Ilker Catak’s political drama Yellow Letters took the Golden Bear, the top prize at the Berlin International Film Festival. The German director — whose previous film, The Teachers’ Lounge (2023), was Oscar-nominated — explores the strain on a married couple of artists as they come under state scrutiny. The film stars Tansu Bicer as a playwright and Ozgu Namal as a celebrated actress. Although set in contemporary Turkey, Yellow Letters was shot in Germany, with Berlin and Hamburg standing in for Ankara and Istanbul.
Seen as the most overtly political entry among the 22 films in the main competition, Yellow Letters closed a festival shadowed by heated public debate. The Berlinale has been the scene of viral controversies, including an open letter accusing the festival of silence on Gaza and earlier remarks from jury president Wim Wenders, who at the opening press conference said filmmakers “have to stay out of politics.” When presenting the Golden Bear, Wenders praised Catak’s film for speaking “very clearly about the political language of totalitarianism as opposed to the empathetic language cinema.”
In his acceptance speech Catak called for solidarity among artists: “Let’s not fight each other, let’s fight them.”
Festival director Tricia Tuttle described the Berlinale as reflecting “a world that feels raw and fractured,” acknowledging the importance of critical voices and public disagreement. “Criticism is good for us — even if it didn’t always feel good,” she said, while Wenders contrasted social media’s “affective language” with cinema’s capacity to build empathy through long-form storytelling.
The Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize went to Emin Alper’s Salvation, a timely examination of the mechanisms behind politically driven mass violence. In his speech Alper voiced solidarity with people suffering in Gaza, Iranian protesters, Kurds seeking rights and Turks jailed for political beliefs, telling them: “You are not alone.”
Other Silver Bears honored a range of styles and performances. Lance Hammer’s Queen at Sea, a drama about dementia starring Juliette Binoche, was recognized; Tom Courtenay and Anna Calder-Marshall received the Silver Bear for Best Supporting Performance for their moving portrayals of an elderly husband and wife; Grant Gee won the Silver Bear for Best Director for Everybody Digs Bill Evans, a stylized biopic of the jazz pianist; Sandra Hüller earned the Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance for Rose, in which she plays a woman passing as a man in the 17th century; Genevieve Dulude-De Celles received the Silver Bear for Best Screenplay for Nina Roza; and the Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution went to Yo (Love is a Rebellious Bird), a playful documentary about a special friendship between two creative women.
In the Perspectives section for debut features, the GWFF Best First Feature Award was presented to Palestinian director Abdallah Alkhatib for Chronicles From a Siege. A refugee in Germany, Alkhatib used his acceptance speech to sharply criticize Germany’s policy on Gaza, accusing the country of being “partners of the genocide in Gaza by Israel” and adding, “I believe you are intelligent enough to recognize this, but you choose not to care.”
Lebanese filmmaker Marie-Rose Osta, winner of the Golden Bear for best short film for Someday a Child, also referenced the suffering of Palestinians during her remarks.
As the festival drew to a close, Tuttle reiterated the Berlinale’s commitment to free expression: “We defend everyone’s right to speak.” The awards capped a politically charged edition of the festival in which art, politics and public debate were tightly intertwined.