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| Dreams took the top prize Golden Bear in Berlin Photo: © Motlys |
Norway’s Dag Johan Haugerud won the Golden Bear in Berlin last night for Dreams. It was the first time the top honour had been won by the country.
Although technically the “second” in a loose trilogy, which also includes Sex and Love, they have premiered internationally out of order, which in many ways seems appropriate since they can be watched in any sequence. It tells the story of teenager Johanne (Ella Øverbye) who writes about a love affair with her teacher Johanna (Selome Emnetu) which may or may not be imagined and which sparks differing reactions in her mother (Ane Dahl Torp) and grandmother (Anne Marit Jacobsen).
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| Dag Johan Haugerud with his Golden Bear Photo: © Richard Hübner/Berlinale 2025 |
The film also won the FIPRESCI prize and the German arthouse cinemas’ guild award. The Silver Bear went to Brazilian Gabriel Mascaro’s surprisingly warm-hearted dystopia-set tale of an older woman getting a new lease of life, The Blue Trail, and he also snagged the Ecumenical jury prize for the film. Argentinian filmmaker Ivàn Fund was given the Silver Bear jury prize for his beautifully shot and enigmatic coming-of-age tale The Message.
The acting prize went to Rose Byrne, for Mary Bronstein’s If I Had Legs I‘d Kick You, with Andrew Scott picking up the best supporting equivalent for Richard Linklater’s Blue Moon.
Huo Meng was named best director for Living The Land, with former Golden Bear winner Raju Jude collecting best screenplay for Kontinental ’25.
Jude, whose portrait gracing the festival’s walls features his signature along with the epithet: “Fuck Trump and Putin”, didn’t hold back in terms of commentary, jokingly referring to a Nazi propaganda film as he picked up his prize and referring to the elections being held today in the country.
“I hope that we will have more solidarity in Europe, in these moments when we are under pressure from all sides,” he said. “But let it be solidarity in the true sense of the word. I hope that the International Court in The Hague will continue to hold all the villainous and murderous leaders to account. And, since elections are being held in Germany, I hope that next year’s festival will not open with Leni Riefenstahl’s Triumph Of The Will”
The Silver Bear for outstanding artistic contribution went to the ensemble behind Lucile Hadzihalilovic’s The Ice Tower.
Todd Haynes was president of the international jury that also included Nabil Ayouch, Fan Bingbing, Bina Daigeler, Rodrigo Moreno, Amy Nicholson and Maria Schrader.
The documentary award went to Brandon Kramer’s Holding Liat, about October 7 hostage Liat Beinin Atzili, while the Teddy Award top prize went to Lesbian Space Princess by Emma Hough Hobbs and Leela Varghese.
The full list of awards is below:
Competition
- Golden Bear for Best Film - Dreams (Sex Love) by Johan Haugerud
- Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize - The Blue Trail by Gabriel Mascaro
- Silver Bear Jury Prize - The Message by Ivan Fund
- Silver Bear for Best Director - Huo Meng for Living The Land
- Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance - Rose Byrne in If I Had Legs I‘d Kick You
- Silver Bear for Best Supporting Performance - Andrew Scott in Blue Moon
- Silver Bear for Best Screenplay - Radu Jude for Kontinental ’25
- Silver Bear for an Outstanding Artistic Contribution - The creative ensemble of The Ice Tower
Perspectives
- Best First Feature - The Devil Smokes (and Saves the Burnt Matches in the Same Box) by Ernesto Martínez Bucio
- Special mention - We Believe You by Charlotte Devillers, Arnaud Dufeys
Documentary Award
- Holding Liat by Brandon Kramer
- Special mentions: The Memory of Butterflies by Tatiana Fuentes Sadowski; and Canone Effimero by Gianluca De Serio and Massimiliano De Serio
Generation
Kplus
- Children’s Jury Crystal Bear for the Best Film - Maya, Give Me a Title by Michel Gondry
- Special mention - Circusboy by Julia Lemke, Anna Koch
- Children’s Jury Crystal Bear for the Best Short Film - Rebels Cinema Club by Khozy Rizal
- Grand Prix of Generation International Jury for Best Film - The Botanist by Jing Yi
- Special mention - Seaside Serendipity by Satoko Yokohama
14plus
- Youth Jury Crystal Bear for the Best Film - Sunshine by Antoinette Jadaone
- Special mention - Playtime by Lucia Murat
- Youth Jury Crystal Bear for the Best Short Film - Wish You Were Ear by Mirjana Balogh
- Grand Prix of Generation International Jury for Best Film - Christy by Brendan Canty
- Special mention - Têtes brûlées by Maja-Ajmia Yde Zellama
GWFF First Feature Award
- The Devil Smokes (and Saves the Burnt Matches in the Same Box) by Ernesto Martínez Bucio
- Special mention - We Believe You by Charlotte Devillers, Arnaud Dufeys
Teddy Awards
- Best feature film - Lesbian Space Princess by Emma Hough Hobbs, Leela Varghese
- Best documentary - Satanic Sow by Rosa von Praunheim
- Jury Award - If You Are Afraid You Put Your Heart into Your Mouth and Smile by Marie Luise Lehner
- Special Award - Todd Haynes
Fipresci Prizes
- Competition - Dreams by Dag Johan Haugerud
- Perspectives - Little Trouble Girls by Urška Djukić
- Panorama - Under the Flags, the Sun by Juanjo Pereira
- Forum - The Memory of Butterflies by Tatiana Fuentes Sadowski
Europa Cinemas Label
- Hysteria by Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay
Panorama Audience Awards
- Feature Film - Deaf by Eva Libertad
- Documentary - The Moelln Letters by Martina Priessner
Prizes of the Independent Juries
- Amnesty International film award - The Moelln Letters by Martina Priessner
- Caligari Film Prize - Fwends by Sophie Somerville
Prizes of the Ecumenical Jury
- Competition - The Blue Trail by Gabriel Mascaro
- Panorama - The Heart Is a Muscle by Imran Hamdulay by Brandon Kramer
- Forum - Holding Liat by Brandon Kramer
CICAE Arthouse Cinemas award
- Panorama - Deaf by Eva Libertad
- Forum - If You Are Afraid You Put Your Heart into Your Mouth and Smile by Marie Luise Lehner
Guild Film Prize
- Dreams by Dag Johan Haugerud
