29th Teddy Award Winners

Tonight they had the awards ceremony and party with no real surprises as all winners have gay interest.  No surprise because almost all films in selection had that interest so was obvious that there was no chance to lesbian interest films. (LOL)

Winners are in *Blue. To check winners and jury statements at official site go here.

Feature Films

Competition
Cha và con và (Big Father, Small Father and Other Stories), Di Phan Dang, Vietnam, France, Germany and Netherlands (film not in Teddy Selection but has gay interest)
Eisenstein in Guanajuato, Peter Greenaway, Netherlands, Mexico, Finland and Belgium (G)
Vergine Giurata (Sworn Virgin), Laura Bispuri, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Albania and Kosovo (L)

Generation
ワンダフルワールドエンド Wandafuru Warudo Endo (Wonderful World End), Diago Matsui, Japan (L)

Panorama
54: The Director's Cut, Mark Christopher, USA (G)
Al Bahr Min Ouaraikoum (The Sea is Behind), Hicham Lasri, Morocco
Ausência (Absence), Chico Teixeira, Brasil, Chile and France (G)
Bizarre, Étienne Faure, France and USA (G)
Der Letzte Sommer Der Reichen (The Last Summer of the Rich), Peter Kern, Austria (L)
Dyke Hard, Bitte Andersson, Sweden (LG)
Härte (Tough Love), Rosa von Praunheim, Germany, (Q)
How to Win At Checkers (Every Time), Josh Kim, Thailand, USA and Indonesia (G)
I Am Michael, Justin Kelly, USA (G)
Mariposa, Marco Berger, Argentina (G)
*Nasty Baby, Sebastián Silva, USA (G) Best Feature Film Award Winner
Onthakan (The Blue Hour), Anucha Boonyawatana, Thailand (G)
Sangailé (The Summer of Sangailé), Alanté Kavaite, Lithuania, France and Netherlands (L)
Sangue Azul (Blue Blood), Lirio Ferreira, Brazil (G)
*Stories of Our Lives, Jim Chuchu, Kenya and South Africa (LG) Jury Award Winner
Zui Sheng Meng Si (Thanatos, Drunk) , Tso-Chi Chang, Taiwan (G)

Forum
Beira-Mar (Seashore), Filipe Matzembacher and Marcio Reolon, Brazil (G)
Cancelled Faces, Lior Shamriz, South Korea and Germany (G)
Sueñan Los Androides (Androids Dream), Ion de Sosa, Spain and Germany

Documentary Feature Films

Panorama
Danielův Svět (Daniel's World), Veronika Lisková, Czech Republic, (G)
*El Hombre Nuevo (The New Man), Aldo Garay, Uruguay and Chile (T) Best Documentary Award Winner
Fassbinder - Lieben Ohne zu Fordern (Fassbinder - To Love Without Demands), Christian Braad Thomsen, Denmark (G)
Feelings Are Facts: The Life of Yvonne Rainer, Jack Walsh, USA (L)
Haftanlage 4614, Jan Soldat, Germany (G)
Je Suis Annemarie Schwarzenbach (My Name is Annemarie Schwarzenbach), Véronique Aubouy, France (L)
Misfits, Jannik Splidsboel, Denmark and Sweden (LG)
The Yes Men Are Revolting, Laura Nix, andy Bichlbaum and Mike Bonanno, USA, Germany, France, Denmark and Netherlands (G)

Forum
Viaggio Nella Doppo-Storia (Journey into Post-History), Vincent Dieutre, France (G) (documentary)

Short Films

Shorts Competition
Bad At Dancing, Joanna Arnow, USA, 11'
Blood Below The Skin, Jennifer Reeder, USA, 32' (L)
La Isla está Encantada con Ustedes (The Island is Enchanted with You), Daniel Schmid, USA, Switzerland and Australia, 28'
*San Cristóbal, Omar Zúñiga Hidalgo, Chile, 20' (G) Best Short Film Award Winner
The Mad Half Hour, Leonardo Brzezicki, Argentina and Denmark, 22' (G)

Generation
Kumu Hina (A Place in the Middle), Dean Hammer, USA,25' (L) (documentary short)

Forum
A Spectacle of Privacy, Roy Dib, Lebanon (exhibition)
Calamity Qui? (Calamity Who?), Isabelle Prim, France and Canada, 4' (L)
Cyclops Observes The Celestial Bodies, Ken Jacobs, USA, 15'
Dear John, Hans Scheugl, Austria, 42' (G) (documentary short)
Gineva, Nicolas Cilins, Switzerland, 43' (G)
Iec Long, Joao Pedro Rodrigues and Joao Rui Guerra da Mata, Portugal, 31'
Opaque, Pauline Boudry and Renate Lorenz, Germany, 10'(exhibition)
Orchard Street, Ken Jacobs, USA, 1955, 27'
Practicing Live, Yu Cheng-Ta, 30' (exhibition)
Untiteld (Human Mask), Huyghe Pierre, France, 19'
Vyshybalshitsa (Embroideress), Lyusya Matveeva, Russia, 21'

Perspektive Deutsches Kino
Hakie - Haki. Ein Leben Als Mann (Hakie - Haki. Living as a Man), Anabela Angelovska, Germany, 29' (L)

Do not really understand why the following films are included in the list (ok, some I do as are Gay iconic films and there is one classic lesbian film) but here is the list that I assume are not competing for the top award.

