Berlinale 2023 Awards: the French doc "Sur l'Adamant" wins the Golden Bear

The 73rd Berlin Film Festival (also known locally as the Berlinale) wrapped up its 2023 run after two weeks of screenings, with a grand ceremony again in Berlin on Saturday evening, announcing the winner of the Bear d 'or (Goldener Bär) for Best Film. This year's top prize went to a French documentary titled Sur l'Adamant (or Sur l'Adamant), about a mental health facility located in a boat on the Seine in Paris. The film is directed by a 72-year-old French filmmaker named Nicolas Philibert, who won his first-ever Golden Bear. It's an interesting choice, like when the doc Fuocoammare (Fire at Sea) won in 2016. Again, this looks like a political choice, not a artistic victory. The festival as a whole this year wasn't exactly exciting, with a lot of bad movies and a few good ones. I was expecting Celine Song's Past Lives to win after it premiered at Sundance, and Petzold's latest film Afire is also pretty good. The rest of the rewards are rather lackluster, but not surprising for this festival. Read on for the full list of Berlinale 2023 winners below.

Here are the best awards from the 73rd Berlin Film Festival. For the full list, including the shorts, visit .

Golden Bear for Best FilmSur l'Adamant (Sur l'Adamant), directed by Nicolas Philibert

Grand Jury Prize Silver BearRoter Himmel (Afire), directed by Christian Petzold

Silver Bear Jury PrizeMal Viver (Bad Living), directed by João Canijo

Silver Bear for Best DirectorPhilippe Garrel for directing Le Grand Chariot (The Plow)

Silver Bear for Best Principal PerformanceSofía Otero in 20,000 Especies de Abejas (20,000 Species of Bees), by Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren

Silver Bear for Best Supporting Actor Thea Ehre in Bi ans Ende der Nacht (Until the End of the Night), directed by Christoph Hochhäusler

Silver Bear for Best ScreenplayAngela Schanelec for Music, also directed by Angela Schanelec

Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic ContributionHélène Louvart for the photography of Disco Boy, directed by Giacomo Abbruzzese

Panorama Audience AwardsSira, directed by Apolline TraoréKokomo City, directed by D. Smith

The main international jury of the 73rd Berlin Film Festival included Kristen Stewart (as president), Golshifteh Farahani, Valeska Grisebach, Radu Jude, Francine Maisler, Carla Simón, as well as Hong Kong filmmaker Johnnie To. Congratulations to all the winners ! Again, another unforgettable year of awards here. I've been covering this festival for ten years, and while I hoped they'd make some good choices in 2023, they've once again settled on a handful of weird choices. These are obviously political choices, not necessarily based on quality, but on some sense of "it should win because it's about this or that". I was really disappointed with On the Adamant, it lacks storytelling, it lacks energy, it doesn't stand out at all, another generic observational doc. Why go with that on past lives…? Even Petzold's Afire is a better choice. Or maybe Totem, the Mexican drama about a family would have been a refreshing golden bear. But no. I don't know why it keeps happening with the Berlinale… something about the jury and the awards always seems wrong. Even if there are some good films in competition, they never win much. On the way to the next festival.

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