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2026 | TEDDY 40

TEDDY 40: A Queer Cinematic Legacy

Photos from 40 years of TEDDY

Honouring the TEDDY Community

“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.”
Michael Stütz, Co-Director of Film Programming and head of Panorama

© Piffl Medien

Part of the TEDDY 40 programme: Una mujer fantástica by Sebastián Lelio

Constellations of Queer Memory

In collaboration with all Berlinale sections, the festival curators have assembled a special programme to be screened at the Zoo Palast and Deutschen Kinemathek (E Werk) throughout the festival. Spanning works from before the TEDDY AWARD’s inception to recent breakthroughs, this anniversary programme illuminates the radical, organic influence Queer Cinema has had on defining the identity and evolution of each Berlinale section over the years.

What initially appeared to be a straightforward task — each section selecting a feature film, a short, or both — quickly revealed itself to be anything but simple. Confronted with the vast history of queer filmmaking showcased at the festival and honoured by the TEDDY, the curators found themselves facing an unexpectedly intricate challenge: choosing the one, or in some cases two, three, or four films that could meaningfully span the years, embody the spirit of their section, and speak to the TEDDY’s own evolution. With 225 TEDDY AWARDS presented over 40 years and more than 1,000 queer-themed films programmed since 2001, navigating the archive became, to borrow from the Divinyls, a fine line between pleasure and pain.

The resulting programme reflects not only the films that first signaled the need for a dedicated queer film prize, but also those that have since leapt beyond the festival to shape conversations, shift cultural landscapes, and ignite urgently needed dialogue around the world. Their power, their joy, and their profound impact on audiences are unmistakable. Together, they form the constellation of queer memory we are honoured to share with you.

Queer Academy 2025

Always be Wild at Heart

Recognised 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.

Erika Rabau © Stiftung Deutsche Kinemathek / Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin

Horst Benzrath, Wieland Speck and Manfred Salzgeber 1984

Together Again

“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 program 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 off attention, and we got it!

The other reason: to create a hub for global queer film people, and to celebrate together with the Berlin audience the tremendous effort that queer filmmaking represents. We began to conquer famous Berlin locations that were not affiliated with queerness, to queer them up: from Metropol to Tempelhof Airport, from House of World Cultures to Volksbühne – were we are now. Passing many tiresome and glorious steps from then to 2025, 40 years later we can state, yes, much has changed for the better, in many places of the world - and yet we learn that there is no such thing as a safe space. Understanding this, the good old virtue of solidarity shall be our guiding star! It led us through much darker decades, and we will need it now to resist a turning tide that wants to rid us of our achievements – we shall not budge.”
Wieland Speck (2025), Wieland Speck began working in Panorama as early as 1982 as Manfred Salzgeber’s assistant, and from 1992 to 2017 he went on to head the section.

The TEDDY AWARDS

The 40th TEDDY AWARD Ceremony will be held on Friday, February 20, at 8.30 pm in the Volksbühne Berlin. Tickets can be purchased via the TEDDY AWARD website.

TEDDY 40-Programme with full schedule