Prizes of Independent Juries for Films in the Forum and Forum Expanded

Caligari Film Prize

A three-person jury awards the Caligari Film Prize to a film in the Forum. The prize is sponsored by the “German Federal Association of Communal Film Work“ and filmdienst.de. The winning film is honoured with 4,000 Euros, half of which is given to the director, the other half is meant to fund distribution.

The members of the jury 2022, Svenja Alsmann, Silvia Bahl and Andreas Heidenreich, award GEOGRAPHIES OF SOLITUDE by Jacquelyn Mills. Their statement reads:

“A shimmering bug feeling its way through the sand dunes, reed moving gently in the wind, a starry sky without the light pollution of the city: Jacquelyn Mills’s lyrical shots on 16mm film open up our sensitivity for the relational richness of the material world. She enables our senses to participate in the becoming and passing of life, drawing us into the complex interplay of an ecology. The film accompanies the researcher Zoe Lucas, who lives alone on the otherwise uninhabited Sable Island situated near the the Canadian coast and it follows her documenting and preserving the traces of all living beings with care and dedication. She also rigorously registers the alarming amount of plastic waste washed ashore, picking it up meticulously. Beyond creating an intimate portrait, Mills explores in an experimental way the sensitivity of the raw film material in contact with its surroundings. In those extraordinary figurations of experience a discrete form of beauty becomes tangible that evokes a responsibility for the world.“

CICAE Art Cinema Award

The "Confédération Internationale des Cinémas d’Art et d’Essai" (C.I.C.A.E.), the International Confederation of Art House Cinemas, forms a jury awarding one prize in the Forum section. Their statement reads:

“We the jury of the Cicae Forum Prize composed by Carla Molino from Il Kino Berlin, Joanna Piotrowiak from Kino Muza Poznan and Albert Trivino from Zumzeig Barcelona, want to highlight the great diversity of all the films of the Forum section this year. We think all of them constituted a great portrait of present important issues around the world.

Amongst all of them, we have selected a documentary that addresses contemporary topics such as isolation and ecology by making a poetic portrait of a small piece of land that works as a metaphor of our present world and our relationship with the future of society and nature. Its expressionistic style makes this film a truly intense experience that takes us on a journey of poetic nature through the landscape and its biodiversity by establishing an intimate relationship between the protagonist, the director and the audience.

We truly think that this film must be seen around the world and we hope this award will help this happen.

The film we have selected for the Cicae Forum Prize is GEOGRAPHIES OF SOLITUDE by director Jacquelyn Mills."

Prize of the FIPRESCI Jury

The jury of the “Fédération Internationale de la Presse Cinématographique” (FIPRESCI), the international film critics association, awards a prize for the best film in the Forum section.

In their award ceremony on February 16, Bettina Hirsch, Hamed Soleimanzadeh and Alexander Zwart awarded SUPER NATURAL by Jorge Jácome. 

„With a refreshing urge to experiment, both in style and narration, this film is a unique representation of a dream as well a direct confrontation with the audience by breaking the forth wall. The FIPRESCI award of the Forum section goes to SUPER NATURAL by Jorge Jácome.“

Prize of the Ecumenical Jury

Since 1992, the international film organisations of the Protestant and Catholic Churches – INTERFILM and SIGNIS – have been represented by the Ecumenical Jury. It consists of six members and awards its main prize to a film entered in the Competition. It also awards two other prizes, both worth 2,500 Euros, one to a film from the Panorama and one to a film in the Forum.

The prizes go to directors who have succeeded in portraying actions or human experiences that are in keeping with the Gospels, or in sensitising viewers to spiritual, human or social values.

Jury members Markus Leniger, Adriana Răcășan and Roland Wicher awarded GEOGRAPHIES OF SOLITUDE:

„For documenting the work of Zoe Lucas, who commited her life to collecting and archiving Flora and Fauna on Sable Island, a tiny place far off the coast of Nova Scotia. With remarkable filmic means, immerging into the fibre of biological existence, creating images and sound of tremendous beauty, Mills shows nature on this secluded island as a space of great quiet and of the continuous recreation of life. The discovery that Lucas documents the large amounts of plastic waste in the North Atlantic comes as a shock to the filmmaker and the audience, thus also raising awareness for this dramatic ecological problem.“

Peace Film Prize

The independent Peace Film Prize is awarded annually to films that distinguish themselves through a powerful message of peace and the skilful aesthetic execution of their themes. The jury for the award is composed of seven members, who view films from all sections. The Peace Film Prize is endowed with 5,000 Euros in prize money and is presented in the form of a bronze sculpture designed by Otmar Alt.

The award is made possible with the support of the Zehlendorf Peace Intiative, the Heinrich Böll Foundation and the Weltfriedensdienst e.V. Jury members Peter Steudtner, Christian Römer, Yulia Lokshina, Jean Peters and Gerd Brendel awarded a film in the Forum Expanded:

“With a persistent and raw gaze, SAB CHANGA SI is dedicated to the student protests in Bangalore against the tightening of the Indian Citizenship Act of 2019. The film follows the complex relationships among the protesters as well as the arduous path to solidarity among individual groups. With a small camera and minimal resources, Indian activist and filmmaker Teresa A. Braggs draws us into the centre of the movement and follows the nightly discussions about the conditions of resistance. 
The jury was convinced by the combination of cinematic proximity, personal solidarity and critical reflection, carried by sensitive portraits of young people in search of a common language. 

The jury gives an honorable mention to the film EUROPE by Philip Scheffner, which questions the arbitrariness of European migration regimes with formal consistency based on an individual story.“

TEDDY Award

The four members of the international jury view films of queer interest within all sections of the Berlinale. Films are nominated and one wins in each of the categories: Best Feature Length Film, Best Short Film, Best Documentary and the Jury Award.

The jury members Faridah Gbadamosi, Joanna Ostrowska, Pepe Ruiloba and Robert Moussa awarded the TEDDY for Best Feature Film to TRÊS TRISTES TIGRES by Gustavo Vinagre. Their statement reads:

“A film that celebrates queerness and the beautiful bonds that make a family and a community, presenting three central characters that roam free around Sao Paulo during a global pandemic in a surreal journey full of magic, nostalgia, and drag! Director Gustavo Vinagre and his entire ensemble present a world in which being yourself is key to self-realization, turning a microcosmos of colorful characters into a touching tribute to life itself.“