Berlin Film Festival to drop awards differentiated by gender

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The Berlin International Film Festival, Berlinale, has made two big announcements regarding its 2021 event.

First, they have stated that the event will go ahead as physically planned. The linked EFM (European Film Market), at which film and media industry professionals come together to trade film and audiovisual content, will be run on a ‘hybrid model’, with a mix of virtual and in-person events.

A statement from the two directors of the Berlinale, Mariette Rissenbeek and Carlo Chatrian, pointed to the nature of Festivals as “places of encounter and communication”. They went on to state how “In times of the corona pandemic, it has become even clearer that we still require analogue experience spaces in the cultural realm.”

The decision will be welcomed by those who have expressed their frustrations with trying to create adequate audience engagement during a time when only virtual performance has been possible.

The second announcement made by Berlinale is that the performance awards will be defined in a “gender-neutral way”. This move will most likely be welcomed by an industry that has seen an increasing push for diversity in all areas.

The ‘Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance’ and the ‘Silver Bear for Best Supporting Performance’ will be awarded in place of the Best Actor and Best Actress awards.

Chatrian and Rissenbeek commented: “We believe that not separating the awards in the acting field according to gender comprises a signal for a more gender-sensitive awareness in the film industry.” 

In another indication of the festival’s commitment to social equality, the previous Silver Bear Alfred Bauer Prize is suspended as of 2020, due to “new findings” about the position of the first Berlinale director, Alfred Bauer, under National Socialism.

Official film registration will begin on September 1 2020, for which the International Jury of the Competition will award the following eight prizes at the 2021 awards:

  • Golden Bear for Best Film (awarded to the film’s producers)
  • Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize
  • Silver Bear for Best Director
  • Silver Bear Jury Prize
  • Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance
  • Silver Bear for Best Supporting Performance
  • Silver Bear for Best Screenplay
  • Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution

Words by Lottie Hayton

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