Berlin is known above all for its political and social commitment, or what the French Existentialists would call a Festival "Engagé".
Esthetic purists sometimes question the Berlin prize decisions on artistic grounds but art is often of secondary importance in this ballpark
where politics can also have to do with the pecking order in the upper echelons of the international film establishment.


Clearly the film with the most obvious socio-political content this year was the Hungarian entry "Csak a Szél" (Just the Wind) directed by Bence Fliegauf,
which takes up the subject of murderous race hatred against Gypsies (Roma) in Hungary. In an actual case just a couple of years back eight Roma were murdered in a small town in the Magyar outback and their good magyar neighors chose to look the other way when a police investigation was instituted.


Gypsies are the only sizable ethnic minority in Hungary and have long been regarded as a "social problem" in that country where, in recent years, efforts
have increasingly been made to integrate them into the Hungarian mainstream with very mixed results. White Hungarian prejudice against Gypsies, or Roma as they are now officially called with proper political correctnerss, is comparable in many respects to racial prejudice against black people in the USA and is perhaps more intense in the provinces than in Budapest.


Director Fliegauf (Born 1974) first came to prominence with a film called "Dealer" IN 2004 dealing directly with the big Hungarian drug problem. "Dealer" was awarded the best film prize that year in Hungary and Fliegauf was off and running. He is also a musician and does most of the music for his own films alhtough this one does not have very much music.



"Csak a Szél" took three prizes today, a Silver Bear for the Main Juy Prize, which amounts to a second best film, the Peace prize, and the Amnesty International Prize. The political nature of the fest can already be seen just from the prize categories.


A surprizing Best Actress prize went to an unknown African actress, Rachel Mwanza, for her leading role in "Rebelle" (War Witch) a film from the Congo which tells of the horrors of Civil War in which children, both male and female, are forced to become soldiers. In her acceptance speech Ms. Mwanza spoke in her native Lingala, while a tall black man from the same background interpreted into German.


The Best Actor award went to a Dane, Mikkel Boe Felsgaard, for his work in "En Konfgelig Affaere" (A Royal Affair) and the Best Director prize was awarded to local talent Christian Petzold for the well received German film "Barbara".



The Big prize, the Golden Bear for Best Film went in tandem to the now elderly Taviani Brothers from Italy, Paolo and Vittorio, for "Cesar Must Die", a drama set in a maximum security prison where the inmates enact Shakespeare then go back to their cells to contemplate their own misfortunes.


The Taviani Brotherhood has been around forever and generally make films that are adored by critics but not widely seen by the general public.
I passed this one up because prison films weigh too heavily on my innate claustrophobia so I am not in a position to comment on the esthetic qualities.
German cinematographer Lutz Reitemeyer took home a bear for his camera work on the Chinese film "Bai-Lu-Yuan", the fifth film he has shot in China and his second collaboration with director Wang Quan'An.



Six main prizes distributed over six different countries -- if that's not democratic, what is?
Early in the awards program Dieter Kosslick, festival dierector, paid a rather amusing hommage to one of his personal favorites, Sharukh Khan of Bollywood by shaking a leg a-la-Bollywood to the music of "Don 2", the new Blockbuster from Bollywood that didn't bust too many blocks here.

by Alex Deleon


FULL LIST OF PRIZES OF THE INTERNATIONAL JURY


GOLDEN BEAR FOR THE BEST FILM
Cesare deve morire
Caesar Must Die
by Paolo & Vittorio Taviani

JURY GRAND PRIX-SILVER BEAR
Csak a szél
Just The Wind
by Bence Fliegauf


SILVER BEAR FOR BEST DIRECTOR
Christian Petzold for
Barbara (Barbara)


SILVER BEAR FOR BEST ACTRESS
Rachel Mwanza in
Rebelle (War Witch) by Kim Nguyen


SILVER BEAR FOR BEST ACTOR
Mikkel Boe Følsgaard in
En Kongelig Affære (A Royal Affair) by Nikolaj Arcel


SILVER BEAR FOR AN OUTSTANDING ARTISTIC CONTRIBUTION
Lutz Reitemeier for the photography in
Bai lu yuan (White Deer Plain) by Wang Quan'an


SILVER BEAR FOR THE BEST SCRIPT
Nikolaj Arcel, Rasmus Heisterberg for
En Kongelig Affære (A Royal Affair) by Nikolaj Arcel


ALFRED BAUER PRIZE, awarded in memory of the Festival founder, for a work of particular innovation
Tabu
by Miguel Gomes

SPECIAL AWARD-SILVER BEAR
L'enfant d'en haut
Sister
by Ursula Meier

BEST FIRST FEATURE JURY


BEST FIRST FEATURE AWARD, endowed with 50,000 Euros, funded by GWFF
Kauwboy
Kauwboy
by Boudewijn Koole
(Generation Kplus)

SPECIAL MENTION
Tepenin Ardı
Beyond the Hill
by Emin Alper
(Forum)

PRIZES OF THE INTERNATIONAL SHORT FILM JURY


GOLDEN BEAR
Rafa
Rafa
by João Salaviza

THE JURY PRIZE - SILVER BEAR
Gurehto Rabitto
The Great Rabbit
by Atsushi Wada

SPECIAL MENTION
Licuri Surf
Licuri Surf
by Guile Martins

EFA SHORT FILM NOMINEE BERLIN
Vilaine Fille Mauvais Garçon
Two Ships
by Justine Triet

