Todd Haynes’ jury awarded the 75th Berlin Intl. Film Festival’s top honors this past Saturday to Dag Johan Haugerud’s Dreams (Sex Love) but the Golden Bear winner wasn’t the consensus top choice from the critic establishment, instead it’s the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize winner in Gabriel Mascaro’s fourth feature O último azul that was the favorite. The Brazilian fantasy film produced by Rachel Daisy Ellis and Sandino Saravia Vinay pulled together the top culminated score on Screen Daily grid and was the first ★★★★ stamped competition film review from our chief film critic Nicholas Bell. Here are the winners, Nicholas’ competition film reviews and the grid.
Golden Bear for Best Film: “Dreams (Sex Love)”
Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize: “The Blue Trail”
Silver Bear Jury Prize: “The Message”
Silver Bear for Best Director: Huo Meng, “Living the Land”
Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance: Rose Byrne, “If I Had Legs, I’d Kick You”
Silver Bear for Best Supporting Performance: Andrew Scott, “Blue Moon”
Silver Bear for Best Screenplay: “Kontinental ’25,” Radu Jude
Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution: The creative ensemble of “The Ice Tower,” Lucile Hadžihalilović
Ari – Léonor Serraille (read ★★★½ review)
Blue Moon – Richard Linklater (read ★★★★ review)
The Blue Trail (O Último Azul) – Gabriel Mascaro (read ★★★★ review)
Dreams – Michel Franco (read ★★★ review)
Dreams (Sex Love) – Dag Johan Haugerud (read ★★★ review)
Girls on Wire – Vivian Qu (read ★★ review)
Hot Milk – Rebecca Lenkiewicz (read ★★★½ review)
The Ice Tower – Lucile Hadžihalilović (read ★★★½ review)
If I Had Legs I’d Kick You – Mary Bronstein (read ★★★½ review)
Kontinental ’25 – Radu Jude (read ★★★½ review)
Living the Land – Huo Meng (read ★★★ review)
The Message (El mensaje) – Iván Fund (read ★★★ review)
Mother’s Baby – Johanna Moder (read ★★ review)
Reflection in a Dead Diamond – Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani (read ★★★½ review)
The Safe House (La cache) – Lionel Baier (read ★★ review)
Timestamp – Kateryna Gornostai (read ★★½ review)
What Marielle Knows – Frédéric Hambalek (read ★★★½ review)
What Does That Nature Say to You – Hong Sang-soo (read ★★★★ review)
Yunan – Ameer Fakher Eldin (read ★★½ review)
