How this year's Berlinale is bursting open the gender binary
Adele.Kaptan’s performance in the surprisingly comedic drama ‘Rabiye Kumaz vs George W. Bush’ is based on the real experiences of a German-Turkish mother trying to get her son out of prison in Guantanamo Bay during the peak of the US’ “war on terror” campaign.“I think it’s a good thing we don’t have the gender question anymore,” Kaptan told Euronews Culture after she collected her award.“However, I was waiting for the second award and still thinking, ‘isn’t there a male coming along now?’ It’s just a crazy feeling to win.”The award for 'Best Supporting Performance’ was won this year by Indonesian actress Laura Basuki, in ‘Before, Now and Then’ by Kamila Andini.With just one of each acting award now available at the Berlinale, was it a good idea in an industry where prizes are vitally important for an independent film to find a paying audience?“You wish you could give out more performance awards because there were so many wonderful performances,” says Gladiator actress Connie Nielsen, an international jury member at this year’s festival.“But I also really respect the fact you are getting Best Performance regardless of gender, it’s wonderful to get away from gender but it does cut down on the amount of awards [...] I wish the Berlinale had a ‘Best Ensemble’ performance award.
The Screen Actors Guild awards and the European Film Awards have that category.”Actor and producer Sara Fazilat, who recently made her first feature film, Nico, was chosen as one of this year’s German Films Face to Face campaign to promote its talent globally.Since 2020, she has been on the board of Pro Quote films, which promotes equality for all genders in the film industry.“It’s definitely a step in the right direction,” she says. “But it’s going.
