Jan 09, 2026
The Berlinale Celebrates 40 Years of the TEDDY AWARD

Over the past 40 years, the TEDDY AWARD has become deeply woven into the very fabric of the Berlinale. Before it was fashionable to do so at other major festivals, the award recognized the cultural importance of queer films and artists, also laying the ground for greater visibility and inclusion. The influence of the TEDDY AWARD has inspired the creation of numerous queer film awards at festivals worldwide, underscoring the cultural, artistic, and industrial power of queer storytelling across festivals, cinemas, and markets. What began as a grassroots gathering of queer film festival programmers at the Prinz Eisenherz bookstore during the Berlinale has since grown into one of the most significant events for Queer Cinema and an essential meeting point for queer film professionals from around the world. With an impressive legacy, the TEDDY AWARD gave early recognition to filmmakers like Pedro Almodóvar, Todd Haynes, Céline Sciamma, Isaac Julien and Ira Sachs, to name a few.

The 40th anniversary is celebrated with the special programme TEDDY 40, consisting of six short films and eight feature films from the history of the TEDDY AWARD, as well as a series of discussions.

“When Panorama started in 1980, queer films were rare. Co-founder Manfred Salzgeber brought them to Berlin and gave them a stage. That attracted filmmakers and in 1987 the selection within the general programme was potent enough for us to come up with the TEDDY AWARD. Its purpose: to promote queer film work to an indifferent majority whose homophobia led to marginalization instead of attention. Film lives on attention, and we got it!” says Wieland Speck, who was head of Panorama from 1992 to 2017, and co-founded the TEDDY AWARD in 1987.

Recognized as an official independent award of the festival in 1992, the TEDDY AWARD has continually expanded its mission to elevate queer cinema within an international context. Through collaborations with the European Film Market, Berlinale Talents, and various intersectional directors’ exchanges, the TEDDY AWARD has worked each year to create new opportunities for queer filmmakers and to reinforce the centrality of queer cinema within the festival landscape. To honour its four-decade legacy, the Berlinale will present WILD AT HEART, a series of conversations designed to archive the oral history of the TEDDY AWARD and its far-reaching impact. Featuring TEDDY AWARD laureates, former jury members, industry leaders, and key figures in the award’s development, these discussions — held over five days at Deutsche Kinemathek (E-Werk) and Silent Green and developed in partnership with Poligonal — will explore the TEDDY AWARD as a political discursive space, a safer space and a site for community building and activism, both within the films themselves and in the social space of the cinema and festivals.

These conversations will complement the ongoing initiatives of the Queer Academy, which continues to host directors’ exchanges at the Berlinale Hub, the TEDDY Talents Talks with Berlinale Talents, the Queer Creations Panel, and the annual Speedy Pitching Event for queer filmmakers in collaboration with the European Film Market— culminating in the traditional Queer Industry Reception, which served as the basis for the TEDDY AWARD’s beginnings in 1987.

“Without the Berlin community and its audiences, the TEDDY would not exist in the form it does today. You have been, are, and will remain our essential allies and supporters. Sharing cinematic stories with audiences continues to be our central passion. Every film holds the remarkable potential to be experienced individually and collectively in the cinema, and to inspire further reflection, writing, and conversation. As we move through time and space to celebrate the TEDDY’s 40th anniversary, we extend our heartfelt thanks to everyone who has contributed so much over the years,” says Michael Stütz, Co-Director of Film Programming and head of Panorama.

No anniversary celebration would be complete without revisiting the cinematic treasures that have shaped the TEDDY AWARD’s history. In collaboration with all Berlinale sections, the festival curators have assembled a special programme to be screened at the Zoo Palast and Deutsche Kinemathek (E‑Werk) throughout the festival. Spanning works from before the TEDDY AWARD’s inception to recent breakthroughs, this retrospective illuminates the radical, organic influence queer cinema has had on defining the identity and evolution of each Berlinale section over the years.

The films of the special programme TEDDY 40

Press Office
January 9, 2026