• Berlin Film Festival, all winners
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  • Berlin Film Festival: "Favolacce", the anger behind ignorance
  • Festival Berlin, Ferrara: "Siberia" is not my nightmare
  • Festival Berlin, the genius of Ligabue has the face of Elio Germano
  • Berlinale: three Italian films, directed by Ferrara, Rights and the D'Innocenzo, among the 18 competing

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29 February 2020 Great success for Italian cinema with two Silver Bears in the 70th Berlin Film Festival, the first with the artistic direction of Carlo Chatrian: the best actor goes to Elio Germano, for his interpretation of the painter Ligabue in " I wanted to hide " , by Giorgio Rights, while the D'Innocenzo brothers win the recognition for the script of " Favolacce " , directed by them.

With this triumph, Germano achieves a prestigious international "brace", having won the prize for best actor in 2010 in Cannes with "Our life", by Daniele Luchetti, an interpretation for which he would then also have had the David di Donatello and the Silver ribbon.

The Roman actor is the fourth Italian awarded in Berlin after Alberto Sordi ("Inmate awaiting trial", 1972), Michele Placido ("Ernesto", 1979) and Gian Maria Volontè ("The Moro case", 1987) and equals Volontè's record in having won in both festivals.

Immediately after receiving the Bear, Germano said: "I want to dedicate this prize to all the crooked, all the wrong, all the marginalized, all the outcastes and Antonio Ligabue and the great lesson he has given us, which is still with us, that what we do in life remains. He always said 'Someday they'll make a movie about me' and here we are! "



The Iranian winner
Presented by a passionate speech by the president of the jury, the British actor Jeremy Irons, the Golden Bear goes to "There Is No Evil", directed by the Iranian Mohammad Rasoulof.

Rasoulof, absent in Berlin because blocked by the authorities of his country, also completes the victory with two independent prizes, that of the Ecumenical Jury and the Guild Film Prize. His previous film, "A man of integrity", won the first prize in the section "Un certain regard" in Cannes in 2017. Also in Cannes, in the same section, he received the director's prize in 2011 with "Goodbye" and in 2013 the Fipresci prize for "Manuscripts don't burn".

"With this film I want to talk to everyone who takes responsibility away from themselves." Rasoulof was contacted on the cell phone by the producers during the final press conference in the German capital. Appearing on video call, the director was greeted by a warm applause from the press in the room.

Inside the winning film four stories full of poetry complete with 'Bella ciao' sung in Italian to make it clear that this film knows where it wants to go. Theme of the four stories? The death penalty, repression, guilt and the ability to take sides. Rasoulof, 48, as the producers in Berlin said, saw the passport refusal from the authorities that had seized him in 2017 after the director returned from Cannes. Rasoulof currently, although sentenced to one year in prison for propaganda against the Islamic republic, has not yet been imprisoned, but has a ban on making films and leaving the country. Everyone involved in this film took a big risk. However, "we had the common goal of sending a strong message to the current situation in Iranian cinema. Everyone involved in the project had previously decided not to accept the circumstances that exist in my country and to say no to something they cannot morally accept. Our film is also a statement against censorship, "said the director.

Franceschini: proud of Italian film awards in Berlin
"A great day for Italian cinema. Proud of the Silver Bear to Elio Germano for" I wanted to hide "by Giorgio Rights dedicated to the painter Ligabue and the Silver Bear for the best screenplay in" Favolacce "by Damiano D ' Innocenzo and Fabio D'Innocenzo. These two prestigious awards confirm the quality, vitality and contemporaneity of Italian cinema capable of telling the world universal stories with elegance and originality. "So the Minister for Heritage and Cultural Activities and for tourism, Dario Franceschini.

Del Brocco: Italy triumphs in Berlin
"Italian cinema triumphs at the Berlin Film Festival. Two awards for two films co-produced by Rai Cinema in an edition in which all Italian cinema has managed to excel despite the diversity of themes and styles", comments Paolo Del Brocco, CEO of Rai Cinema.

