39 years ago German filmmakers Wieland Speck and Manfred Salzgeber created an award for LGBTQ+ films at the Berlin International Film Festival as a way of acknowledging and rewarding queer films and filmmakers. But it was always much more than just another bunch of awards. It effectively turned the Berlinale (an A-list film festival) into one of the most prestigious and important queer film festivals in the world. Not an easy task considering how queer filmmakers are continually sidelined and dismissed as “camp” (thanks, Susan Sontag). By assembling a jury that consisted of programmers from queer film festivals around the world, the Teddy Award situated itself as a gathering for queer film festival programmers, distributors and filmmakers. Many queer film festivals got their start at the Berlinale because of the Teddy Award.
The Teddy Award is also an important resource for Berlinale festivalgoers in that it lists all the queer films, or films with queer content, in its program. Putting all the queer films from every section of the festival in one place. No more looking through the official program for a racy still or a suggestive synopsis that might indicate a morsel of queer content.
Besides the not-to-be-missed Teddy Party, there are several other events and talks hosted by the Teddy Award throughout the festival, including an introduction to the queer movies of the Berlinale a couple of weeks before it begins, a jury reception at SchwuZ Queer Club, a speedy pitch session where filmmakers can pitch their films to an audience of festival programmers and distributors, and an industry reception.
The winner of the first Teddy Award for a feature film was Pedro Almodóvar for Law of Desire, that same year Gus Van Sant won the award for best short film for two of his films My New Friend and Five Ways To Kill Yourself. Other notable winners over the years include: Derek Jarman for The Last of England, Tilda Swinton for, well for being Tilda Swinton, Sir Issac Julian for Looking For Langston, John Greyson for Urinal, Marlon Riggs for Tongues Untied, Rosa von Praunheim for Silence=Death, Jennie Livingston for Paris Is Burning, Arthur Dong for Coming Out Under Fire, Rose Troche for Go Fish, Cheryl Dunye for The Watermelon Woman, François Ozon for Water Drops On Burning Rocks, and John Cameron Mitchell for Hedwig and the Angry Inch.
Starting this year, the Teddy Award – Best Documentary/Essay Film will be eligible to compete for the Academy Award. The Teddy Award is the first and only LGBTQ+ film award to be included in awards that lead directly to qualification for the Oscar shortlist. For queer documentary filmmakers, this is huge, as normally to qualify for the Oscar filmmakers have to book theaters in NYC and LA for a couple of weeks at great expense.
This year there has been a return (or rather a resurgence, as it never really went anywhere) of New Queer Cinema, B. Rudy Rich, who coined the term in 1992, even made an appearance at the World Premiere of Sir Issac Julian’s follow-up film (is it a sequel or a prequel?) to Looking For Langston, Once Again… (Statues Never Die). And New Queer Cinema pioneer Todd Haynes will be getting a special career achievement Teddy Award. Other films up for the Teddy Award this year that are carrying on the New Queer Cinema tradition of working with limited resources, playing with genre and form and not kowtowing to conventions of cinema include Queerpanorama by Jun Li, Sandbag Dan by Cejan Ceric Canak, Night Stage by previous Teddy-winners Marcio Reolon and Filipe Terelbaum, Dreamers by Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor, Janine Moves To The Country by Jan Elhardt, Lesbian Space Princess by Emma Hough Hobbs and Leela Varghese, and Queer As Punk by Yihwen Chen. Also up for the 39th Teddy Award are films by veteran filmmakers Richard Linklater, with Blue Moon, and former Teddy-winner Ira Sachs, with Peter Hujar’s Day, both of which find interesting ways to present chamber pieces that are largely limited to one location.
The Teddy Award is as vital today as it was 39 years ago. Its influence can be seen in the establishment of similar awards at other big-name festivals, including the Queer Palm at Cannes and the Queer Lion at Venice. Hopefully, one day we will see a Queer Bunny at Sundance, perhaps a Queer Moose at Toronto and more queer beasts around the globe.
