Lyrical Muse

The 76th Berlinale awards (2026) closed on Saturday night with applause, protest and a palpable sense of urgency. What began as a tense, politically loaded festival ended much the same way — with cinema and conviction sharing the same stage.

At the centre of it all stood Ilker Çatak, whose searing drama Yellow Letters claimed the Golden Bear. The win marks a significant milestone for the German-Turkish filmmaker, whose previous feature, The Teachers’ Lounge, earned international acclaim and an Oscar nomination. With Yellow Letters, Çatak turns his gaze toward authoritarianism, and its intimate, devastating cost.

The ceremony itself was anything but routine. Speeches veered into strong political territory, echoing debates that had simmered throughout the festival’s run. From the red carpet to the podium, this year’s Berlinale reaffirmed its identity as not merely a film festival, but a cultural arena where art and geopolitics collide.

Elsewhere on the winners’ slate, Sandra Hüller took the Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance for her role in Rose, while filmmaker Grant Gee was awarded Best Director for Everybody Digs Bill Evans. Lance Hammer’s Queen at Sea secured the Silver Bear Jury Prize, with acting honours going to Anna Calder-Marshall and Tom Courtenay in supporting performance categories — a line-up that reflected both arthouse gravitas and international range.

Scroll down for the full list of winners of Berlinale 2026.

Prizes of the International Jury

Golden Bear for Best Film: “Yellow Letters,” İlker Çatak

Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize: “Salvation,” Emin Alper

Silver Bear Jury Prize: “Queen at Sea,” Lance Hammer

Silver Bear for Best Director: “Everybody Digs Bill Evans,” Grant Gee

Silver Bear for Best Lead Performance: “Rose,” Sandra Hüller

Silver Bear for Best Supporting Performance: “Queen at Sea,” Anna Calder-Marshall and Tom Courtenay

Silver Bear for Best Screenplay: “Nina Roza,” Geneviève Dulude-De Celles

Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution: “Yo (Love is a Rebellious Bird),” Anna Fitch and Banker White

Perspectives

GWFF Best First Feature Award: “Chronicles From the Siege,” Abdallah Alkhatib

Special Mention (Coup de Coeur): “Forest High,” Manon Coubia

Berlinale Documentary Award

Best Documentary: “If Pigeons Turned to Gold,” Pepa Lubojacki

Special Mentions: “Tutu,” Sam Pollard; “Sometimes I Imagine Them All at a Party,” Daniela Magnani Hüller

Short Film Competition

Golden Bear for Best Short Film: “Someday a Child,” Marie-Rose Osta (Lebanon)

Silver Bear for Best Short Film: “A Woman’s Place is Everywhere,” Fanny Texier (U.S.)

Berlinale Shorts Filmmaker Award: “Kleptomania,” Jingkai Qu (China)

Previously Announced Awards:

Panorama Audience Awards

Audience Award (Fiction): “Prosecution,” Faraz Sharia

First Runner-up: “Four Minus Three,” Adrian Goiginger

Second Runner-up: “Mouse,” Kelly O’Sullivan and Alex Thompson

Audience Award (Documentary): “Traces,” Alisa Kovalenko and Marysia Nikitiuk

First Runner-up: “The Other Side of the Sun,” Tawfik Sabouni

Second Runner-up: “Bucks Harbor,” Pete Muller

Generation Competition (International Jury)

Grand Prix for the Best Film in Generation Kplus: “Gugu’s World,” Allan Deberton

Special Mention: “Atlas of the Universe,” Paul Negoescu

Special Prize for the Best Short Film in Generation Kplus: “Spi,” Navroz Shaban

Special Mention: “Under the Wave off Little Dragon,” Luo Jian

Grand Prix for the Best Film in Generation 14plus: “Sad Girlz,” Fernanda Tovar

Special Mention: “Matapanki,” Diego Mapache Fuentes

Special Prize for the Best Short Film in Generation 14plus: “The Thread,” Fenn O’Meally

Special Mention: “Memories of a Window,” Mehraneh Salimian and Amin Pakparvar

Generation Competition (Youth Jury)

Crystal Bear for the Best Film in Generation Kplus: “Gugu’s World,” Allan Deberton

Special Mention: “Not a Hero,” Rima Das

Crystal Bear for the Best Short Film in Generation Kplus: “Whale 52 – Suite for Man, Boy, and Whale,” Daniel Neiden

Special Mention: “Under the Wave off Little Dragon,” Luo Jian

Crystal Bear for the Best Film in Generation 14plus: “Sad Girlz,” Fernanda Tovar

Special Mention: “A Family,” Mees Peijnenburg

Crystal Bear for the Best Short Film in Generation 14plus: ”Memories of a Window,” Mehraneh Salimian and Amin Pakparvar

Special Mention: ”Nobody Knows the World,” Roddy Dextre

Teddy Awards

Best Feature Film: “Ivan & Hadoum,” Ian de la Rosa

Best Documentary: “Barbara Forever,” Brydie O’Connor

Best Short Film: “Taxi Moto,” Gaël Kamilindi

Jury Award: “Trial of Hein,” Kai Stänicke

Special Award: Céline Sciamma

Fipresci Awards

Competition: “Soumsoum, the Night of the Stars,” Mahamat-Saleh Haroun 

Perspectives: “Animol,” Ashley Walters

Panorama: “Narciso,” Marcelo Martinessi

Forum: “AnyMart,” Yusuke Iwasaki 

Ecumenical Jury Awards

Competition: “Flies,” Fernando Eimbcke

Panorama: “Bucks Harbor,” Pete Muller

Forum: “River Dreams,“ Kristina Mikhailova

Label Europa Cinemas Award

“Four Minus Three,” Adrian Goiginger

Prize of the Guild of German Arthouse Cinemas

“Yellow Letters,” İlker Çatak

Special Mention: “The Loneliest Man in Town,” Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel

Readers’ Juries

Berliner Morgenpost Readers’ Award: “Flies,” Fernando Eimbcke

Tagesspiegel Readers’ Award: “I Built a Rocket Imagining Your Arrival,” Janaína Marques

Caligari Film Prize

“If Pigeons Turned to Gold,” Pepa Lubojacki

Peace Film Prize

“Tutu,” Sam Pollard

Amnesty International Film Awards

“What Will I Become?,” Lexie Bean and Logan Rozos

Heiner Carow Prize

“Prosecution,” Faraz Shariat

Prize Ag Kino – Gilde – Cinema Vision 14PLUS

“What Will I Become?,” Lexie Bean and Logan Rozos

Special Mention: ”Sunny Dancer,” George Jaques

C.I.C.A.E. Art Cinema Award

“Prosecution,” Faraz Shariat 

“On Our Own,” Tudor Cristian Jurgiu 

What did you think of this year’s Berlinale winners, and the politics that shaped the night? Join the conversation on X. and visit Lyrical Muse for more film & television news.