The Berlinale announced the competition jury and has added the world premiere of Art College 1994 by Chinese director Liu Jian in the Competition that will now comprise 19 films.
Set in China in the 1990s: a group of young people prepare to face a world caught between tradition and modernity. Filmmaker and painter Liu Jian returns to the Berlinale with an animated film dedicated to a passion for art and life.
Actor Kristen Stewart will head the International Jury deciding who will take home the Golden and the Silver Bears at the Berlinale 2023. The other members of the jury are actor Golshifteh Farahani (Iran/France), director and writer Valeska Grisebach (Germany), director and screenwriter Radu Jude (Romania), casting director and producer Francine Maisler (USA), director and screenwriter Carla Simón (Spain) and director and producer Johnnie To (Hong Kong, China). 18 films are competing for the awards in this year’s Competition.
A three-member jury of Writer, Director and Visual Artist Dea Kulumbegashvili (Georgia), actor Angeliki Papoulia (Greece) as well as Programmer Paolo Moretti (Italy) will choose the winners for Best Film, Best Director and a Special Jury Award in the the competitive section Encounters. This year’s Encounters program features 16 films.
The editor Cătălin Cristuțiu (Romania), the artist and director Sky Hopinka (USA) and the director and screenwriter Isabelle Stever (Germany) are the International Short Film Jury for the 2023 Berlinale Shorts. From the 20 nominated films, they will be choosing the winner of the Golden Bear for Best Short Film, the winner of the Silver Bear Jury Prize (Short Film) and the Berlin Short Film Candidate for the European Film Awards.
Since 2006, the GWFF Best First Feature Award has been given to one outstanding debut film across the Berlinale sections. A three-person jury will decide on the award: Judith Revault d’Allonnes (France), Ayten Amin (Egypt) and Cyril Schäublin (Switzerland). In total, 19 directorial feature film debuts from the sections Competition, Encounters, Panorama, Forum, Generation and Perspektive Deutsches Kino are nominated for the GWFF Best First Feature Award.
In total, 20 documentary forms from the sections Competition, Berlinale Special, Encounters, Panorama, Forum, Generation and Perspektive Deutsches Kino are nominated for the Berlinale Documentary Award. A three-member jury of Emilie Bujès (France/Switzerland), Diana Bustamante (Colombia), Mark Cousins (Scotland/Northern Ireland) will pick the winner.
For the first time, the Berlinale Series Award in cooperation with “Deadline” will be given to the best series. The prize is the first award at an A festival specifically for a series. Seven series are nominated for the prize, which is awarded by a three-member jury: Mette Heeno (Denmark), André Holland (USA) and Danna Stern (Israel).
International juries who award Glass Bears and cash prizes at Generation include Kateryna Gornostai (Ukraine), Fion Mutert (Germany) and Juanita Onzaga (Colombia) for the International Jury 14plus, and the International Jury Kplus will include Venice Atienza (Philippines), Alise Ģelze (Latvia) and Gudrun Sommer (Germany).
From the ten feature films and documentaries of Perspektive Deutsches Kino, Dela Dabulamanzi, Anne Fabini and Jöns Jönsson will determine the winner of the Kompass-Perspektive Prize, endowed with 5,000 Euros, and Freya Arde, Peter Kahane and Mirko Wiermann will select the winner of the Heiner Carow Prize for the Promotion of German Cinematic Art, endowed with 5,000 Euros. The Compass-Perspektive Jury also awards the Kompagnon-Fellowship to a new film project that shows great promise.