World's most renowned gay film award turns 25 (Feature)

By Ernest Gill Feb 4, 2011, 2:06 GMT

Berlin - The world's most renowned gay film award turns 25 this year, marking a quarter century during which the Teddy Award has advanced from the little brother of the Berlin Film Festival's Golden Bear Award to a prestigious cinematic honour in its own right.

The list of former Teddy Award winners includes many directors whose fledgling debut films first premiered in Berlin - giving them a crack at international fame. Those directors include Pedro Almodovar, Gus Van Sant, Derek Jarman and Werner Schroeter, all of whom have credited the Berlinale as giving them their first big break in filmmaking.

Van Sant was one of the very first Teddy winners for My Private Idaho. Asked if his goal was to become a famous gay filmmaker, van Sant replied simply, 'I want to be a famous filmmaker.'

And the Teddy Award was his first step in that direction.

A central point of the 25th Teddy Award will be the global struggle against homophobia and hate crimes. French artists Pierre et Gilles have created this year's design concept for the Teddy Award's anniversary, themed 1,000 Kisses - Protect Every Kiss.

Stars who have received Teddy Awards include Helmut Berger, Joe Dallesandro (lifetime achievement Teddy), John Hurt and Academy Award winner Tilda Swinton.

Berlin is not just your typical gay film festival like those held in London and San Francisco. Gay-related films are not shown separately in Berlin.

Instead, the Teddy Award is an integral part of the Berlin Film Festival. It is the only gay film award associated with a major A-list film festival.

Every year a unique individual is selected to be honoured with a Special Teddy Award for outstanding artistic lifetime achievement. - whether in the field of film or not.

This year's winner is South African entertainer and HIV/AIDS activist Pieter-Dirk Uys.

He is receiving the lifetime achievement Teddy for his commitment to AIDS education at South African schools and for his on-stage alter ego Evita Bezuidenhout. 'South Africa's most prominent white woman', as Nelson Mandela once referred to her.

The Berlin Film Fest has been a gay-friendly event for decades. As early as 1980 festival director Moritz de Hadeln gave tacit approval to the festival's selection panels to showcase homosexual-theme film-making from around the world.

In the 1980s, the Berlin fest became well-known as the gayest festival outside the English-speaking world. Van Sant's My Private Idaho was screened in Berlin when the director was far from well-known in Hollywood.

When the Cuban gay-theme film Fresa y Chocolate (Strawberry and Chocolate) was screened in Berlin in 1994, it was totally unknown outside of Latin America. The exposure it received in Berlin propelled it to awards around the world and an Oscar nomination as best foreign-language film.

The Berlinale sees itself as a bridge between east and west and also a bridge between Hollywood and independent cinema around the world.

As a result, the venue for this year's gala Teddy Awards presentation ceremonies is highly symbolic - the former Tempelhof Airport terminal - focus of the Berlin Air Lift at the height of the Cold War.

More than 3,000 guests from the cultural, financial and political realms will be on hand for the Teddy Awards gala, which has become one of the glamorous highlights of Berlin's cultural calendar.

The Teddy Award also sets the tone for gay and lesbian film festivals around the world.

Every year, more than 120 gay film festival directors from all parts of the world gather for the programmer's meeting, the world's biggest get-together of gay festival organisers.

Many of the festivals' representatives who take part in the programmers meeting face serious reprisal in their countries for their work. The Teddy Award takes these issues seriously and tries to support and protect these gay film festivals.

For example, thanks to the support of the Teddy Award, a gay and lesbian film festival took place for the first time in St Petersburg last year.

After years of pressure and prohibitions from the Russian authorities during which the film festival could only take place in relative secrecy at the St Petersburg Goethe Institute, the Russian media responded positively when the festival finally came out of the closet.

The Teddy Award also helped to pave the way for film events in Kiev, Jakarta and Sarajevo. The international influence of the Teddy Award helps countries to break social barriers and integrate queer life into their societies.

As part of its 25th anniversary celebrations, the Teddy Award organisers will take part in the founding of the Berlin Queer Academy.

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