French-Senegalese director Mathieu Diop’s production of “Dahomey” was awarded the Golden Bear for best film at the 74th Berlin International Film Festival on Saturday night. Romanian actor Sebastian Stan won the Silver Bear for the best performance of the main role for his role in the production “Another Man” (USA).

Dahomey (Benin, France, Senegal), directed by 41-year-old French-Senegalese actress and director Mathie Diop, is a documentary about the return to Benin in November 2021 of 26 royal treasures from the Kingdom of Dahomey, looted in 1892 by French colonial troops . The film was produced by Yves Robin, Judith Lou Levy and Mati Diop, reports Agerpres.

“Dahomey” is the second African film to receive the “Golden Bear” (after the South African film “U-Carmen e-Khayelitsha” (“Carmen de Khayelitsha”) by Mark Dornford-May in 2005, according to AFP.

“As a Franco-Senegalese director of African descent, I chose to be one of those who refuse to forget, who refuse to use amnesia as a method,” Mathieu Diop said as he accepted the award.

“I am in solidarity with the Senegalese who are fighting for democracy and justice,” the director added, before also announcing her “solidarity with Palestine.”

Who got the silver bear?

The second most important trophy of the Berlinale – the Grand Prix of the Jury “Silver Bear” – was awarded to director Hong Sang-soo for the production of “A Traveler’s Needs” (South Korea).

“Silver Bear” trophy The film “Empire” (“L’Empire”) produced by France, Italy, Germany, Belgium, Portugal and directed by Bruno Dumont was awarded the prize of the jury.

The Silver Bear trophy for directing went to director Nelson Carlo De Los Santos Arias from the Dominican Republic for the film Pepe (Dominican Republic, Namibia, Germany, France).

Romanian actor Sebastian Stan received the Silver Bear for the best performance of the main role for his role in the production of “Another Man” (USA) directed by Aaron Shimberg.

The Silver Bear Award for Best Supporting Actress went to British actress Emily Watson for her role in Small Things like These, directed by Tim Millants.

The Silver Bear for the best screenplay was awarded to the German director and screenwriter Matthias Glasner for the film “Dying” (“Sterben”).

The “Silver Bear” award for outstanding artistic achievements went to Martin Gschlach (Austria) for the film “Des Teufels Bad” directed by Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala.

What other films were awarded at Berlinale 2024

“Un movimiento extrano” directed by Francisco Lezam (Argentina) received the Golden Bear for the best short film. The Silver Bear for the best short film was awarded to the play “The Remains of a Hot Day” directed by Wenqian Zhang (China).

The GWFF award for the best debut went to the play “Cu Li Never Cries” (Vietnam, Philippines, France, Singapore, Norway) directed by Lan Pham Ngoc.

In the “Encounters” section, the prize for best film went to “Direct Action” (Germany, France) by Guillaume Caillot and Ben Russell. The special jury prize was awarded to the films “The Great Yawn of History” (Iran) by Aliyar Rusty and “It Must Rain” (China, USA, France, Singapore) directed by Qiu Yan. The award for the best direction in this section went to the Brazilian director Juliana Rojas for the production “Cidade; Campo” (Brazil, Germany, France).

No Other Land (Palestine, Norway) by Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham and Rachel Zohr won the Best Documentary Award.

Director Martin Scorsese received an honorary Golden Bear for lifetime achievement at the 74th Berlin International Film Festival (Feb. 15-25, 2024), a few weeks before the Oscar ceremony, in which the American director’s latest film ” Killers.” flower month”, received 10 nominations.

For the first time in the history of the Berlin International Film Festival, the main competition jury was chaired by a person of color, Mexican-Kenyan actress Lupita Nyong’o, who won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in March 2014 for the film. his role in the film “12 Years a Slave”. Other members of the jury were: actor and director Brady Corbett (USA), director Ann Hui (Hong Kong, China), director Christian Petzold (Germany), director Albert Serra (Spain), actress and director Jasmine Trinca (Italy) and writer Oksana Zabuzhko ( Ukraine).

The production “Sur l’Adamant” by director Nicolas Philibert was awarded the Golden Bear for the best film at the previous Berlin International Film Festival, which took place from February 16 to 26. 2023 year.