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Turkish film director Semih Kaplanoglu holds the Golden Bear award for Best Film he received for the film "Bal" (Honey) during the awards ceremony of the 60th Berlinale International Film Festival in Berlin, Germany, Feb. 20, 2010. (Xinhua/Luo Huanhuan)
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by Tracey Gudwin
BERLIN, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) -- The 60th annual Berlin Film Festival, or the Berlinale, awarded its top Golden Bear for Best Film prize to Turkish film "Bal" (Honey) on Saturday.
The Turkish film, the final part of a trilogy after "Egg" and "Milk," tells the story of a young boy in Anatolia, who runs off to search for his missing father who has gone to relocate his beehives in a far away forest.
"In the name of Turkish Films, this (Golden Bear) is a very meaningful prize. It's a help to making better films," director Semih Kaplanoglu told a press conference after the awarding gala.
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Turkish film director Semih Kaplanoglu (R) receives the Golden Bear award for Best Film for the film "Bal" (Honey) during the awards ceremony of the 60th Berlinale International Film Festival in Berlin, Germany, Feb. 20, 2010. (Xinhua/Luo Huanhuan)
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Chinese director Wang Quan'an, who won the Golden Bear in 2007 for "Tuya's Marriage," was awarded along with his co-author Na Jin, the Silver Bear for Best Screenplay for "Tuan Yuan" (Apart Together).
"Tuan Yuan" follows the tale of a young soldier who is forced to separate from his love and flee for Taiwan from Shanghai in 1949. After many decades he returns home to find his former love married to another man.
"This year's 60th Berlinale is the coldest weather I've experienced, but the cinema was the warmest for me," Wang said while receiving the award.
Roman Polanski's absence did not seem to tarnish his chances, as he received the Silver Bear for Best Director for his political thriller "The Ghostwriter."
In the film, Ewen Mcgregor plays a ghostwriter who discovers a number of political secrets while writing the personal memoirs of a former British prime minister.
Since the director, a resident Pole born in France, is still under house arrest at his Swiss chalet for alleged raping of a teenage girl three decades ago, long-time collaborator and producer Alain Sarde spoke to the press on Saturday evening.
"It's a very difficult situation for him and due to difficult circumstances he cannot be here. This is, however, an award to honor his work, his film and his career," Sarde said.
The runner up to the Golden Bear went to Floran Serban, who won the Grand Prix Jury Silver Bear for his Romanian drama, "If I Want to Whistle, I Whistle."
The film takes place in a juvenile jail and centers around a young man, whose anxiety that his mother will flee the country when he is released, forces him to take drastic measures.
Serban's film also won the Alfred Bauer Prize for new perspectives in the art of film.
Alexi Popogrebsky's Russian film, "How I Ended the Summer" took home two prizes. The cinematographer, Pavel Kostomarov, won the Silver Bear for Outstanding Achievement in Camera and the two main leads, Grigori Dobrygin and Sergei Puskepalis, jointly won a Silver Bear for Best Actor.
"How I Ended the Summer" is an emotional story of two meteorologists living remotely on an island in the Antarctic. When life-changing news comes in over the radio, the young graduate student, Pavel, struggles to deal with the reality of telling the truth.
The seven jurors, headed by renowned German director Werner Herzog, made their decision after screening the 20 international films that entered this year's competition.
Throughout the 10-day festival, over 400 films were screened to more than 300,000 people.
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Turkish film director Semih Kaplanoglu (R) is congratulated after receiving the Golden Bear award for Best Film for the film "Bal" (Honey) during the awards ceremony of the 60th Berlinale International Film Festival in Berlin, Germany, Feb. 20, 2010. (Xinhua/Luo Huanhuan)
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Related:
Chinese Film "Tuan Yuan" wins Silver Bear for best screenplay in Berlin
BERLIN, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Film "Tuan Yuan" (Apart Together) won Silver Bear for the best screenplay at the 60th Berlin film festival on Saturday night.
"Tuan Yuan", directed by Wang Quan'an, who won the Golden Bear in 2007 for "Tuya's Marriage," is about a soldier who flees Shanghai in 1949 for Taiwan. After many decades he returns to his old life to find his former love has long since married.Full story
Grigory Dobrygin, Sergei Puskepalis win Silver Bears for Best Actor
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| Russian actors Grigory Dobrygin (R) and Sergei Puskepalis pose with their Silver Bears for Best Actor for their roles in "Kak Ya Provel Etim Letom" (How I Ended This Summer) during a press conference after the awards ceremony of the 60th Berlinale International Film Festival in Berlin on Feb. 20, 2010. (Xinhua/Luo Huanhuan) |
"If I Want To Whistle, I Whistle" wins Silver Bear
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| Romanian director Florin Serban (C), actress Ada Condeescu (L) and actor George Pistereanu pose with the Silver Bear for Jury Grand Prix during awards ceremony at the 60th Berlinale International Film Festival in Berlin Feb. 20, 2010. Their movie "If I Want To Whistle, I Whistle" won the Silver Bear for Jury Grand Prix and the Alfred Bauer award. (Xinhua/Luo Huanhuan) |
