The Berlinale gives in to Spielberg, a Golden Bear of honor perfect for the festival

The Berlinale left today unconditionally to Steven Spielbergthe Golden Bear of Honor for this edition of the festival, who traveled to the German capital with a mixture of intelligence, humanity and simplicity uncommon in cinema.

“I must have done something good in life if I’m here in front of you, receiving the lifetime achievement award from one of the best film festivals in the world,” Spielberg replied, in front of a crowded press room, to the question How did you feel at this precise moment?

The American director has done more than fulfill his duty of recognition. He agreed to answer “a few additional questions”, after the scheduled time for his press conference and when the host –Rainer Rotherresponsible for the festival’s Retrospective- had closed the shift.

Jaws –Shark1975- was the “physically most ambitious” film of his career, he explained, asked to name the most outstanding titles in his filmography. Schindler’s list –Schindler’s list1993-, on the other hand, was the most “emotionally” demanding film, he added.

The Fabelmans -2022-, his latest film, with seven Oscar nominations and which will be screened at the special gala where he will receive the Bear of Honor, has become a kind of “emotional experience”, he said, making allusion to its autobiographical ingredients.

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It is a film made under the restrictions imposed by the pandemic and “under the impact of the fear of covid”, he explained. During this period, he spent a lot of time at home with his wife and children. There, he wondered if there was some kind of film “he hadn’t done yet” that “I probably wouldn’t have time to do it for another time”.

So he started working on a screenplay based on the story of his parents and his sister, a Jewish family, in the United States in the 1950s and 1960s. to “reflect” on one’s own existence and turn one’s gaze towards personal and family problems.

The Golden Bear of Honor at Spielberg (1946, Ohio) is part of a filmography of more than 100 titles or series. He’s won three Oscars – from a total of 19 Hollywood Academy Award nominations – and is one of the most versatile or well-rounded filmmakers in movie history.

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The retrospective planned for the 73rd edition of the Berlinale includes, in addition to Shark, Schindler’s list there The Fabelmannstitles like bridge of spies –The Bridge of Spies2015 – partially shot on original locations in Berlin for Cold War prisoner exchanges.

It was also projected AND the alien (1982) y Munich (2005), dealt with the taking of hostages of the Israeli team by the Palestinian commando Black September, during the 1972 Olympic Games. The kidnapping ended in a bloodbath, with the death of nine hostages and a policeman, in addition to five of the eight terrorists. , amid a disastrous police operation that continues to embarrass Germany.

Spielberg declined to comment on his career milestones – “don’t expect miracles: I’ll tell you that each of my films is like a son and I can’t choose,” he said. On the other hand, he said that the most important thing he has accomplished is probably the creation of the Shoa Foundation, which emerged as a result of “Schindler’s List” and was intended to remember the millions of victims of the Nazi Holocaust.

“A film, like Schindler’s, occupies a relatively short attention span. The Shoa Foundation is a long-term project,” he said. The institution awards him a distinction that is not directly linked to any of his films: the Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), the country’s highest institutional distinction, which he received in 1998.

Source: Efe

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