THE GOLDEN BEAR
Alove story about two loners working in a Budapest slaughterhouse won the Berlin International Film Festival’s prestigious Golden Bear for best picture. Hungarian director Ildiko Enyedi’s Testrol es lelekrol ( On Body and Soul), which emerged as an early frontrunner at the 10-day festival after winning high marks from festival critics, tells the story of a couple who discover they dream the same dream every night.
On Body and Soul is her fifth feature film since she won the Cannes Film Festival’s Camera d’or in 1989 for best first feature film for her comedydrama My Twentieth Century.
Now in its 67th year, the Berlinale prides itself on being one of the most political of the major film festivals, ever ready to tackle major political issues or tough social questions. “The world is in a very bad way,” festival director Dieter Kosslick told the gala audience of international celebrities and called on Ankara to release German journalist Deniz Yucel, who is being held in Turkey on terrorist charges.
“We live in very difficult times,” said acclaimed Polish director Agnieszka Holland, who won the Alfred Bauer Prize for a feature film that opens new perspectives for her movie Pokot ( Spoor).
“We need films that are brave and that touch on subjects that are important to our planet,” Holland said.
A black comedy-cum-thriller, Pokot tells the story of how a retired woman’s bid to create a utopian life in the countryside is shattered by the slaughtering of animals by hunters.
Legendary Finnish film-maker Aki Kaurismaki was awarded the Silver Bear for best director for his bittersweet comedy Toivon tuollapuolen ( The Other