Judges at the Berlin Film Festival announced Friday that the satirical movie "Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn" by Romanian director Radu Jude has been awarded this year's top prize, saying it has the "rare and essential quality of a lasting art work."
The film about a teacher facing scrutiny over a sex tape "captures on screen the very content and essence, the mind and body, the values and the raw flesh of our present moment in time," the Berlinale jury said as it awarded the film its Golden Bear.
The Silver Bear for best leading performance went to German actress Maren Eggert who plays a scientist exploring life and longing with a handsome humanoid robot in "I'm Your Man."
"Her presence made us curious. Her charm made us empathic. And her palette of performing qualities allowed us to feel, laugh and ask questions," the jury said in a statement.
It is the first time that the Berlin Film Festival has awarded a single award for best acting regardless of gender.
Denes Nagy of Hungary received the award for best director for his debut "Natural Light," following a Hungarian unit hunting partisans in the Soviet Union during World War II.
The jury said Nagy showed "masterful control of every aspect of the craft of filmmaking, a narration that transcends its historical context."
"A portrait of war in which the observant gaze of the director reminds us again of the need to choose between passivity and taking individual responsibility," the judges said.
The festival was staged online this year due to the pandemic, but a public event and a physical awards ceremony are planned for June.
Avid completes acquisition of Wolftech
Avid®, known for software solutions for professional media production, has completed the acquisition of Wolftech Broadcast Solutions, a leader in cloud-based multiplatform news planning, production and publishing solutions.
The acquisition enables Avid to combine its digital-first, end-to-end media solution with Wolftech’s expertise in story-centric workflow management. News organizations will be able to increase efficiency and accelerate story delivery through enhanced remote collaboration and multiplatform amplification.
Avid CEO Wellford Dillard stated, “Wolftech is unquestionably on the leading edge of where the industry is going, and this acquisition demonstrates Avid’s commitment to transform news, sports, and live production workflows. We are delighted to welcome Wolftech into the Avid family.”
Wolftech CEO Arne Berven added, “We were focused on finding a partner that could accelerate the adoption of our platform globally. We explored a number of possibilities, but when we talked to Avid, we knew it was the right match.”
The closing of the acquisition follows Avid’s announcement on October 7 that the company had entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Wolftech.
With this acquisition, Avid deepens the integration between the two toolsets while continuing to embrace an open approach in partnering with a wide range of media production tools and newsroom systems. Existing Wolftech customers will benefit from Avid’s global scale for customer support and professional services.
Ian Axton, head of production operations for ITV News, said, “As a customer of both Avid and Wolftech we’re excited about the benefits this acquisition will bring to our users and our business. Wolftech has transformed... Read More