Berlin Winners Updating Live; Awards Ceremony Gets Off To Political Start As Short Golden Bear Winner Decries Israeli Bombs On Lebanon & Gaza

The 76th Berlin Film Festival ends this evening with its award ceremony at the Berlinale Palast and we will be following the action live.

Twenty-two features are in the running for the Golden Bear for Best Film as well as for Silver Bears for the Grand Jury Prize, Jury Prize, Best Director, Best Leading Performance, Best Supporting Performance, Best Screenplay and Outstanding Artistic Contribution.

Hot favorites as guests hit the red carpet include İlker Çatak’s Yellow Letters, Beth de Araújo’s Josephine, Lance Hammer’s Queen at Sea and Markus Schleinzer’s Rose.

Another 14 debut features films in the Perspectives Competition are in the running for the Best First Feature Award.

A handful of prizes have already been unveiled ahead of tonight’s ceremony including for the Generation and Panorama sections.

The Crystal Bear in the Generation KPlus went to Allan Deveberton’s Gugu’s World with a Special Mention for Rima Das’ Not A Hero.

In Film in Generation 14+, the top prize to Fernanda Tovar’s Sad Girlz (Chicas Tristes) with Special Mention for Mees Peijnenburg’s A Family.

The 28th Panorama  Audience Award for best feature film went to Prosecution by Faraz Shariat, with Adrian Goiginger’s Four Minus Three and Kelly O’Sullivan and Alex Thompson’s Mouse coming in second and third place respectively.

Tumultuous edition

Tricia Tuttle’s second edition at the helm has been a rockier ride that her inaugural edition in 2025, following a backlash over comments by jury president Wim Wenders in the opening press conference nine days ago in which he appeared to say that filmmakers should stay out of politics, although the meaning of his words is still up for debate.

The German director was joined in the jury by director and producer Min Bahadur Bham (Nepal), actor Bae Doona (South Korea), director, producer and archivist Shivendra Singh Dungarpur (India), director, screenwriter and producer Reinaldo Marcus Green (USA), director, screenwriter and producer HIKARI (Japan) and producer Ewa Puszczyńska (Poland).

Keep checking back in for awards updates.

Berlinale Documentary Award

If Pigeons Turned to Gold –  Pepa Lubojacki (Czech Republic)

Shorts

Golden Bear Best Short Film – Someday a Child by Marie-Rose Osta (Lebanon)

Silver Bear Jury Prize (Short Film) — A Woman’s Place Is Everywhere by Fanny Texier (U.S.)

CUPRA Filmmaker Award —  Jingkai Qu for Kleptomania (China)