and other cracks can be deepened by the trauma of seeing a way of life evaporate after it was once believed to be eternal.
And finally, the moment we’ve all been waiting for: The Golden Bear for Best Film goes to… “Alcarràs” directed by Carla Simón and produced by María Zamora, Stefan Schmitz, Tono Folguera, Sergi Moreno. Our dearest congratulations! ????️???? pic.twitter.com/SgFqLiZiN7
— Berlinale (@berlinale) February 16, 2022
In an emotional ceremony, a number of the winners of the Best Documentary Film dedicated their prizes to friends who died of COVID-19, an award that went to “Myanmar Diaries” (Myanmar Diaries), a documentary film made by ten unknown directors, and the materials they filmed were smuggled abroad. and synthesized, to present a picture of life in Myanmar Since the coup last year.
As for the Berlinale Documentary Award, funded by rbb, the prize goes to “Myanmar Diaries” by The Myanmar Film Collective. A Special Mention goes to “No U-Turn” by Ike Nnaebue. Congratulations! pic.twitter.com/V8Vvr3q2tM
— Berlinale (@berlinale) February 16, 2022
Amid the tense and galloping diplomacy centered around Russia’s intentions toward Ukraine, some prizes have voiced the Berlin Festival’s traditional role as the only political festival of the 1950s in a city divided on the front lines of the Cold War.
The award for best short film went to recent graduate Anastasia Weber’s “Trap,” a 20-minute film that depicts the lives of a group of young teenagers in Russia throwing nightlife parties chasing pleasure and trying to escape police shackles.
Drum roll, please… The Golden Bear for Best Short Film goes to…. “Trap” by Anastasia Veber! pic.twitter.com/MLDbLts4Bp
— Berlinale (@berlinale) February 16, 2022
The film “Rabia Kurnaz vs. George Bush” (Rabia Kurnaz vs. George Bush) won two awards for best screenplay and best starring, which went to German actress of Turkish origin Meltem Keptan for her performance as a mother the world bends to her will through the power of absolute love.
The second bear, the Silver Bear for Best Screenplay, goes to Laila Stieler for “Rabiye Kurnaz vs. George W. Bush” (Rabiye Kurnaz gegen George W. Bush). Congratulations! pic.twitter.com/bUhVeoSO4O
— Berlinale (@berlinale) February 16, 2022
(Archyde.com)