Cheers Queers.
By Todd Verow
This year’s Teddy Award jury members are Raul Niño Zambrano, Allegra Madsen and Jan Künemund. The 2025 Teddy Award Ceremony streams live on Vimeo from 8:30pm CET on Friday, February 21st. Below is a full list of the films in competition for the 39th Teddy Award at the 75th Berlinale.
Features:
Night Stage (Ato noturno)
Directed by Marcio Reolon and Filipe Matzembacher
An actor and a politician start a secret affair and together discover their fetish for having sex in public places. The closer they get to their dream of fame, the more they feel the urge to put themselves at risk.
Houses (Batim)
Directed by Veronica Nicole Tetelbaum
Sasha is non-binary and came to Israel from the Soviet Union as a child in the 1990s. Haunted by memories, they visit the houses they used to live in. A quiet meditation in black and white on what it means to feel at home in a house, a body, and in time.
Blue Moon
Directed by Richard Linklater
On the evening of March 31, 1943, legendary lyricist Lorenz Hart confronts his stattered self-confidence in Sardi’s bar as his former collaborator Richard Rodgers celebrates the opening night of his groundbreaking hit musical “Oklahoma!”.
Dreamers
Directed by Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor
As her freedom is threatened, Isio, a Nigerian migrant freshly placed in a UK asylum removal centre, searches for the will to battle the system and finds a kindred spirit who might help her through. Freedom is elusive, but love is eternal.
Dreams in Nightmares
Directed by Shatara Michelle Ford
Three Black queer femmes in their mid-thirties take a road trip across the American Midwest in search of their friend who has seemingly disappeared off the grid.
Dreams (Sex Love) (Drømmer)
Directed by Dag Johan Haugerud
Johanne’s intimate writings about her crush on her teacher ignite both tension and self-reflection within her family, as her mother and grandmother confront their own unfulfilled dreams and desires.
Two Times João Liberada (Duas Vezes João Liberada)
Directed by Paula Tomás Marques
João stars in a biopic about the gender-nonconforming Liberada, who was persecuted by the Inquisition. When the film’s director is struck down by a mysterious paralysis, João navigates the chaos, determined to honour Liberada’s story and finish the film.
Hot Milk
Directed by Rebecca Lenkiewicz
Rose and her daughter Sofia journey to a Spanish seaside town to meet an enigmatic healer. As Sofia embraces an affair with an alluring stranger, tensions with her overbearing mother threaten their fragile bond.
Janine Moves to the Country (Janine zieht aufs Land)
Directed by Jan Eilhardt
Far away from the big city, Janine is unwelcome, yet an eye-catcher: a sensual, queer subject of projection with wine-red hair. Jan Eilhardt travels with her to engage with his own rural past, opening old wounds and infiltrating a hostile milieu.
No Beast. So Fierce. (Kein Tier. So Wild.)
Directed by Burhan Qurbani
After a bloody gang war, Rashida, the youngest daughter of the Yorks, rises to become the leader of the Berlin underworld. Shakespeare’s “Richard III” is retold in the here and now as the story of an Arab gangster queen.
That Summer in Paris (Le Rendez-vous de l’été)
Directed by Valentine Cadic
Paris, the 2024 Olympic Games. Blandine (30) arrives from Normandy to watch the swimming competitions. Disorientated by the hustle and bustle of the city where nothing seems to go her way, she navigates the chaos of Paris and an unexpected reunion.
Lesbian Space Princess
Directed by Leela Varghese and Emma Hough Hobbs
The introverted space princess Saira is forced to leave her home planet of Clitopolis on an inter-gay-lactic mission to save her ex-girlfriend who has been kidnapped and is being held ransom by the Straight White Maliens.
Monk in Pieces
Directed by Billy Shebar and David Roberts
Visionary composer and performer Meredith Monk overcame hostile critics to become one of the great artists of her time. In her seventh decade of creativity, she ponders how her unique work can continue without her.
