The Berlin International Film Festival has opted to make its acting awards gender-neutral, meaning the prizes for Best Actor and Best Actress will be condensed into a Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance. and the supporting awards will become a Silver Bear for Best Supporting Performance.
“We believe that not separating the awards in the acting field according to gender comprises a signal for a more gender-sensitive awareness in the film industry,” commented the director duo of the Berlinale, Mariette Rissenbeek and Carlo Chatrian.after Nazi allegations were made against its namesake, the first Berlinale director, will be named the Silver Bear Jury Prize on an ongoing basis. The fest added that a historical evaluation into Bauer will be published later this summer.
For next year, the festival said it was pressing on with plans to stage a physical festival. It is, however, planning the European Film Market as a hybrid model of online and offline activities, with an in-person market still held at the MGB as per normal. The org said it will changes plans in accordance with the then-applicable rules and regulations regarding coronavirus.
“Festivals and markets are places of encounter and communication. This applies to the public as well as to the industry. We see an important and unique feature of festivals in their lively relationship with the audience. In times of the corona pandemic, it has become even clearer that we still require analogue experience spaces in the cultural realm,” said the directors.