The Greatest Showman #841 - Academic Seminar

The Berlin Film Festival, much like the Sundance Film Festival, emphasizes the ceremony over the event itself. There are no humorous speeches, no singing or dancing performances—only the formal presentation of awards. The spotlight always falls on the creators of the art, with the goal of encouraging the media and audience to focus more on the art itself and, in turn, promote the evolution of film as an artistic medium.

At the Berlin Film Festival, the main awards are the Golden Bear and the Silver Bear.

The Golden Bear is the highest honor, awarded across five categories: feature films, documentaries, science and education films, art films, and short films. Within the context of the major media, the Golden Bear often refers to the feature film category, which is considered the pinnacle of achievement in European cinema. Together with the Palme d'Or at Cannes and the Golden Lion at Venice, the Golden Bear forms the prestigious "Grand Slam" of European cinema.

As of 2012, only two directors have secured the Grand Slam of the highest award: Michelangelo Antonioni from Italy and Robert Altman from the United States.

The Silver Bear is divided into two parts: the first is the second prize for feature films in the competition category, known as the Grand Jury Prize, which is awarded with a Silver Bear; the second is an individual award for directors, male and female actors, actresses, screenwriters, composers, cinematographers, and art directors.

As of 2012, four individuals have won major awards across the three major European film festivals: directors Paul Thomas Anderson, actors Jack Lemmon and Sean Penn, and actress Juliette Binoche.

The Berlin Film Festival has also established specialized awards such as the Teddy Bear Award and the Crystal Bear Award. The Teddy Bear Award recognizes works with LGBTQ+ themes, while the Crystal Bear Award celebrates works focusing on youth, aiming to encourage filmmakers to create content that highlights these communities.

The Golden Bear remains the most coveted prize, the equivalent of the Academy Award for Best Picture. However, this year's race for the Golden Bear seems a bit out of control.

In recent years, the overall momentum of the Berlin Film Festival has stagnated. The competition lineup is lackluster, and the overall quality and reputation of the films have been declining. The average level of the films competing for the Golden Bear has become increasingly unsatisfactory.

The last year when the artistry of the Golden Bear was universally recognized was 2003, with films such as Between the World, 25 Hours, All the Time, Goodbye Lenin, Adapted Screenplay, Death Poems, and Twilight Qingbingwei receiving high praise. Every one of these films had the potential to win, and they earned recognition across Europe and even globally.

The most popular film that year, Every Moment, ultimately lost out to Between the World. Despite the shock, Between the World garnered acclaim in Europe, marking a rare moment of widespread recognition.

Since then, such acclaim has been hard to reproduce.

This year, the German film Barbara received high marks from industry magazines but failed to generate significant praise from the media or a deeper appreciation of its artistic and ideological value. Other films like Battlefield Wizard, Children on the Mountain, Grace, Royal Style/History, Goodbye, My Queen, Just the Wind, and Caesar Must Die also received mixed reviews, and the general feedback was underwhelming, leaving little to get excited about.

Because of this, Detachment has become the media darling and the audience's favorite. Not only does it attract attention due to actor Renly, but also because of Tony Kaye's daring, experimental pseudo-documentary style, which has provoked intense emotional responses, creating a dramatic clash that has captivated viewers.

Despite not receiving high marks from the field magazines, Detachment's media attention and the audience's enthusiasm have made it a key contender in the Golden Bear race. After all, at the Berlin Film Festival, every film, actor, and director in the competition is eligible for an award, with no official nominations list.

Thus, when it comes to the awards ceremony tonight, any of these films, including Detachment, could be in the running for the Golden Bear.

There is no clear favorite, and there is no film deemed completely unpopular.

In previous years, reporters typically focused on films with the highest ratings in the field magazines. Among the three major European film festivals, the highest-rated films often fail to secure the top awards, leading to widespread dissatisfaction among journalists and film critics. After the winners are announced, media outlets frequently launch critiques and campaigns against the jury's decisions. This cycle has occurred every year.

This year, however, is different. Although Barbara received the highest score from the media, film critics, reporters, and audiences showed little enthusiasm for the film. It seems that any upset could happen without much surprise, adding an air of unpredictability to the event.

The atmosphere in the hall is calm, almost unnervingly so. The Berlin Film Festival's 62nd edition is defined by a quiet tension. Aside from the unexpected buzz surrounding Detachment, there have been no dramatic moments, no surprises, and no excitement. This subdued energy has extended to the final day of the festival.

The award ceremony proceeded with an air of quiet dignity, resembling more of an academic seminar than an entertainment event. It lacked the buzz and spectacle of festivals like Cannes or Venice but stayed true to Berlin's focus on serious cinema. The absence of entertainment did, however, shift all attention to the awards themselves.

Perhaps this is the intention of the main committee—to emphasize the art and importance of cinema above the spectacle.

As the important awards began to be announced, the members of the jury took to the stage one by one to present the winners.

The Best Screenplay Award went to Royal Style/Flow/History.

This script was written by Nicolai Assel, a Danish director known for his work on the original screenplay for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Assel, who also directed Royal Style/Flow/History, invited actors Max Mikkelsen and Alicia Vikander to star in the film. This work was well received and deservedly won the Best Screenplay Award.

The Best Director Award was presented to Christian Petzold for his film Barbara.

At 50 years old, Petzold had long been seen as a potential leader for German cinema, but his work had often failed to reach the breakthrough many had expected. With Barbara, however, he achieved a film that caught the public's attention. Despite winning the Best Director Award, it was clear that Barbara had missed out on the Golden Bear, maintaining a trend where high magazine scores often don't translate into the top award.

The Jury Prize was awarded to the Hungarian film Just the Wind.

This Eastern European film had received little praise initially but was highly favored by the German media. The director, Benedek Filigov, is a young filmmaker with a modest reputation in Europe. Although some, including actor Renly, had predicted it might win the Golden Bear, the Jury Prize was still a significant achievement—though, from another perspective, it was a missed opportunity for the Golden Bear.

The Silver Bear for Best Actor and Silver Bear for Best Actress were eagerly anticipated after last year's surprise, when the Best Actor and Best Actress awards were given to the entire cast of A Farewell as a collective honor.

What will this year's awards bring? Only time will tell.

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