The Blue Trail (O último azul)
Directed by Gabriel Mascaro
To maximise economic productivity, the government orders the elderly to relocate to distant housing colonies. Tereza, 77, refuses – and instead embarks on a journey through the Amazon that will change her destiny forever.
Peter Hujar’s Day
Directed by Ira Sachs
A 1974 conversation between photographer Peter Hujar and his friend Linda Rosenkrantz provides a glimpse into the New York downtown art scene of the time and the personal struggles and epiphanies that define an artist’s life.
Queer as Punk
Directed by Yihwen Chen
Being LGBTQ is criminalized in Muslim-majority Malaysia. Trans man Faris and his punk band still travel the country playing gigs and protesting on the streets. A documentary portrait of courageous people, humorous friendship and the spirit of punk.
Queerpanorama
Directed by Jun Li
A gay man impersonates men he has had sex with and brings this new persona with him to his next hook-up. Only by pretending to be someone else can he be truly himself.
Satanic Sow (Satanische Sau)
Directed by Rosa von Praunheim
Rosa von Praunheim is the satanic sow, incarnated by the wanton actor Armin Dallapiccola. A poetic compendium of life and death with pushy fans, the Good Lord, lovers and Rosa’s horrified mother.
Silent Sparks
Directed by Ping Chu
Freshly released from prison, Pua plunges into the world of gangsters. His long-awaited reunion with his former cellmate Mi-ji falls short of his expectations. Both men will soon have to make some difficult choices.
Sirens Call
Directed by Miri Ian Gossing, Lina Sieckmann
In this feature-length debut, nomadic siren Una journeys through postmodern reality, navigating survival, identity and belonging. A dive into the merfolk subculture between self-care and political activism, a hybrid of science fiction and documentary.
Sandbag Dam (Zečji nasip)
Directed by Čejen Černić Čanak
In a village on the brink of flooding, Marko’s life is turned upside down when Slaven returns for his father’s funeral and rekindles their forbidden romance. Marko must confront his family and make a difficult choice.
Shorts:
Close to September (Casi septiembre)
Directed by Lucía G. Romero
Alejandra lives on a campsite close to the big hotels. She takes care of her siblings, hangs out in the neighbourhood and flirts casually with the tourists – until she meets Amara. A romance develops that grows more serious than Alejandra would like.
Howl
Directed by Domini Marshall
Daisy and Lila are best friends. At a suburban house party, shifting desires and tough choices force them to reconsider their place in the world and what they mean to each other.
Julian and the Wind
Directed by Connor Jessup
Arthur and Julian share a dorm at a boys’ boarding school. Arthur is in love with Julian, but Julian ignores him. When Julian begins to sleepwalk, a strange intimacy develops between the two.
Lloyd Wong, Unfinished
Directed by Lesley Loksi Chan
In the 1990s, Chinese-Canadian artist Lloyd Wong began a video work about his living with HIV. It remained unfinished. Thirty years after his death, filmmaker Lesley Loksi Chan discovers and edits the material.
Once Again… (Statues Never Die)
Directed by Isaac Julien
This film explores the storied relationship between Dr. Albert C. Barnes, an early US collector and exhibitor of African cultural artefacts, and the renowned philosopher and cultural critic Alain Locke, known as the “Father of the Harlem Renaissance”.
The Mud Under My Window (Sous ma fenêtre, la boue)
Directed by Violette Delvoye
One of Emma’s mothers is too busy; the other is too far away. One is rejected, the other idealised. Out of a trivial tension, an intimate and unsettling face-to-face confrontation suddenly arises.
STARS
Directed by STARS Collective
STARS tells of the Nommo: extra-terrestrial Afro-hermaphrodite anthro-amphibian migrants. Delivered from outer space via the Dogon of Mali, STARS is a queer African tale of tails, told through animation, music, and poetry.