2026 Berlinale: İlker Çatak’s ‘Yellow Letters’ Wins the Golden Bear!

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Here are the winners! As we predicted, Yellow Letters was a formidable film in the competition of twenty-two films.

Golden Bear: Yellow Letters
Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize: Salvation
Silver Bear Jury Prize: Queen at Sea
Silver Bear for Best Director: Grant Gee – Everyone Digs Bill Evans
Silver Bear for Best Lead Performance: Sandra Hüller for Rose
Silver Bear for Best Supporting Performance: (Tie) Anna Calder-Marshall & Tom Courtenay for Queen at Sea
Silver Bear for Best Screenplay: Geneviève Dulude-de Celles for Nina Roza
Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution: Yo (Love is a Rebellious Bird) by Anna Fitch and Banker White (U.S.)

Golden Bear: Yellow Letters
Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize: Salvation
Silver Bear Jury Prize: Queen at Sea, Grant Gee, Everyone Digs Bill Evans, Sandra Hüller, Rose

Perspectives
GFF First Feature Award — Chronicles From the Siege by Abdallah Alkhatib
Special Mention – Forest High (Forêt Ivre) by Manon Coubia

Documentary Prizes
Documentary Award (with a prize of 40,000 euros): “If Pigeons Turn to Gold,” Pepa Lubojacki
Documentary Award (Special Mention): “Tutu,” Sam Pollard
Documentary Award (Special Mention): “Sometimes I Imagine Them All at a Party,” Daniela Magnani Hüller

Short Film Prizes
Golden Bear for Short Film: “Someday, a Child,” Marie-Rose Osta
Silver Bear Jury Prize: “A Woman’s Place Is Everywhere,” Fanny Texier
CUPRA Filmmaker Award: “Kleptomania,” Jingkai Qu

PANORAMA AUDIENCE AWARDS
Audience Award (Fiction): “Prosecution,” Faraz Sharia
First Runner-up: “Four Minus Three,” Adrian Goiginger
Second Runner-up: “Mouse,” Kelly O’Sullivan and Alex Thompson

Audience Award (Documentary): “Traces,” Alisa Kovalenko and Marysia Nikitiuk
First Runner-up: “The Other Side of the Sun,” Tawfik Sabouni
Second Runner-up: “Bucks Harbor,” Pete Muller

GENERATION COMPETITION
International Jury

Grand Prix for the Best Film in Generation Kplus: “Gugu’s World,” Allan Deberton
Special Mention: “Atlas of the Universe,” Paul Negoescu
Special Prize for the Best Short Film in Generation Kplus: “Spi,” Navroz Shaban
Special Mention: “Under the Wave off Little Dragon,” Luo Jian
Grand Prix for the Best Film in Generation 14plus: “Sad Girlz,” Fernanda Tovar
Special Mention: “Matapanki,” Diego Mapache Fuentes
Special Prize for the Best Short Film in Generation 14plus: “The Thread,” Fenn O’Meally
Special Mention: “Memories of a Window,” Mehraneh Salimian and Amin Pakparvar

Youth Jury

Crystal Bear for the Best Film in Generation Kplus: “Gugu’s World,” Allan Deberton
Special Mention: “Not a Hero,” Rima Das
Crystal Bear for the Best Short Film in Generation Kplus: “Whale 52 – Suite for Man, Boy, and Whale,” Daniel Neiden
Special Mention: “Under the Wave off Little Dragon,” Luo Jian

Crystal Bear for the Best Film in Generation 14plus: “Sad Girlz,” Fernanda Tovar
Special Mention: “A Family,” Mees Peijnenburg
Crystal Bear for the Best Short Film in Generation 14plus: ”Memories of a Window,” Mehraneh Salimian and Amin Pakparvar
Special Mention: ”Nobody Knows the World,” Roddy Dextre

TEDDY AWARDS
Best Feature Film: “Ivan & Hadoum,” Ian de la Rosa
Best Documentary: “Barbara Forever,” Brydie O’Connor
Best Short Film: “Taxi Moto,” Gaël Kamilindi
Jury Award: “Trial of Hein,” Kai Stänicke
Special Award: Céline Sciamma

FIPRESCI AWARDS
Competition: “Soumsoum, the Night of the Stars,” Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
Perspectives: “Animol,” Ashley Walters
Panorama: “Narciso,” Marcelo Martinessi
Forum: “AnyMart,” Yusuke Iwasaki

ECUMENICAL JURY AWARDS
Competition: “Flies,” Fernando Eimbcke
Panorama: “Bucks Harbor,” Pete Muller
Forum: “River Dreams,“ Kristina Mikhailova

LABEL EUROPA CINEMAS AWARD
“Four Minus Three,” Adrian Goiginger

PRIZE OF THE GUILD OF GERMAN ARTHOUSE CINEMAS
“Yellow Letters,” İlker Çatak
Special Mention: “The Loneliest Man in Town,” Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel

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Eric Lavallée
Eric Lavalléehttps://www.ericlavallee.com
Eric Lavallée is the founder, CEO, editor-in-chief, film journalist, and critic at IONCINEMA.com, established in 2000. A regular at Sundance, Cannes, and Venice, Eric holds a BFA in film studies from the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema. In 2013, he served on the narrative competition jury at the SXSW Film Festival. He was an associate producer on Mark Jackson’s "This Teacher" (2018 LA Film Festival, 2018 BFI London). He is a Golden Globes Voter, member of the ICS (International Cinephile Society) and AQCC (Association québécoise des critiques de cinéma).

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