"The Silver Bear to the D'Innocenzo brothers rewards their ability to courageously handle an original and very personal narrative form, experimenting their idea of ​​cinema with passion. With this prestigious recognition, the statement is being increasingly defined of a new generation of authors, which Rai Cinema helps to discover and grow, accompanying them from the beginning in their artistic path. A constant support work that we carry on also thanks to independent producers, who invest, together with us, on the future of our cinema. Our compliments to the D'Innocenzo brothers, their extraordinary ability to assert themselves in an international audience only for the second film, demonstrating, already at their age, a clear and inspired vision of cinema. And to the producer Giuseppe Saccà who knew recognize with great foresight the potential of their natural talent. 'Favolacce' also marks the first fruitful collaboration between Rai Cinema and Vision Distribution, a synergy that will only strengthen the growth of our cultural industry ".

"Particularly pleased also - continues Del Brocco - to see once again recognized the great talent of Elio Germano in this new work of interpretation and transformation. He brought the painter Ligabue back to life in 'I wanted to hide' by Giorgio Rights with an extraordinary ability to descend in the depth of the character, in his suffering as in the artistic inspiration. Our compliments to Elio Germano and the director Giorgio Rights who once again explores the conflict between integration and marginality, to reflect on the value of diversity, a theme dear to him. And to the producer Carlo Degli Esposti of Palomar who courageously continues to propose a cinema on the decisive figures and passages of the history of our country ".

"To the directors D'Innocenzo and Giorgio Rights, to Elio Germano and to the producers of Pepito and Palomar with whom we shared this path, our congratulations and thanks for this splendid achievement - adds Nicola Claudio, president of Rai Cinema - a goal that confirms the quality of the production choices made by Rai Cinema and the constant attention to the variety and quality of our proposals ".

Rutelli: the confirmation of our golden moment
"The ingenious mastery of Elio Germano and the innovative experience of the D'Innocenzo brothers confirm the golden moment for Italian cinema, its creative and productive quality. All the more in a dramatically difficult moment for our cinemas in times of coronavirus Berlin's successes lead us to react with pride and community spirit. " This was stated by Francesco Rutelli, president of Anica, commenting on the awards for Italian cinema obtained at the Berlin Film Festival.



These are the other official prizes:
Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize to the American "Never Rarely Sometimes Always", directed by Eliza Hittman.

Silver bear for the best director in South Korean Hong Sang-soo for "Domangchin yeoja" ("The Woman Who Ran").

Silver bear for the best German actress Paula Beer for Christian Petzold's "Undine", a film that also gets Fipresci.

Silver bear for the best artistic contribution to Jürgen Jürges, for the photography of "DAU. Nataša", directed by Il'ja Chržanovskij and Jekaterina Oertel (Germany, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Russia).

Special silver bear for the 70th anniversary of the Berlinale at "Effacer l'historique" ("Delete History"), directed by Benoît Delépine and Gustave Kervern (France, Belgium).

THE AWARDS OF THE OTHER SECTIONS

In the new competitive section, Encounters, wins "The Works and Days (of Tayoko Shiojiri in the Shiotani Basin)", directed by CW Winter and Anders Edström (United States of America, Sweden, Japan, Hong Kong, China, United Kingdom)

Special Jury Prize to Austrian Sandra Wollner for "The Trouble with Being Born" (Austria, Germany)
Best director at "Malmkrog", by Cristi Puiu (Romania, Serbia, Switzerland, Sweden, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia)
Mention to "Isabella", directed by Matías Piñeiro (Argentina, France).

Among the documentaries stands "Irradiés", directed by Rithy Panh (France, Cambodia), also in competition in the main section
Mention to "Aufzeichnungen aus der Unterwelt", directed by the Italian Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel (Austria), present in Panorama.

The Colombian "Los conductos", directed by Camilo Restrepo (France, Colombia, Brazil) is the best first work
Mention to "Nackte Tiere", directed by Melanie Waelde (Germany), both in the "Encounters" section.

Short Films
Golden Bear "T", directed by Keisha Rae Witherspoon (United States of America)
Silver bear to "Filipiñana", directed by Rafael Manuel (Philippines, United Kingdom).