The 32nd Teddy Award is presented within the framework of the Berlin International Film Festival from February 15 to 25, 2018. For 32 years the award has been rewarding movies and filmmakers, who, by engaging with queer topics, contribute to more tolerance, equality, acceptance and diversity in the society. Prizes are awarded in the following categories: Best Feature Film, Best Documentary Film, Best Short Film, Jury Award and the Manschaft Magazin Readers AwardAgain this year Dieter Kosslick, Berlinale Director, did a remarkable introduction to Teddy Award Program guide and here is an excerpt.
Teddy #32: People. Dignity. Rights.
"All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights." As often an unwillingly as this sentence - the first article of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights proclaimed 70 years ago -may be forgotten: there is nothing that we must defend more than people, their dignity and their rights. ...
I am looking forward to the first "appearance" of the Teddy Newcomer Award. And it has remained a special feature of the Berlinale that queer cinema can be found in nearly all sections, that 30 films from more than 20 countries adopt queer perspectives and tell queer stories. The new Panorama team will also continue to highlight this fact.
As it's said in the program, "2018 is a year of transition for the Panorama team, with Wieland Spec, founder of the Teddy Award, relinquishing his 25 year role as curator of the arthouse section of the Berlinale. In his place stand three individuals, Paz Lazaro, Michael Stutz and Andreas Struck". Paz Lazaro becomes the head of the section and since 2006 has worked with Wieland. We hope that under Lazaro Panorama section will keep on growing on interesting films as well as brings more and more films that could compete for the Teddy Award. Sigh.
Program also speaks about the #MeToo movement which suggest you read to remind yourself about celebrity predators but also about statistics like for example "lesbians are almost 10% more likely to experience rape than straight women and gay men face double the risk of sexual violence than heterosexual men". Sigh.
Current edition poster was created by the designers collective cabine, who has been responsible for the posters from several past editions.
This year there are five Teddy Diversity Talks that will cover the following subjects:
1.- Before Pride: Queer Film Pioneers on their legacy and contemporary work
2.- Bodies of Evidence: The Sensual and Political Power of Transformation
3.- Black Queer Women in Focus: The Economy of Space and Desire
4.- Go Your Own Way: Adolescent Resistance in Queer Narratives
5.- Diversity und Gender Equality in Beruf und Gesellschaft Viel Luft nach oben in Sachen Gleichstellung?
To check program go here (pdf file).
The awards ceremony will take place on February 23, at 8:30pm at the Haus der Berliner Festpiele and will be streamed live. After the ceremony the celebration continues with the Teddy backstage party.
Feature Films
Competition
Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot, Gus Van Sant, USA
Las Herederas (The Heiresses), Marcelo Martinessi, Paraguay, Uruguay, Germany, Brazil, Norway and France. (L)
Nu mă atinge-mă (Touch Me Not), Adina Pintille, Romania, Germany, Czech Republic, Bulgaria and France
Berlinale Special
The Happy Prince, Rupert Everett, Germany, Belgium and Italy
Panorama
Garbage, Q (Qaushiq Mukherjee), India
Hojoom (Invasion), Shahram Mokri, Iran
L'Animale, Katharina Mückstein, Austria (L)
Malambo, El Hombre Bueno (Malambo, The Good Man), Santiago Loza, Argentina
Marilyn, Martin Rodriguez Redondo, Argentina and Chile
Mes Provinciales (A Paris Education), Jean-Paul Civeyrac, Franc
リバーズ・エッジ Ribâzu ejji (River's Edge), Isao Yukisada, Japan
Tinta Bruta (Hard Paint), Marcio Reolon and Filipe Marzembacher, Brazil
Forum
Tuzdan Kaide (The Pillar of Salt) by Burak Çevik, Turkey
Generation
High Fantasy, Jenna Bass, South Africa
Para Aduma (Red Cow), Tsivia Barkai Jacov, Israel (L)
Retablo, Alvaro Delgado-Aparicio L., Peru, Germany and Norway
Documentaries
Panorama Dokumente
Bixa Travesty (Tranny Fag), Claudia Priscilla and Kiko Goifman, Brazil (T)
Game Girls, Alina Skrzeszewska, France and Germany (L)
Obscuro Barroco, Evangelia Kranioti, France and Greece
Shakedown, Leilah Weinraub, USA (L)
The Silk and the Flame, Jordan Schiele, USA
Yours in Sisterhood by Irene Lusztig, USA
Forum
Escape from Rented Island: The Lost Paradise of Jack Smith, Jerry Tartaglia, USA
Short Films
Competition
Onde o Verão Vai (episódios da juventude)/Where the Summer Goes (chapeters on youth), David Pinheiro Vicente, Portugal, 20’
T.R.A.P, Manque La Banca, Argentina, 16’
Forum
Contra-Internet: Jubilee 2033, Zach Blas, USA and UK, 29'
Evidentiary Bodies, Barbara Hammer, USA, 10'
Generation
Je fais où tu me dis (Dressed for Pleasure), Marie de Maricourt, Switzerland, 17'
Juck, Olivia Kastebring, Julia Gumpert, and Ulrika Bandeira, Sweden, 18'
Pop Rox, Nate Trinrud, USA, 14'
Three Centimetres, Lara Zeidan, UK, 9' (L)
The Jury
Antomio Harfuch, producer film curator, Mexico
Bohdan Zhuk, film festival programmer, Ukraine
Franck Finance-Madureira, movie journalist and Queer Palm creator, France
Marthe Djilo Kamga, film festival founder, Belgium
Natascha Frankenberg, film festival programmer, Germany
Pecha Lo, film festival director, Taiwan
Roisin Geraghty, producer and film festival manager and programmer, Ireland
Teddy Readers' Award Jury
Martin Busse, music editor
Katayun Pirdawari, activist
Holger Beisitzer, moviegoer
Chritine Burkart, journalist
Adriell Kopp, filmmaker
Retrospektive
Der Himmel Auf Erden (Heaven on Earth), Reinhold Schunzel and Alfred Schirokauer, Germany, 1927
Ludwig de Zweite, Konig von Bayern (Ludwig II of Bavaria), Willhelm Dieterle, Germany, 1930
Homage
Pasolini, Abel Ferrara, France, Italy and Belgium, 2-14
Check available info and trailer @MOC.
Check available posters of ALL Berlinale Films, including those competing for Teddy Award, go pinterest here.
This year there is no way to embed the program guide so if you wish to check it go here. To read about each film at official site go here.
The Trailer