76th Berlin Film Festival Winners Announced

The recipient of the 76th Berlin Film Festival’s top prize is the Turkish drama Yellow Letters, İlker Çatak’s chronicle of a married couple who have to move to Istanbul with their 13 year-old daughter to rebuild their shattered lives after state arbitration leaves them both unemployed… which is weird, because that sounds like a movie that expresses a lot of political undertones and I was under the impression that this festival is totally not political and, in fact, artists should never be political according to Main Competition Jury President Wim Wenders. Be quiet, artists and actors! Cinema is important, but not important enough to have an influence on people or society or governments or anything like that! Just keep your head down, deflect when asked a direct question about fascism, and muse about the nice weather in Germany, like Neil Patrick Harris did at the festival.

Sorry, I know you clicked on this article to get a list of the winners. You can see the full list below:

Golden Bear for Best Film

Yellow Letters, director İlker Çatak

Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize

Salvation, director Emin Alper

Silver Bear Jury Prize

Queen at Sea, director Lance Hammer

Silver Bear for Best Director

Grant Gee for Everybody Digs Bill Evans

Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance

Sandra Hüller for Rose

Silver Bear for Best Supporting Performance

**TIE** Anna Calder-Marshall for Queen at Sea and Tom Courtenay for Queen at Sea

Silver Bear for Best Screenplay

Geneviève Dulude-De Celles for Nina Roza

Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution

Anna Fitch and Banker White for Yo (Love Is a Rebellious Bird)

Best Directorial Debut in Perspectives

Chronicles from the Siege, director Abdallah Al-Khatib

Best Documentary

If Pigeons Turned to Gold, director Pepa Lubojacki

Best Short Film

Someday a Child, director Marie-Rose Osta

Congratulations to all the not-political winners of this not-political film festival.