DAAD SHORT FILM PRIZE
The Man that Got Away
The Man that Got Away
by Trevor Anderson

PRIZES OF THE JURIES GENERATION
Children’s Jury Generation Kplus

CRYSTAL BEAR FOR THE BEST FILM
Arcadia
Arcadia
by Olivia Silver

SPECIAL MENTION
Kikoeteru, furi wo sita dake
Just Pretended To Hear
by Kaori Imaizumi

CRYSTAL BEAR FOR THE BEST SHORT FILM
Julian
Julian
by Matthew Moore

SPECIAL MENTION
B I N O
B I N O
by Billie Pleffer

Youth Jury Generation 14plus


CRYSTAL BEAR FOR THE BEST FILM
Lal Gece
Night of Silence
by Reis Çelik

SPECIAL MENTION
Kronjuvelerna
The Crown Jewels
by Ella Lemhagen

CRYSTAL BEAR FOR THE BEST SHORT FILM
Meathead
Meathead
by Sam Holst

SPECIAL MENTION
663114
663114
by Isamu Hirabayashi
International Jury Generation Kplus

THE GRAND PRIX OF THE DEUTSCHES KINDERHILFSWERK FOR THE BEST FILM
Kauwboy
Kauwboy
by Boudewijn Koole

SPECIAL MENTION
GATTU
GATTU
by Rajan Khosa

THE SPECIAL PRIZE OF THE DEUTSCHES KINDERHILFSWERK FOR THE BEST SHORT FILM
B I N O
B I N O
by Billie Pleffer

SPECIAL MENTION
L
L
by Thais Fujinaga



INDEPENDENT JURIES


PRIZES OF THE ECUMENICAL JURY
Competition Cesare deve morire (Caesar Must Die), by Paolo & Vittorio Taviani
Special Mention Rebelle (War Witch), by Kim Nguyen
Panorama Die Wand (The Wall), by Julian Roman Pölsler
Special Mention Parada (The Parade), by Srdjan Dragojevic
Forum La demora (The Delay), by Rodrigo Plá

FIPRESCI PRIZES
Competition Tabu (Tabu), by Miguel Gomes
Panorama L'âge atomique (Atomic Age), by Héléna Klotz
Forum Hemel (Hemel), by Sacha Polak

PRIZE OF THE GUILD OF GERMAN ART HOUSE CINEMAS
À moi seule (Coming Home), by Frédéric Videau

C.I.C.A.E. PRIZE
Panorama Death For Sale (Death for Sale), by Faouzi Bensaïdi
Forum Kazoku no kuni (Our Homeland), by Yang Yonghi

LABEL EUROPA CINEMAS
My Brother The Devil (My Brother The Devil), by Sally El Hosaini
Special Mention
Dollhouse (Dollhouse), by Kirsten Sheridan

TEDDY AWARDS
Best Feature Film Keep The Lights On (Keep The Lights On), by Ira Sachs
Best Documentary Film Call Me Kuchu (Call Me Kuchu), by Malika Zouhali-Worrall, Katherine
Fairfax Wright
Best Short Film Loxoro (Loxoro), by Claudia Llosa
Teddy Jury Award Jaurés (Jaurés), by Vincent Dieutre 18.02.2012

MADE IN GERMANY – PERSPEKTIVE FELLOWSHIP, endowed with 15,000 Euros,
funded by Glashütte Original
Annekatrin Hendel for Disko (Disco)

DIALOGUE EN PERSPECTIVE, funded by the German-French Youth Office
This Ain't California (This Ain't California), by Marten Persiel

CALIGARI FILM PRIZE
Tepenin Ardı (Beyond the Hill), by Emin Alper
Special Mentions
Bagrut Lochamim (Soldier / Citizen), by Silvina Landsmann
Escuela normal (Normal School), by Celina Murga
Jaurès (Jaurès), by Vincent Dieutre

NETPAC PRIZE
Paziraie Sadeh (Modest Reception), by Mani Haghighi

PEACE FILM AWARD
Csak a szél (Just The Wind), by Bence Fliegauf

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL FILM PRIZE
Csak a szél (Just The Wind), by Bence Fliegauf

CINEMA FAIRBINDET PRIZE
Call Me Kuchu (Call Me Kuchu), by Malika Zouhali-Worrall, Katherine Fairfax Wright

READERS’ JURIES AND AUDIENCE AWARDS
PanoramaAudienceAward PPP – fiction film
Parada (The Parade), by Srdjan Dragojevic
PanoramaAudienceAward PPP – documentary film
Marina Abramovic The Artist is Present (Marina Abramovic The Artist is Present), by Matthew Akers

BERLINER MORGENPOST READERS’ PRIZE
Barbara (Barbara), by Christian Petzold

TAGESSPIEGEL READERS’ PRIZE
La demora (The Delay), by Rodrigo Plá

SIEGESSÄULE READERS’ AWARD
Parada (The Parade), by Srdjan Dragojevic
Special Mention
Call Me Kuchu (Call Me Kuchu), by Malika Zouhali-Worrall, Katherine Fairfax Wright

PRIZE OF THE BERLINALE TALENT CAMPUS


SCORE COMPETITION
Christoph Fleischmann (Germany)

BERLIN TODAY AWARD
Rafael Balulu (Israel)
for Batman At The Checkpoint (Batman At The Checkpoint)
Special Mention
David Lalé (United Kingdom)
for White Lobster (White Lobster)