The Queer Film Award ceremony on February 16, at Hangar2 at the airport
Berlin-Tempelhof
On Friday, February 16 at 10.00 p.m. the gay-lesbian-transgender film prize is given out for the 21st time. The TEDDY is celebrating its “bear’sday” with a glamorous festivity.
Under the motto “TEDDY takes off” the Award ceremony is taking place in the glamorous ambience of the Hangar2 at the airport Berlin-Tempelhof.
In the cockpit we find Wieland Speck, TEDDY co-founder and head of the Panorama section of the Berlin International Film Festival [Berlinale]. Aboard as well is the international TEDDY Jury with its president Charlie Boudreau, “directrice” of “Image+Nation”, the Montreal International lgbt Film Festival. On her side are: Jason Plourde, programming director of the “Seattle Lesbian and Gay Film Festival”, Raymond Phathanavirangoon of the “Hong Kong Lesbian and Gay Film and Video Festival”, Kam Wai Kui of the “Transgender Film Festival
Amsterdam”, Misa Pnacekova of the “Queer Film Festival Prague”, Frédéric Arends, Programmer for Pink Screens Festival in Brussels, from the Republic of South Africa Fanney Tsimong of the film festival “Out in Africa” and Ailton Franco Jr., founder of “Curta Cinema”, the Rio de Janeiro International Short Film Festival.
During the TEDDY Award ceremony this jury is going to give out prizes in the categories best short movie, best feature film and best documentary.
The winners are selected from all films out of the various Berlinale sections which promote a queer topic. The money that comes along with winning a TEDDY Award is raised by volunteers of TEDDY Membership Corporation [TEDDY e.V.] and its supporters. The TEDDY partner and sponsor of many years, the VOLKWAGEN AG, increases its support for the TEDDY this year: together with TIP magazine, VOLKSWAGEN donates 3.000 Euro to the Viewer’s Choice Award “TEDDY Ballot” which is presented for the very first time this year.

ARTE Theme Night on February 16, 2007
Flight attendants of the TEDDY Awards at Hangar2 are the ARTE-hosts Annette Gerlach and Gustav Hofer. They will guide the TEDDY passengers through the Award Show. To cater for an entertaining air fare, we have amongst others the five member band UEBERMUTTER, the O-Ton-Piraten as well as the virtuoso Keith Tynes (Ex-Platters).
Celebrating his 100th birthday, the spotlight will be on the great Italian director Luchino Visconti and the actor Helmut Berger will be honoured with the Lifetime Achievement TEDDY Award 2007. The Franco-German television station ARTE will telecast the Award Show on Sunday, February 18, 2007 at 2:50 p.m. At the same time of the Award Ceremony on Friday 16, ARTE telecasts a theme night to “The Coming-out of Cinema”
showing the documentary “Schau mir in die Augen, Kleiner” ”Here’s looking at you, TEDDY”by André Schäfer. In addition to that ARTE will go live to the 21st TEDDY Awards for a little while.

TEDDY goes Politics
However, TEDDY’s 21st bear’sday is more than just three cheers for TEDDY and a big hooray; “We never asked ourselves, why we still need the TEDDY. Everybody thinks, the topic is yesterday’s news, especially since we even have gay mayors”, states Wieland Speck. “The truth is, the political situation hasn’t really changed. The patriarchate is still the ruling power in every single country on this planet. And the patriarchate feels threatened especially by men who don’t participate.” Sad truths: homosexuality is still considered illegal by law in many countries of the world. Countries like Saudi Arabia or Iran are merciless. Same sex love is punished with death penalty. In Iraq gay men are currently systematically murdered by militia troops. However, besides Arabic countries government institutions in southern Africa and in many parts of Latin America and Asia take legal action against non-heterosexual people. With the worldwide reputation of the Berlinale, the TEDDY shines its light on artists from countries where no one pays attention to their messages and in doing that makes them being heard.

We are Family: TEDDY collaborates with amnesty international
To draw attention to the difficult situation of human rights for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (lgbt) people, TEDDY for the first time collaborates with “human rights and sexual identity” of amnesty international Germany (MERSI). With film clips and interviews TEDDY Award TV is going to point out the daily struggles and government prosecution that lgbt people are facing worldwide. Thus, committed TEDDY fans are given the opportunity to participate in human rights campaigns.

TEDDY goes to Russia

TEDDY looks beyond his own nose and invites guest columnists from all over the world to write about their individual view on the Berlinale in an online-diary. With focuses like “TEDDY goes to Russia”, “TEDDY goes to Africa”, “TEDDY goes to Turkey”, “TEDDY goes to China” as well as “TEDDY goes to Hollywood” and “TEDDY goes transsexual” people from these areas can write about own experiences like their coming out or describe the political situation of queer people in their country.

TEDDY on Tour: Oral History
For his 20th birthday in 2006 TEDDY went “on tour” and helped to organize the first queer film festival in Warsaw, supporting the event being the co-host. The TEDDY also attended the queer film festival in the capital of Indonesia, Jakarta - now, one year later, the film festival of John Badalu, a former member of the TEDDY Jury, is against the law.
Beginning this year, the TEDDY website www.teddyaward.org will cover the Berlinale in Arab, Russian and Chinese.
Homosexuality in China is still a taboo-subject, yet at the same time there are exciting developments happening. Slowly the Middle Kingdom is starting to accept queer ways of living. Besides China the TEDDY website focuses on Arabic- and Russian-speaking countries, where human rights not only of queer people are violated on a daily basis.
Reports by MERSI continuously draw attention on the situation of human rights in many parts of the world.

The TEDDY– a Success Story
In 1987 the TEDDY has been awarded for the first time. It is still the world’s only queer film award being part of an A-list film festival. Academy Award winners such as Pedro Almodóvar and award-winning artists like Tilda Swinton, Greta Schiller, Andrea Weiss, Derek Jarman and Gus Van Sant are some of the many TEDDY discoveries. Today movies with a lgbt content can be found in all sections of the Berlinale.