Retrospective
Anne of the Indies, Jacques Tourneur, USA, 1951
Black Narcissus, Michael Powell, UK, 1947 (L)
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Howard Hawks, USA, 1953 (G)
Gone With The Wind, Victor Fleming, USA, 1939 (G)
Leave Her to Heaven, John M. Stahl, USA, 1945
Niagara, Henry Hathaway, USA, 1953
Singin' In The Rain, Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly, USA, 1952
The Garden of Allah, Richard Boleslawski, USA, 1936
The Thief of Bagdad, Ludwig Berger, Michael Powell and Tim Whelan, UK and USA, 1940
The Three Musketeers, George Sidney, USA, 1948
The Wizard of Oz, Victor Fleming, USA, 1939
Yolanda and The Thief, Vicente Minelli, USA, 1945

To read about each of the films go Teddy Award official site here.  Watch available trailers and info @MOC

Jury
Predrag Azdejković, festival director, Serbia
Nick Deocampo, filmmaker, author and film professor, Philippines
Diego Trerotola, film critic programmer and professor of film theory, Argentina
Muffin Hix, film programmer, UK
Yvonne P. Behrens, director film festival, USA
Gustavo Scofano, film programmer, Brazil
Shana Myara, festival programmer, Canada
Bradley Fortuin, festival programmer, Botswana
Mascha Nehls, film programmer, Germany

Program Guide

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6/2/2015
Homosexual Vietnamese love story could win best film at Berlin festival" and today found the trailer with English subtitles for the movie that the article was talking about. Film is none other than Cha và con và (Big Father, Small Father and Other Stories) by Phan Dang Di, a Vietnamese film that is in the main competition.

Today I say that according to trailer definitively film should be in competition for a Teddy as film has some gay interest. If you wish to watch trailer go here.

So I add film to below list and will check if Teddy organizers add to their list or not. Nevertheless this post main purpose is for us to learn about LGBT movies that eventually will be available for us to watch. Please NOTE that Teddy organizers answered my tweet and say that film is NOT part of the Selection, so is NOT competing for Teddy.

There is another film with some gay interest in the main Competition section, but imagine that due to the nature of the film, pedophile Catholic priests, was not also considered for this award.  The film is El Club (The Club) by Pablo Larrain.

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1/27/15
Again was a surprise to find that today when the Berlinale had the press conference to announce juries and the opening of the online info at their official site, Teddy Award organizers also listed the films that will compete for the most famous LGBT award and as every single year, there are more gay than lesbian interest films (lol).

As every year let's review what this award is all about. I include this info every year so other mainstream festivals could get "inspiration" and copy or closely emulate what this group has done so well for 29 years.

The Teddy Award is a societal engaged political award, which is given to films and people, that communicate queer themes and content on a large scale and contribute with this to more tolerance, acceptance, solidarity and equality in society.

The Teddy Award has with this not only cultural importance. As long as queer life is threatened in parts of the world with the capital punishment and is even in towns like Berlin a homo- and transphobe power in the agenda, TEDDY Award also carries a political significance and responsibility.

Within the scope of the International Film Festival the Teddy will award the queer film Award's, in the categories the best feature, the best documentaries / essay film and the best short film, as well as the Special Teddy for artistic life's work given to an outstanding personality. Movies from all sections of the International Film Festival Berlin – most of them world premieres – compete every year for the Teddy Award.

The Teddy Award is a non-profit event. The Teddy Award finances itself only by contributions of sustaining members and patrons of the Teddy e.V., by donation of supporters, the contribution of many voluntary helpers as well as sponsors and the earnings of the award gala.

But the Teddy Award is More Than That
The Teddy Award is a leading event for gay-lesbian film festivals around the world. More than 120 festival managers from all parts of the world meet annually in the scope of the Teddy Awards in Berlin at the “Programmers Meeting”, the worldwide biggest meeting of queer film festival makers. Many of the represented festivals at the programmers meeting take place under big reprisal. The Teddy Award ministers these problems and tries to support and patronize the festivals.

So maybe this year Cannes, La Biennale and many other BIG non-niche film festivals get inspiration and promote their own LGBT award to similar levels. Sigh.

The theme of this year’s Teddy Award is Celebrate Queer Icons. This is a celebration of gay men, esbians, bisexual men and women, transvestites, closet queens and raging queers. From Valeska Gert to Divine, from James Dean to Barbara Stanwyck, from Sergei M. Eisenstein to Virginia Woolf, we aim to commemorate talented queers who sought both to push back the frontiers of art and to live (or sometimes only to survive) as gay men, lesbians, bisexual men and women or as trans* in ‘normal’ society.



Alright here are the films that are listed at their official site. Still, there is a press conference on February 2nd where the films in the Teddy Award will be presented; IF there are differences between films announced on that date and those listed below, then will update post with the corrections.

If you wish to learn more about each of the jury members go here.  The official presentation of the Teddy Award jury will take place during the grand opening party on Friday, February 6. The Teddy Award ceremony will take place on February 14 at the Komische Oper Berlin and will be hosted by Jochen Schropp.  The Special Teddy Award for Artistic Life Achievement 2015 will be given to the actor Udo Kier.

Most interesting is to find that there are two films about the same story essence, women living as men in Albania; one is feature debut by Laura Bispuri that is in the main competition, with always great Alba Rohrwacher and the other is Hakie - Haki. Living as a Man a documentary by Anabela Angelovska.

Marco Berger's Mariposa (Butterfly) has such complicated story that imagine had to visually simplify it; very interested in this film. Also interesting is Sebastian Silva acting in his own satirical film.