Dahomey, directed by French-Senegalese filmmaker Mati Diop, was awarded the Golden Bear for best film at Berlin Film Festival on Saturday night, marking the second time an African film has won the honour since Mark Dornford-May’s U-Carmen eKhayelitsha in 2005.
Diop’s film is a documentary about the return of artifacts from France to the African nation of Benin. However, a debate rages among students of the University of Abomey-Calavi around what the return of these artworks actually means when the country has had to forge ahead in their absence.
The artifacts were plundered by French colonial troops in 1892 and the title of the film refers to the West African kingdom of Dahomey, located in the south of what is now Benin.
Diop’s first film, Atlantics, won the Grand Prix at Cannes in 2019 and was nominated for a Critics Choice Award and Director’s Guild Award. Dahomey, her second feature, is being sold internationally by Les Film du Losange. Mubi has acquired the film for North America, UK & Ireland, Latin America, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Turkey and India.
Among other awards, Korea’s Hong Sangsoo won the Silver Bear Grand Jury prize for A Traveler’s Needs, while the Silver Bear Jury Prize went to The Empire from French filmmaker Bruno Dumont.
Sebastian Stan won the Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance for his role as an aspiring actor undergoing surgery in Aaron Schimberg’s A Different Man, while the Silver Bear for Best Supporting Performance went to Emily Watson for her role in Tim Mielants’ Small Things Like These, which opened the festival (see full list of winners below).
Berlinale’s special Documentary Award went to No Other Land, directed by a group of Israeli and Palestinian filmmakers, which explores attempts by the Israeli government to expel Palestinians in the village of Masafer Yatta in the occupied West Bank. The documentary screened in Panorama, where it also won the audience award for best documentary.
Many prize winners during the ceremony made statements calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. It was also pointed out that the ceremony was being held on the second anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Berlin’s competition jury was headed by actress and filmmaker Lupita Nyong’o and also included actor and director Brady Corbet (US), director Ann Hui (Hong Kong), director Christian Petzold (Germany), director Albert Serra (Spain), actor and director Jasmine Trinca (Italy) and writer Oksana Zabuzhko (Ukraine).
BERLIN FILM FESTIVAL 2024 WINNERS:
COMPETITION:
Golden Bear for Best Film: Dahomey, dir: Mati Diop (France, Senegal, Benin)
Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize: A Traveler’s Needs, dir: Hong Sangsoo (Korea)
Silver Bear Jury Prize: The Empire, dir: Bruno Dumont (France, Italy, Germany, Belgium, Portugal)
Silver Bear for Best Director: Pepe, dir: Nelson Carlos De Los Santos Arias (Dominican Republic, Namibia, Germany, France)
Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance: Sebastian Stan, A Different Man
Silver Bear for Best Supporting Performance: Emily Watson, Small Things Like These
Silver Bear for Best Screenplay: Dying, Matthias Glasner (Germany)
Silver Bear for an Outstanding Artistic Contribution: The Devil’s Bath, Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala (Austria, Germany)
ENCOUNTERS:
Best Film: Direct Action, dirs: Guillaume Cailleau and Ben Russell (Germany, France)
Best Director: Campo, Juliana Rojas (Brazil, France, Germany)
Special Jury Award (ex aequo): The Great Yawn Of History, dir: Aliyar Rasti (Iran) & Some Rain Must Fall, dir: Qiu Yang (China, US, France)
GENERATION KPLUS:
Crystal Bear for Best Film: It’s Okay!, dir: Kim Hye-young (Korea)
Crystal Bear for Best Short: Butterfly, dir: Florence Miaihle (France)
Grand Prix of Generation International Jury for Best Film: Reinas, dir: Klaudia Reynicke (Switzerland, Spain, Peru)
GENERATION 14PLUS:
Crystal Bear for Best Film: Last Swim, dir: Sasha Nathwani (UK)
Crystal Bear for Best Short: Cura Sana, dir: Lucia G. Romero (Spain)
Grand Prix of Generation International Jury for Best Film: Who By Fire, dir: Philippe Lesage (Canada, France)
OTHER AWARDS:
GWFF First Feature Award: Cu Li Never Cries, dir: Pham Ngoc Lan (Vietnam, Singapore, France, Philippines, Norway)
Berlinale Documentary Award: No Other Land, dir: Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor (Palestine, Norway)
Special Mention: Direct Action, dir: Guillaume Cailleau and Ben Russell (Germany, France)
PANORAMA AUDIENCE AWARDS:
Feature Film: Memories Of A Burning Body, dir: Antonella Sudasassi Furniss (Costa Rica, Spain)
Documentary: No Other Land, dir: Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor (Palestine, Norway)
TEDDY AWARDS:
Best feature film: All Shall Be Well, dir: Ray Yeung (Hong Kong, China)
Best documentary: Teaches Of Peaches, dir: Philipp Fussenegger, Judy Landkammer (Germany)
Jury Award: ensemble of Crossing by Levan Akin (Sweden, Denmark, France, Turkey, Georgia)
FIPRESCI PRIZES:
Competition: My Favourite Cake, dir: Maryam Moghaddam & Behtash Sanaeeha (Iran, France, Sweden, Germany)
Encounters: Sleep With Your Eyes Open, dir: Nele Wohlatz (Brazil, Taiwan, Argentina, Germany)
Panorama: Faruk, dir: Aslı Özge (Germany, Turkey, France)
Forum: The Human Hibernation, dir: Anna Cornudella Castro (Spain)