Berlinale 2013: Best of the Best

Another great festival ended, another year will pass before the next round. This causes a certain sensation in your stomach when you know you have to wait 12 long moths for something great. There will be other festivals, of course, but Berlinale is my very special place with this very special ambience worth waiting for. There were great surprises, there were misunderstandings, there were great meetings, and lots of "firsts". Here is the last list of the things I like a lot.

MY FAVORITES:

Competition:
"Child's Pose"
"Gloria"
"Harmony Lessons"
"Prince Avalanche"
"In the Name Of..." - patriotically, but not only

Out of Competition - MUST-SEEs
"Before Midnight"
"Don Jon's Addiction"
"The Best Offer"
"Frances Ha"
"Lovelace"
"Broken Circle Breakdown"
"The Croods"

Decent ones:
"Side Effects"
"Promised Land"
"On My Way"
"Paradise: Hope"
"Inch'Allah"

NO-NOs:
"Parde"
"The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman"

Full report in Polish here.

THE WINNERS

Main competition - Golden Bear

CHILD'S POSE - Romania

director: Calin Peter Netzer

Silver Bear - The Jury Grand Prize: "An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker" by Danis Tanovic (Bosnia and Herzeogvina/France/Slovenia)

Silver Bear - Best Director: David Gordon Green, "Prince Avalanche" (USA)

Silver Bear - Best Actress: Paulina Garcia in "Gloria" (Chile/Spain)

Silver Bear - Best Actor: Nazif Mujic in "An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker" (Bosnia and Herzeogvina/France/Slovenia)

Silver Bear - Best Screenplay: "Pardé (Closed Curtain)," by Jafar Panahi (Iran)

Silver Bear - Artistic Contribution: Aziz Zahmbakyjev, cinematographer of "Harmony Lessons" (Kazakhstan / Germany / France)

Alfred Bauer Prize: Denis Côté, "Vic+Flo Saw a Bear" (Canada)

Best First Feature Award: "The Rocket" by Kim Mordaunt (Australia)

Special Mention:  "Layla Fourie" by (Germany/South Africa/France/The Netherlands)

Special Mention: "Promised Land" by Gus Van Sant (U.S.)

Golden Bear for Best Short Film: "Fugue" by Jean-Bernard Marlin (France)
Silver Bear for Best Short Film: "remains quiet" by Stefan Kriekhaus (Germany)

DAAD Short Film Award: "Ashura" by Köken Ergun (Turkey/Germany)
TEDDY AWARD: "In the Name Of..." by Malgoska Szumowska (Poland)