The political drama by Oscar nominee Ilker Catak took the top award at the Berlin International Film Festival.
Director Ilker Catak accepts the Golden Bear for best film for 'Yellow Letters'Image: Ebrahim Noroozi/AP Photo/picture alliance
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The Golden Bear, the Berlin International Film Festival's top prize, was awarded on Saturday to the political drama "Yellow Letters," by German director Ilker Catak. His previous film, "The Teachers' Lounge" (2023) was nominated for an Oscar.
Starring Tansu Bicer in the role of a playwright and Ozgu Namal as a famous actress, "Yellow Letters" follows the married artists whose relationship is tested as they get caught in the state's crosshairs.
The allegory on authoritarian oppression is set in contemporary Turkey, but was shot in Germany, with Berlin and Hamburg taking on the roles of Ankara and Istanbul.
"Yellow Letters" was decidedly the most political of all 22 works in the main competition, an apt conclusion to an event overshadowed by political debates — starting with the festival's opening press conference, when jury president Wim Wenders said that filmmakers "have to stay out of politics."
But presenting the award, Wenders also commended the way the film spoke up "very clearly about the political language of totalitarianism as opposed to the empathetic language cinema."
In his acceptance speech, Catak noted that the autocrats of this world are the ones we should be opposing, not the artists with diverse political opinions: "Let's not fight each other, let's fight them," he said.
"Yellow Letters" took the top prize among the 22 films in the Berlin International Film Festival's main competition this year. Here are the other award-winning works.
Image: Ella Knorz/ifProductions/Alamode Film
Golden Bear: 'Yellow Letters'
German director Ilker Çatak, who was nominated for an Oscar in 2023 with "The Teachers' Lounge," explores in "Yellow Letters" how political repression targets artistic freedom in this Turkish-language drama about a celebrated theater couple from Ankara who find themselves targeted by the state. Along with the festival's top award, the Golden Bear, the film also won the Guild Film Prize.
Image: Ella Knorz_ifProductions_Alamode Film
Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize: 'Salvation'
In a remote mountain village in eastern Turkey, an inter-clan conflict escalates into massacre. Turkish director Emin Alper's "Salvation" is inspired by a real-life blood feud that led to the 2009 Mardin engagement ceremony massacre. The timely cautionary tale won the second highest prize of the competition.
Image: Liman Film
Silver Bear Jury Prize: 'Queen at Sea'
Sexual consent in dementia is one of the ethical dilemmas explored in Lance Hammer's drama "Queen at Sea," which stars Juliette Binoche as the daughter of a woman diving deeper into dementia, played by Anna Calder-Marshall. The aging woman is taken care of by her husband, Martin, portrayed by British actor Tom Courtenay. The film won the third prize in the Berlinale competition.
Image: Seafaring/Berlinale
Silver Bear for Best Director: 'Everybody Digs Bill Evans'
Filmmaker Grant Gee elegantly portrays a somber phase in the life of musician Bill Evans. Norwegian actor Anders Danielsen Lie plays the lead role of the iconic jazz pianist, who is numbed by grief following the death of his bass player, Scott LaFaro, in 1961. The work was honored by the Berlinale jury with a Silver Bear.
Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance: Sandra Hüller
In this tale on gender construction directed by Austrian director Markus Schleinzer, a mysterious soldier claims to be the heir of an abandoned farm in an isolated 17th-century village. German actress Sandra Hüller stuns in the title role of "Rose," portraying a woman who dresses as a man to obtain more freedom. Her muscular acting was recognized with a Silver Bear.
Silver Bear for Best Supporting Performance: Tom Courtenay and Anna Calder-Marshall
The jury honored the shattering performances of Tom Courtenay and Anna Calder-Marshall in "Queen at Sea." They portray a couple who have been together for 19 years, but the nature of their relationship is tested by the advanced dementia of the woman in the couple, Leslie.
Image: Seafaring
Silver Bear for Best Screenplay: 'Nina Roza'
French Canadian director Genevieve Dulude-de Celles had already won a Berlinale award in the Generation section in 2019. Her new work, "Nina Roza," follows the journey of a Montreal-based art expert who, after having cut ties with his Bulgarian culture and family years earlier, is sent on assignment to his home country to meet a young art prodigy. The screenplay was honored with a Silver Bear.
