Ten days of Berlinale. Ten days full of spectacular and creative queer films and ten days of anxious waiting for the decision of this year’s jury. Once again, prizes will be awarded in the categories best feature film, best documentary/essay film, best short film and the TEDDY Jury Award, as well as the Special TEDDY AWARD for lifetime artistic achievement to outstanding personalities.
But the wait is now over. The jury of the 38th TEDDY AWARD has made its choice and selected the winners. drum roll please
When her partner Pat unexpectedly dies, Angie is left to worry about the flat in which the couple lived together for over 30 years. Supported by her chosen family, Angie begins a later-life journey into emancipation.
Directors: Judy Landkammer und Philipp Fussenegger
Seamlessly weaving together exclusive archival gems with dynamic tour footage, this documentary captures the transformative journey of Canadian Merrill Nisker into the internationally acclaimed cultural powerhouse that is Peaches.
Created from archival materials from communist Poland, the film tells the story of a multispecies matriarchal family through the eyes of a child grappling with the reproduction of ideological and representational systems.
Lia, a retired teacher, has promised to find her long-lost niece, Tekla. Her search takes her to Istanbul where she meets Evrim, a lawyer fighting for trans rights, and Tekla starts to feel closer than ever.
Congratulations to this year´s winners! Thank you to all directors, filmmakers, actors and sponsors for being part of the 38th edition of the TEDDY AWARD.
Today there won’t be any new film premiers, but don’t worry! All of your new favourite movies will have several reruns and will be screened today in Berlins most beautiful cinemas :)
It’s time to introduce our great acts for the award ceremony on 23 February. The Rope Duo Two on the Rope will take us up high and singer LUNA and actress Mina-Giselle Rüffer will take us into the depths of emotion. All performances reflect human existence uniquely, and we are delighted to welcome them as part of the 38th TEDDY AWARD.
LUNA
LUNA’s lyrics make you feel like you’re secretly reading along in someone’s diary – except that it’s allowed. The artist takes us with her as she navigates her way through her 20s and the big and small questions of life. Her music is one thing above all: damn personal.
She has long since proven that she is more than just a TikTok hype: She has a club tour behind her, has been on the road as a support act for LEA, has received various awards and prizes (for example the 1LIVE crown as “Best Newcomer Act”, “Durchstarter*in des Jahres” at the New Music Award or the Musikautor*innenpreis).
Outside and within her music, LUNA has been committed to issues that are close to her heart since day one: mental health or the visibility of people belonging to the LGBTQIA+ community, which she does with sensitivity and extreme openness when it comes to revealing her own feelings to a wide audience.
The numbers and successes, but above all the strong bond with her fanbase, speak for themselves: LUNA is here to stay. She continues to let us peek into her emotional world and gives visibility to people who have felt unseen all their lives.
Mina-Giselle Rüffer
Mina-Giselle Rüffer made her debut at the age of ten in Neele Vollmar’s children’s film “Rico, Oscar and the Deep Shadows”, followed by numerous roles in series and films. For her outstanding portrayal of Nora in the fifth season of “Druck” she was honoured with the Grimme Award
Currently she is playing the lead role in the young adult horror series “Unnoticed – Was wir fürchten”, which deals with the topic of sexual identity and the highly topical issue of bullying in schools and thus the victimisation of children and young people. Mina-Giselle lives in Berlin.
Two on the Rope
Brace yourselves as they take you on an unforgettable journey of passion, love, and heartbreak, high up in the air! Their awe-inspiring performance will tug at your heartstrings, as they portray the invisible bond between two people, weaving their hearts together in a mesmerizing display of trust and emotions. But what happens when this bond is suddenly torn apart? Can love endure without it, or is it lost forever in a sea of loneliness? With breathtaking heights and gravity-defying acts, “Two on the Rope” will leave you spellbound, as they merge the moments of parting and new beginnings into a beautiful dance of emotions. It’s a moment of truth that will make your soul search for answers, and your heart yearn for the lost song.
Dear queer independent film lovers, today there is is another packed program waiting for you. Additionally there are various film premieres of up-and-coming international hits. Otherwise we as always have a list of reruns of films that already premiered below.
