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Matthias Glasner is on the red carpet after the awards ceremony at the Berlinale Palast with the Silver Bear for the best screenplay for the film “Die”.
© Britta Pedersen/dpa
Political to the end: The Berlinale awarded the Golden Bear to a documentary about stolen art.
The German prize winner Matthias Glasner shows emotion.
And a veteran director is surprised.
Berlin - The 74th Berlinale remained true to itself until the finale: the film festival handed out its awards based on political messages.
For the second time in a row, a documentary won the most important prize, the Golden Bear, on Saturday evening: “Dahomey” by French-born director Mati Diop.
Your film deals with the return of art treasures that were stolen from Benin, West Africa, then Dahomey, in 1892.
The 41-year-old with Senegalese roots follows 26 statues on their journey from France to their country of origin in “Dahomey”.
In total, thousands of works of art were stolen around 130 years ago and are still in France today.
The return of art objects has been an issue for a long time - also in Germany
The experimental documentary captivates with poetic passages - for example, one of the works of art speaks off-screen several times.
Part of the film shows a discussion in Benin among mostly young people.
They argue about whether the return should be seen as progress or as postcolonial arrogance.
Current problems in the country such as poverty and the lack of education are also discussed.
The return of art objects has been an issue in France and Germany for a long time.
In 2018, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that the 26 objects would be returned to Benin.
The artifacts include statues, jewelry and a throne.
Beninese President Patrice Talon spoke out in favor of restitution of further works.
It is estimated that Europe hoards more than 90 percent of Africa's cultural heritage.
“Giving back is doing justice,” Diop said as she accepted the award.
People dream of my film: award winner Matthias Glasner
Several Silver Bears were also awarded.
One went to German director Matthias Glasner for the script of his emotionally heated drama “Die”.
In the film with Corinna Harfouch and Lars Eidinger in leading roles, the director dealt with the complex relationship with his family.
Glasner was initially worried that the drama might be too personal.
But it moved a lot of people.
“I've been stopped every few meters for days by people who say: 'Great film, it touched me so much, I'm dreaming about it,'” Glasner told the German Press Agency on Saturday evening.
And added: “It was somehow worth it that when you open yourself up so much that others open up too.”
“I don’t understand what you see in my film” - veteran director Hong Sangsoo
The Grand Jury Prize went to the melancholic comedy “Yeohaengjaui pilyo” (“A Traveler's Needs”) by South Korean veteran director Hong Sangsoo, starring Isabelle Huppert.
“I don’t understand what you see in my film,” Sangsoo said, visibly modestly, to the jury on stage.
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Romanian-American actor Sebastian Stan won best actor for his performance in the tragicomedy “A Different Man.”
Britain's Emily Watson won the award for best supporting role in "Small Things Like These."
The 57-year-old came on stage with a crutch because of a broken foot.
The Frenchman Bruno Dumont received the jury prize for the sci-fi parody “L'Empire”.
Nelson Carlos De Los Santos Arias won the Silver Bear for best director for “Pepe,” an experimental film about a dead hippopotamus in Colombia.
The Austrian cameraman Martin Gschlacht was honored for his outstanding artistic achievement in the historical drama “Des Teufels Bad”.
Protest notes on the stage
This year's Berlinale was particularly marked by political debates - many filmmakers had already protested against right-wing extremism at the opening gala.
Others called for an end to the fighting in Gaza between Israel and the terrorist organization Hamas.
At the awards ceremony, several people on stage carried a note that read “Ceasefire Now.”
Palestinian filmmaker Basel Adra called on Germany to stop supplying weapons to Israel.
Adra made the documentary “No Other Land” with three other filmmakers and won the documentary film award for it.
The film is about the displacement of Palestinians in the villages of Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron in the West Bank.
New Berlinale peak from April
“I can hardly remember times that were so political,” said actor Eidinger after the award ceremony.
It would be “fatal if this were completely ignored or excluded for such an event.”
The Berlinale has always been considered the most political of the world's largest film festivals.
In 2023, the documentary “Sur l'Adamant” won the Golden Bear.
For the management duo Mariette Rissenbeek and Carlo Chatrian, this was the fifth and last Berlinale in their position.
Tricia Tuttle will take over from April.
The American sat beaming in the audience at the award ceremony.
The festival ends on Sunday with a public day.
dpa