Image: Alexandre Nour Desjardins
Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution: 'Yo (Love is a Rebellious Bird)'
Anna Fitch pays tribute to her late friend, Yolanda Shea, through this joyful documentary that uses puppets and small-scale reproductions of the spirited woman's environment to recreate episodes of her life. Adding to the magic, acting roles are given to insects and birds. Fitch and her partner, Banker White, spent a decade working on this project that has now been crowned with a Silver Bear.
Image: Mirabel Pictures
Prize of the Ecumenical Jury: 'Flies'
Olga (Teresita Sanchez) leads a reclusive life. Facing financial difficulties, she decides to rent a room in her flat and unexpectedly develops a bond with a 9-year-old child (Bastian Escobar). The heart-warming film by Mexican director Fernando Eimbcke won the prize of the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury.
Image: Kinotitlán
FIPRESCI Jury Prize: 'Soumsoum, the Night of the Stars'
French-Chadian filmmaker Mahamat-Saleh Haroun's magical realist fable follows a young woman troubled by haunting visions who befriends a village outcast. The prize of FIPRESCI Jury (International Federation of Film Critics) went to this arthouse work.
Image: Pili Films
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A festival reflecting 'a polarized world'
"This Berlinale took place in a world that feels raw and fractured," said festival director Tricia Tuttle at the opening of the gala on Saturday, immediately referring to the polarized political debates that went viral during the event, including an open letter that criticized the festival's "silence" on Gaza.
Tuttle acknowledged that criticism plays an important role in a democracy, and recognized the courage of those who voice their opinions publicly. Criticism is "good for us — even if it didn't always feel good," she added.
Before announcing the winners of the Golden and Silver Bears, jury president Wim Wenders also reacted to the controversy in a speech that noted the contrasting roles of social media, which has an "affective language," and cinema's long-form storytelling, which has the enduring power to transmit empathy.
Jury president Wim Wenders was at the center of a social media storm with his comments on the role of filmmakers and politicsImage: Axel Schmidt/REUTERS
The winners of the Silver Bears
The festival's second top award, the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize, went to Emin Alper's "Salvation," another timely exploration of the mechanisms behind politically-driven mass murders and massacres.
In his acceptance speech, Alper shared words of solidarity with the people suffering in Gaza, the protesters in Iran, the Kurdish people fighting for their rights, and his fellow Turks imprisoned for their political beliefs: "You are not alone," he said to all of them.
The Silver Bear Jury Prize recognized Lance Hammer's "Queen at Sea," a drama on dementia starring Juliette Binoche, as well as Tom Courtenay and Anna Calder-Marshall, whose heart-breaking performances as a husband and wife were also recognized with the Silver Bear for Best Supporting Performance.
Grant Gee took the Silver Bear for Best Director for "Everybody Digs Bill Evans," a stylish biopic on the iconic jazz pianist.
Sandra Hüller's stunning performance in "Rose," as a woman passing as a man in the 17th century earned her the Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance.
Canadian director Genevieve Dulude-De Celles took the Silver Bear for Best Screenplay for "Nina Roza."
"Yo (Love is a Rebellious Bird)," a playful documentary on a special friendship between two creative women, won the Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution.
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Palestinian director wins debut film award
The Perspectives section, introduced last year by Tricia Tuttle as she became the new director of the festival, focuses on debut features.
The GWFF Best First Feature Award went to Palestinian director Abdallah Alkhatib for "Chronicles From a Siege."
Palestinian director Abdallah Alkhatib receiving the GWFF Best Feature Film Debut Award for 'Chronicles From the Siege'Image: Axel Schmidt/REUTERS
A refugee in Germany, Alkhatib said in his acceptance speech that even though some people warned him against criticizing the German government, he nevertheless asked why the country accepted to be "partners of the genocide in Gaza by Israel. I believe you are intelligent enough to recognize this, but you choose not to care," he said.
Lebanese filmmaker Marie-Rose Osta, who won the Golden Bear for best short film for "Someday a Child," also referred to the suffering of Palestinians in her home country and in Gaza in her acceptance speech.
"We defend everyone's right to speak," said Tricia Tuttle at the end of the gala, closing the politically-charged film festival with a plea for acceptance and tolerance.
