Berlinale Camera

Carlo Chatrian, Edgar Reitz

At the 74th Berlin International Film Festival, the German director and author Edgar Reitz was honoured with the Berlinale Camera. It was awarded on February 22 in the Haus der Berliner Festspiele. The world premiere of Edgar Reitz’s latest work, Filmstunde_23, was screened after the award ceremony as part of Berlinale Special.

Edgar Reitz has received numerous awards, including the German Film Award several times, a Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival, the Luchino Visconti Prize at the Italian David di Donatello Film Awards, as well as a BAFTA Television Award and several Grimme Awards. His filmography comprises more than 50 works – including feature films, documentaries, experimental films and works for TV. In addition to directing, he is also a producer and an author. Among other things, he has published many books and texts on film theory and aesthetics. His autobiography “Filmzeit, Lebenszeit. Erinnerungen” was published in 2022.

Edgar Reitz began his cinematic work as early as the mid-1950s. He was one of those who prepared and signed the Oberhausen Manifesto, which called for a “new German film” at Short Film Festival Oberhausen in 1962, following the motto “Papa's cinema is dead”. This marked the birth of the German auteur film. In 1967, Edgar Reitz’s feature film debut Mahlzeiten premiered at the Venice Film Festival and received an award as Best First Film. The Berlinale showed the film in the 2002 Retrospective. His widely-known works include Cardillac (1968/69), Geschichten vom Kübelkind (1969/71), which screened in the Berlinale Forum in 1971, Die Reise nach Wien (1973), In Gefahr und größter Not bringt der Mittelweg den Tod (1974), Stunde Null (1976/77), Der Schneider von Ulm (1978) and the world-famous Heimat trilogy (1984-2004), which was shown in cinemas, at festivals and on television. This feature film cycle is seen as a milestone in cinematic history, revealing how key events in recent German history are reflected in the lives of individuals. His cinema epic Die andere Heimat - Chronik einer Sehnsucht (Home from Home: Chronicle of a Vision, 2011-2013) followed on from the trilogy; it was awarded Best Film at the German Film Awards in 2014. His most recent work, Filmstunde_23, was co-directed with Jörg Adolph.

Since 1986, the Berlinale has awarded the Berlinale Camera to honour personalities and institutions who have made a special contribution to filmmaking and with whom the festival feels closely connected. In this manner, the Berlinale expresses its appreciation towards those who have become friends and supporters of the festival.

The Trophy

The Berlinale Camera has been awarded since 1986. Until 2003, it was donated by Berlin-based jeweller David Goldberg. From 2004 through 2013, Georg Hornemann Objects, a Dusseldorf-based atelier, sponsored the trophy, which goldsmith Hornemann redesigned for the Berlinale in 2008: Modelled on a real camera, the Berlinale Camera now has 128 finely crafted components. Many of these silver and titanium parts, such as the swivel head and tripod, are movable.