The Peruvian film, “Milk of Sorrow” by director Claudia Llosa won the coveted Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival today.
– Best director went to Iran’s Asghar Farhadi for “About Elly”
– Best Actress was won by “Everyone Else” lead Birgit Minichmayr.
– Best Actor went to Malian Sotigui Kouyate for “London River.”
– “The Messenger,” in which Woody Harrelson and Ben Foster play army officers who tell next of kin that loved ones died in combat, won the screenplay Silver Bear.
Berlin seemed to be generally lackluster this year, either that or many of the North American journalists this year sending back reports were disappointed with the fact that virtually no stars or brand names films won awards which is totally possible. Never underestimate the Americans easy, “huh?” dismissal of a film if they’ve never heard of the people involved (see above). Or maybe just blame it on Jury head Tilda Swinton who has pretty non-mainstream taste. Bigger named films like “Mammoth,” starring Gael Garcia Bernal and Michelle Williams and the cross-dressing fashion-spoof “Rage” with Jude Law were both widely panned. [NYTimes/Reuters]
