BERLINALE 2025 Awards Dag Johan Haugerud’s Dreams (Sex Love) bags the Berlinale Golden Bear
by Davide Abbatescianni, Cineuropa February 22, 2025
“It’s never too late to find meaning in life.” --Gabriel Mascaro
He (Radu Jude) called for the ICC to do its job in pursuing “those murderous bastards”, and ahead of the German elections, he said he hoped next year’s edition wouldn’t be opened byLeni Riefenstahl’s Triumph of the Will.
The 75thBerlinale has been brought to a close by the traditional awards ceremony held at the Berlinale Palast, which saw the triumph of Dag Johan Haugerud’s Dreams (Sex Love, the winner of this year’s Golden Bear.
The gala was hosted by Luxembourgish actor, director and producer Désirée Nosbusch. She first invited on stage Tricia Tuttle, the German gathering’s new director, who admitted to being both “exhausted and full of joy, and excited about next year’s edition”. She also revealed that 330,000 tickets had been sold during the festival. After a round of applause dedicated to the victim of the Shoah Memorial attack that unfolded yesterday, Nosbusch kicked off the awards ceremony.
The international competition jury, headed by Todd Haynes, was made up of Rodrigo Moreno, Maria Schrader, Nabil Ayouch, Fan Bingbing, Bina Daigeler and Amy Nicholson. Haynes rewarded Dreams (Sex Love), defining it as “a meditation on love”, crafted with “incredible confidence and precision” with “acute, clear-sighted observation, patient camera work and flawless performances”.
Haugerud was accompanied on stage by his producers, Yngve Sæther and Hege Hauff Hvattum. The former recalled how their working relationship started in 1996 during a small festival for Super8 films and how even small festivals can unexpectedly change your life. Hege thanked the cast and crew for embarking on a “crazy three-film journey”. Haugerud admitted that winning the Golden Bear was beyond “his wildest dreams” and reminded the audience of the importance of reading and writing. “It broadens your mind, and it’s good for you [all],” he said.
Bingbing awarded the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize to Gabriel Mascaro’s The Blue Trail, “a thought-provoking film” able to “deliver a powerful commentary on society’s treatment of the elderly”. During his speech, Mascaro thanked his cast and crew, and underscored, “It’s never too late to find meaning in life.”
Daigeler handed the Silver Bear Jury Prize to Iván Fund’s The Message, billed as “a delightful, beautiful, precise, unpretentious jewel of a film” set in the remote countryside, and “a quiet movie stirring emotions and memories”. The helmer thanked “his family and friends”, who also happen to be his crew. “Times are tough in Argentina; cinema is under attack, and culture as such is being dismantled. This little Bear is a counterweight that shows that films will continue to live and thrive,” he added, prompting a huge round of applause.
Schrader awarded the Silver Bear for Best Director to Living the Land, helmed by Huo Meng. According to the jury, the film manages to strike “a graceful balance between observation and narrative that allows us to connect to the many individual characters, their longings, hope, grief and happiness, as we ourselves are members of that family”.
Ayouch delivered the Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance to Rose Byrne, the lead actress in the A24 drama If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, directed by Rose Branstein. The jury praised her in the role, defining it as “a performance that vibrates off the screen, dragging us into the darkness”.
The Silver Bear for Best Supporting Performance was bestowed upon Andrew Scott for his work in Richard Linklater’s Blue Moon. Scott couldn’t attend the ceremony, but thanked the festival and jury through a video message. His portrayal was described as being backed by “an intimidating amount of build-up”.
Argentina’s Rodrigo Moreno invited Radu Jude, winner of the Silver Bear for Best Screenplay, up on stage. The director of Kontinental ’25 dedicated the award to Luis Buñuelafter realising that today would have been his 125th birthday. He also shared an anecdote involving Buñuel and Nicholas Ray, which served as a launchpad for him to say: “We need to fight against this stupid logic [of higher budgets] in cinema. Besides, I’m a bad screenwriter, so it’s a really funny award to get.” He also called for the ICC to do its job in pursuing “those murderous bastards”, and ahead of the German elections, he said he hoped next year’s edition wouldn’t be opened byLeni Riefenstahl’s Triumph of the Will.
Haynes dedicated the Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution to the whole creative ensemble of The Ice Tower, defining the final result as a “sublime accomplishment” that shows “a mesmerising universe and a meditation on cinema itself”. Director Lucile Had¾ihaliloviæ received the prize on stage on behalf of the whole team. “I just want to say that I don’t think cinema changes the world, but collective dreams help us very much to live and go through these hard moments,” she concluded.
The Perspectives jury, made up of Meryam Joobeur, Aïssa Maïga and María Zamora, handed the GWFF Best First Feature Award (worth €50,000) to The Devil Smokes (and Saves the Burnt Matches in the Same Box) by Ernesto Martínez Bucio. Joobeur reminded those present how the pic “serves as a powerful reminder that we all share a sacred responsibility to protect the beauty and innocence of children”. A Special Mention was bestowed upon Arnaud Dufeys and Charlotte Devillers’ We Believe You.
The Berlinale Documentary Award, worth €40,000 and handed out by Petra Costa, Lea Glob and Kazuhiro Soda, went to Brendan Kramer’s Holding Liat, a movie tracing “a path not of revenge, but of humanity”, inviting us “to look beyond the fence”. The same jury granted two Special Mentions: the first went to Tatiana Fuentes Sadowsky’s The Memory of Butterflies, and the second to Gianluca and Massimiliano De Serio’s Canone effimero.
The Berlinale Shorts jury – consisting of Jing Haase, Dascha Dauenhauer and Phạm Ngọc Lân – awarded the Golden Bear for Best Short Film to Lesley Loksi Chan’s Canadian documentary on AIDS Lloyd Wong,Unfinished and the Silver Bear Jury Prize to Yoriko Mizushiri’s animated tale Ordinary Life. Finally, a Special Mention was given to Quenton Miller’s quirky Koki, Ciao, whose director reminded the audience in attendance how the film was “co-written and narrated” by the titular cockatoo formerly owned by Tito.
Silver Bear for an Outstanding Artistic Contribution Creative ensemble of The Ice Tower - Lucile Had¾ihaliloviæ (France/Germany)
Perspectives
GWFF Best First Feature Award The Devil Smokes (and Saves the Burnt Matches in the Same Box) - Ernesto Martínez Bucio (Mexico)
Special Mention We Believe You - Arnaud Dufeys and Charlotte Devillers (Belgium)
Non-section-specific awards
Berlinale Documentary Award Holding Liat - Brandon Kramer (USA)
Special Mention The Memory of Butterflies - Tatiana Fuentes Sadowsky (Peru/Portugal) Canone effimero - Gianluca De Serio, Massimiliano De Serio (Italy)
Berlinale Shorts
Golden Bear for Best Short Film Lloyd Wong, Unfinished - Lesley Loksi Chan (Canada) (documentary)
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