We wish you a lively and queer cinema experience today, tomorrow and for the rest of the Berlinale!
INTERVIEWS:
Fin (Huling Palabas)
In the summer of 2001, 16-year-old Andoy searches for his long-lost father in the most unlikely of places: on VHS tapes. When two movie-like characters appear in his small hometown, his reality begins to falter.
Fourteen-year-old Elias increasingly feels like an outsider in his village. When he meets Alexander, his new neighbour of the same age, Elias is confronted with his burgeoning sexuality.
Two tales of migration, memories and ghosts. After a disaster floods her land, Joana moves to São Paulo and tries to restart her life. Following the death of her father, Flavia moves to his farm in the country with her wife Mara.
Teenager Owen is just trying to make it through life in the suburbs when his classmate introduces him to a mysterious late-night TV show – a vision of a supernatural world beneath their own. In the pale glow of the TV, Owen’s view of reality begins to crack.
Buenos Aires, 2019. Lucrecia, who works as a museum security guard, foresees a sharp rise in the dollar’s value with her pendulum and falls in love with the employee of a currency exchange office.
Created from archival materials from communist Poland, the film tells the story of a multispecies matriarchal family through the eyes of a child grappling with the reproduction of ideological and representational systems.
West Berlin, 1979. Jürgen Baldiga, son of a miner from Essen, has just arrived in the city and decides to become an artist. Working as a rent boy and cook, he writes poems and a diary. After learning that he has HIV in 1984, he discovers photography. He intends his images to stop time and capture reality. They reveal his friends and lovers, wild sex, life on the street and the camp queens from the SchwuZ gay club who become his adopted family. Oscillating between despair and desire, rebellion and the will to survive, Baldiga becomes a chronicler of the queer West Berlin subculture in the face of his own imminent demise. When he died at the age of 34 in 1993, he left behind thousands of photographs and forty diaries – a unique artistic legacy. Using poetic diary excerpts, stark images and memories from companions, Baldiga – Entsichertes Herz depicts not only a ground breaking photographer but also an AIDS activist and committed fighter against the stigmatisation of gay people’s lives.
Filmed during the “Teaches of Peaches Anniversary Tour” in 2022, this documentary seamlessly weaves together exclusive archival gems with dynamic tour footage to capture the transformative journey of Canadian Merrill Nisker into the internationally acclaimed cultural powerhouse that is Peaches. From the inception of the stage show to the rigorous rehearsals and riveting performances, the film provides an intimate look at the inner workings of the tour. As a feminist musician, producer, director and performance artist, Peaches has spent over two decades challenging gender expectations, solidifying her status alongside pop and music industry icons. Her fearless originality has called social norms into question, dismantled stereotypes and confronted patriarchal power structures. Through biting wit, she advocates for LGBTQIA+ rights and tackles issues of sexual and gender and identity, leaving an indelible mark on popular culture.
While their parents are away, eight-year-old Rafaela stays at home in the care of her 15-year-old sister, Laura. When Laura decides to go visit a boy she likes, Rafaela has to tag along. But then Laura and the boy lock themselves in his room. Rafaela waits, gets bored and finally begins to explore the house. She has a unique encounter with Uli, a queer young woman, and her pet. A film about the feeling of strangeness and the possibility of finding freedom in an unfamiliar place.
Tú me abrasas is an adaptation of “Sea Foam”, a chapter from Cesare Pavese’s “Dialoghi con Leucò” published in 1947. The ancient Greek poet Sappho and the nymph Britomartis meet beside the sea and have a conversation about love and death. Sappho is said to have thrown herself into the ocean from lovesickness. Britomartis apparently tumbled off a cliff and into the water while fleeing from a man. Together, the two discuss the stories and images that have emerged around them to try and understand, at least for a moment, the bittersweet nature of desire. The film adapts not only the text but also footnotes and gaps in the story. For example, the fact that, in 1950, a desperate Pavese committed suicide in a hotel room with this book by his side. Or that Sappho’s poems have survived only in fragments. Or that sea foam is historically and scientifically associated with fertility and bacteria, that is, with life itself. “Everything dies in the sea and comes back to life”, says Britomartis. Tú me abrasas introduces new readings and translations that go beyond the myths by Pavese and Sappho.
