62nd Berlin International Film Festival

The 62nd annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 9 to 19 February 2012. British film director Mike Leigh was the president of the jury.[1] The first five films to be screened in the competition were announced on 19 December 2011.[2] American actress Meryl Streep was presented with the Honorary Golden Bear on 14 February.[3] Benoît Jacquot's film Farewell, My Queen was announced as the opening film.[4]

62nd Berlin International Film Festival
Festival poster
Opening filmLes adieux à la reine
Closing filmCaesar Must Die
LocationBerlin, Germany
Founded1951
AwardsGolden Bear: Caesar Must Die
Hosted byAnke Engelke
No. of films395 films
Festival date9–19 February 2012
Websiteberlinale.de
Berlin International Film Festival chronology

The Golden Bear went to the Italian film Caesar Must Die, directed by Paolo and Vittorio Taviani, which also served as closing night film.[5]

Juries

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The following people were announced as being on the jury for the festival:[6]

Main Competition

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Best First Feature Award

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  • Matthew Modine, American actor
  • Hania Mroué, Lebanese producer and distributor
  • Moritz Rinke, German journalist and writer

Short Film Competition

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Official Sections

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In competition

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The following films were in competition for the Golden Bear and Silver Bear awards:[7]

English title Original title Director(s) Production Country
Today Aujourd'hui Alain Gomis France, Senegal
Barbara Christian Petzold Germany
Caesar Must Die Cesare deve morire Paolo Taviani, Vittorio Taviani Italy
Captive Brillante Mendoza Philippines, France, Germany, United Kingdom
Childish Games Dictado Antonio Chavarrías Spain
Coming Home À moi seule Frédéric Videau France
Farewell, My Queen Les adieux à la reine Benoît Jacquot France, Spain
Home for the Weekend Was bleibt Hans-Christian Schmid Germany
Jayne Mansfield's Car Billy Bob Thornton Russia, United States
Just the Wind Csak a szél Benedek Fliegauf Hungary, Germany, France
Mercy Gnade Matthias Glasner Germany, Norway
Meteora Metéora Spiros Stathoulopoulos Germany, Greece
Postcards from the Zoo Kebun binatang Edwin Indonesia, Germany
A Royal Affair En kongelig affære Nikolaj Arcel Denmark, Czech Republic, Germany, Sweden
Sister L'enfant d'en haut Ursula Meier Switzerland, France
Tabu Miguel Gomes Portugal, Germany, Brazil, France
War Witch Rebelle Kim Nguyen Canada
White Deer Plain 白鹿原 Wang Quan'an China

Out of competition

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English title Original title Director(s) Country
Bel Ami Declan Donnellan, Nick Ormerod United Kingdom
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close Stephen Daldry United States
The Flowers of War 金陵十三钗 Zhang Yimou China
Flying Swords of Dragon Gate Tsui Hark Hong Kong, China
Shadow Dancer James Marsh United Kingdom, Ireland
Young Adult Jason Reitman United States

Panorama

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English title Original title Director(s) Country
10+10 Hou Hsiao-hsien, Wang Toon, Wu Nien-jen, Sylvia Chang, Chen Kuo-fu, Wei Te-sheng, Chung Meng-hung, Chang Tso-chi, Arvin Chen, Yang Ya-che Taiwan
Calm at Sea La mer à l'aube Volker Schlöndorff France, Germany
Death for Sale Faouzi Bensaïdi France
Dollhouse Kirsten Sheridan Ireland
Elles Małgorzata Szumowska France, Poland, Germany
From Seoul to Varanasi Varanasi Jeon Kyu-hwan South Korea
Headshot ฝนตกขึ้นฟ้า Pen-Ek Ratanaruang Thailand, France
Indignados Tony Gatlif France
Iron Sky Timo Vuorensola Finland, Germany, Australia
Keep the Lights On Ira Sachs United States
Kuma Umut Dag Austria
Leave It on the Floor Sheldon Larry United States, Canada
L'âge atomique Héléna Klotz France
Lost in Paradise Hotboy nổi loạn và câu chuyện về thằng Cười, cô gái điếm và con vịt Vũ Ngọc Đãng Viet Nam
Love Doze Niu Taiwan
Mommy Is Coming Cheryl Dunye Germany
My Brother the Devil Sally El Hosaini United Kingdom
My Way Mai-wei Kang Je-gyu South Korea
The Parade Parada Srđan Dragojević Serbia, Croatia, Macedonia, Slovenia
The Wall Die Wand Julian Roman Pölsler Austria, Germany
Wilaya Pedro Pérez Rosado Spain
The Woman Who Brushed Off Her Tears Teona Strugar Mitevska Macedonia, Germany, Slovenia, Belgium
Xingu Cao Hamburger Brazil
 
Mike Leigh, Jury President

Official Awards

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Main Competition

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Paolo and Vittorio Taviani, winners of the Golden Bear at the festival

The following prizes were awarded by the International Jury:[8] The Hollywood Reporter described the outcome as "a major upset". Der Spiegel said it was a "very conservative selection."[9] Der Tagesspiegel criticised the outcome, "The jury shunned almost all the contemporary films that were admired or hotly debated at an otherwise pretty remarkable festival."[10] Paolo Taviani said "We hope that when the film is released to the general public that cinemagoers will say to themselves or even those around them... that even a prisoner with a dreadful sentence, even a life sentence, is and remains a human being". Vittorio Taviani read out the names of the cast.[9]

Crystal Bears

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  • Generation Kplus (Feature Length Film): Arcadia by Olivia Silver
  • Generation 14plus (Feature Length Film): Night of Silence by Reis Çelik
  • Competition: Tabu by Miguel Gomes
  • Panorama: Atomic Age by Héléna Klotz
  • Forum: Hemel by Sacha Polak

Golden Bear for Best Short Film

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References

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  1. ^ "UK director Mike Leigh to head Berlin film jury". Yahoo. Retrieved 11 December 2011.
  2. ^ "62ND BERLIN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL FEBRUARY 09 - 19, 2012". berlinale.de. 19 December 2011. Retrieved 19 December 2011.
  3. ^ "Berlin Film Festival to honour Meryl Streep". BBC. 4 January 2012. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
  4. ^ "Marie Antoinette drama to open Berlin Film Festival". BBC. 5 January 2012. Retrieved 5 January 2012.
  5. ^ "Jail docu-drama Caesar Must Die wins Berlin award". BBC News. 19 February 2012. Retrieved 19 February 2012.
  6. ^ "JURIES 2012". berlinale.de. Archived from the original on 29 September 2013. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
  7. ^ "PROGRAMME 2012". berlinale.de. Archived from the original on 9 November 2013. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
  8. ^ "Prizes of the International Jury 2012". Berlinale. 19 February 2012. Retrieved 19 February 2012.
  9. ^ a b "Jail docu-drama Caesar Must Die wins Berlin award". BBC News. 19 February 2012. Retrieved 19 February 2012.
  10. ^ "Critics lament conservative winner at edgy Berlin film fest". Expatica. 19 February 2012. Archived from the original on 28 November 2012. Retrieved 19 February 2012.
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