Wheel Of Fortune And Fantasy, directed by Japan’s Ryusuke Hamaguchi, was awarded the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize at this year’s Berlin Film Festival, which took place virtually March 1-5.
The film comprises three episodes, each revolving around a woman, which tell stories of an unexpected love triangle, a failed seduction trap, and an encounter that results from a misunderstanding.
The Berlin jury said: “In the place where dialogues and words usually end, the dialogues of this film only begin. That’s when they go deeper, so deep that, amazed and troubled, we ask ourselves: How much deeper can it go? The words of Hamaguchi are substance, music, material.”
Other winners from Asia included Introduction, from Korea’s Hong Sangsoo, which took the Silver Bear for Best Screenplay (see below for full list of competition winners). This year’s competition jury included Ildikó Enyedi (Hungary), Nadav Lapid (Israel), Adina Pintilie (Romania), Mohammad Rasoulof (Iran), Gianfranco Rosi (Italy) and Jasmila Žbanić (Bosnia and Herzegovina).
In other sections, Vietnamese director Le Bao took the Special Jury Award in the Encounters section for Taste, while Summer Blur, from China’s Han Shuai, was awarded the Grand Prix for Best Film in the Generation Kplus competition. Summer Blur added to an awards haul that also includes the jury prize in the Feimu Awards of Pingyao International Film Festival and the Fipresci award at Busan last year.
While Berlinale and European Film Market (EFM) took place online in March, the festival is planning a series of physical screenings and an awards ceremony during its Summer Special, scheduled to take place June 9-20.
Berlinale 2021 Competition Winners:
Golden Bear for Best Film: Bad Luck Banging Or Loony Porn, dir: Radu Jude
Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize: Wheel Of Fortune And Fantasy, dir: Ryusuke Hamaguchi
Silver Bear Jury Prize: Mr Bachmann And His Class, dir: Maria Speth
Silver Bear for Best Director: Dénes Nagy, Natural Light
Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance: Maren Eggert, I’m Your Man
Silver Bear for Best Supporting Performance: Lilla Kizlinger, Forest – I See You Everywhere
Silver Bear for Best Screenplay: Hong Sangsoo, Introduction
Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution: Yibrán Asuad for editing A Cop Movie