WINNERS FROM THE 2018 BERLIN FILM FESTIVAL

“Touch Me Not”, the debut feature from experimental film maker, Adina Pintilie which explores intimacy and challenges our ideas of beauty, received the top prize of the Golden Bear at this year’s Berlin Film Festival.  Set in Germany, this pseudo-documentary follows a mature English woman (Laura Benson) as she seeks to find sexual pleasure and satisfaction through a variety of different avenues. The film also won Ms Pintilie the Best First Feature Prize.



Wes Anderson, who has been greatly admired by Berlinale in the past, was given the Silver Bear Best Director Prize for his latest work, “Isle of Dogs”. This animated film features his eccentric wit and reliable charm about a future Japan that has outlawed dogs.

“The Heiresses”, a film from Paraguay by director, Marcelo Martinessi, took the Silver Bear Alfred Bauer Prize, named after the fest’s founder to honor a film that “opens new perspectives on cinematic art”. This tells the story of a wealthy lesbian couple (Margarita Irin and Ana Brun, who took the Silver Bear Best Actress Prize) who run in to financial hard times and the toll it takes on their lives and relationship.



“Museum”, a drama inspired by the real life 1985 robbery of Mexico’s National Museum of Anthropology, received the Silver Bear Best Screenplay Prize for the director, Alonso Ruizpalacios and his co-writer, Manuel Alcalá. Gael García Bernal stars as a petty thief who steals precious Mayan artifacts and how his actions end up affecting the entire nation.

Here is a partial list of the winners of the 2018 Berlin Film Festival:

Golden Bear for Best Film: “Touch Me Not“
Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize: “Twarz (Mug)”
Silver Bear Alfred Bauer Prize: “Las Herederas (The Heiresses)”
Silver Bear for Best Director: Wes Anderson, ”Isle Of Dogs“
Silver Bear for Best Actress: Ana Brun, “The Heiresses”
Silver Bear for Best Actor: Anthony Bajon, “La Prière (The Prayer)”
Silver Bear for Best Screenplay: Manuel Alcalá and Alonso Ruizpalacios, "Museo (Museum)”
Glashutte Original Documentary: ”Waldheims Walzer”
Best First Feature: “Touch Me Not”
Best First Feature (Special Mention): “An Elephant Standing Still“
Golden Bear for Best Short Film: “The Men Behind The Wall”