Feature | 2014 International Film Festivals: Berlin International Film Festival
MOVIE | The 64th Berlin International Film Festival
The Fastest Report on Award Winners from Each Section!
The 64th Berlin International Film Festival concluded on February 16th. Held every February in Berlin, Germany, it is one of the world's three major film festivals. Dubbed "a film festival for film lovers," it is known for spotlighting artistically superior works over commercial ones.
This year, a jury of seven, led by screenwriter and film producer James Schamus, selected the award winners from 20 nominated films. The Golden Bear for Best Film went to the thriller "Black Coal, Thin Ice" directed by China's Diao Yinan. Liao Fan, who starred in the same film, won the Silver Bear for Best Actor, and Haru Kuroki, who starred in Yoji Yamada's "The Little House," won the Silver Bear for Best Actress. This year saw Chinese, and by extension Asian, films dominate Berlin.
Text & Edited by TANAKA Junko and Winsome Li (OPENERS)Photographs by Berlinale
Golden Bear
Black Coal, Thin Ice
Country of Production: China
Director: Diao Yinan
A Double Win of the Golden Bear and a Silver Bear!
The setting is a small town in northern China. The discovery of multiple bodies throws the town into chaos. In an attempt to apprehend the culprit, two of the four police officers investigating the case are killed, and another is severely injured. Zhang Zili, the sole survivor, is suspended from duty. Five years later, a strange murder case strikes the town again. Zhang decides to conduct his own investigation with former colleagues from his police days. However, the situation becomes more complicated when he becomes infatuated with a woman who is a suspect.
Grand Jury Prize (Silver Bear)
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Country of Production: USA, Germany
Director: Wes Anderson
Scheduled for June release
http://www.foxmovies.jp/gbh/
Master of "Tragicomedy" Achieves His First Accolade
Gustave H. manages "The Grand Budapest Hotel," a premier hotel in Europe. His life, guided by the principle of "ultimate hospitality," is turned upside down one day. When Madame D., a long-time acquaintance, is murdered, he becomes entangled in a dispute over a vast inheritance. Gustave embarks on solving the case with the trusted lobby boy, Zero...The Grand Budapest HotelDirector Wes Anderson, known for sending witty tragicomedies like "The Darjeeling Limited" and "Moonrise Kingdom" into the world, has won his first major award at an international film festival.
Best Actress (Silver Bear)
Haru Kuroki
The Little House
Country of Production: Japan
Director: Yoji Yamada
Now Showing
http://www.chiisai-ouchi.jp
A Remarkable Feat, Achieved for the First Time in 4 Years
"The Little House," based on the novel of the same name by Kyoko Nakajima which won the Naoki Prize in 2010, is directed by Yoji Yamada, who has consistently depicted "family bonds." Here, he breaks new ground with the theme of "family secrets." The story is set from the early Showa period through the end of the war, and into the Heisei era in Tokyo. Toki worked as a live-in maid in a red-roofed house in the suburbs. One day, upon witnessing a secret of the mistress she admired, she is forced into a difficult choice──. Haru Kuroki, who has been appearing in one hit film after another, has achieved this remarkable feat, the first in four years and the fourth time overall for a Japanese actress since Shinobu Terajima won the same award for "Caterpillar."Haru Kurokihas brought this fourth achievement in four years to the Japanese film industry.
Best Director (Silver Bear)
Boyhood
Country of Production: USA
Director: Richard Linklater
Best Screenplay (Silver Bear)
Stations of the Cross
Country of Production: Germany
Directors: Dietrich Bruggemann & Anna Brüggemann
Outstanding Artistic Contribution (Silver Bear)
Blind Massage
Country of Production: China
Director: Lou Ye
