The 2025 Berlinale Awards were presented on February 22. It was the 75th edition of the festival and the first under the reign of Tricia Tuttle. The jury president, Todd Haynes and his jury members had a thankless task since the competition selection was particularly uninspired this year.
Berlinale Awards overview
The Golden Bear went to Drømmer (Dreams (Sex Love)), directed by Norwegian filmmaker Dag Johan Haugerud. The inclusion of the film in the competition was surprising since it had already opened in Norwegian cinemas in October. It is also the second film in the trilogy rather than the third. Sex was screened in the Panorama section of last year’s Berlinale, while Love (reviewed here) was presented on the last day of the Venice Film Festival. The probable cause of the shuffle is that the initial plan was to present Drømmer at some festival between the Berlinale and Venice.
The Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize went to O último azul (The Blue Trail) by Brazilian director Gabriel Mascaro. I was a fan of his 2019 Panorama entry, Divino amor, but found this work disappointing after a highly promising start.
Argentinian filmmaker Iván Fund won the Silver Bear Jury Prize for El mensaje (The Message). There are things to admire in this film, but it is still a bit too insignificant and ruined by the usage of one particular piece of music. Fund’s work will not always be on my mind.
For Best Director, the Silver Bear was awarded to Huo Meng for his sophomore film, Sheng xi zhi di (Living the Land). It’s a film I have yet to watch.
Acting accolades lit up the ceremony, with Rose Byrne earning the Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance in If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, directed by Mary Bronstein. This was the other of the two films in the competition that was not a world premiere. Bronstein’s film premiered at Sundance shortly before the Berlinale. Andrew Scott took the Silver Bear for Best Supporting Performance in Richard Linklater’s Blue Moon.
The Silver Bear for Best Screenplay went to Radu Jude for Kontinental ’25. The Romanian auteur is no stranger to the Berlinale and inexplicably won the Golden Bear in 2021 for Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn. His new film will not surprise anyone who knows the director’s work but boasts a strong performance by Eszter Tompa.
Finally, the Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution honoured the creative ensemble behind La Tour de glace (The Ice Tower), directed by Lucile Hadžihalilović. This is the most inexplicable of the awards. Like the director’s previous films, it relies on mood rather than a cohesive style and moves at a glacial pace (no pun intended).1 I admit, the pun was intended, which is more intentions that this film proved to have.
The Berlinale 2025 winners were not exciting and, in some ways, predictable. That Todd Haynes would appreciate the queer-themed Drømmer is hardly a shock, but the awards for Jude’s and, above all, Hadžihalilović’s film are not easy to comprehend. As I wrote before, Haugerud’s film won two prizes at the Independent Awards earlier in the day. Personally, I find Haugerud’s trio superficial beyond belief. I’ve been wondering what makes his films so attractive in some quarters and have reached the disheartening conclusion that the films are the cinematic equivalent of a comfort blanket. Cinematic might not be the apt choice of words for these films devoid of cinematic qualities.
Regarding films that should have won awards or snubs to descend to Oscar lingo, the most glaring omission is Reflet dans un diamant mort (Reflection in a Dead Diamond) by Bruno Forzami and Hélène Cattet. Reflections is the operative word in this masterful amalgamation of styles, taking its starting point in Italian sixties films. There will be a review and an interview with the directors with no hint of disapproval published soon on these pages. Yunan is another film that could have won an award. Even though it was hampered by Tarrismes with a tad too obvious references, it was indisputably one of the better films in the competition.
Tricia Tuttle’s first edition may have worked well regarding the market side, but when it comes to the film selections, plenty of work that needs to be done.