Berlinale 2021: Documentary on teachers wins Audience Award – dpa

BErlene (dpa) – The documentary “Herr Bachmann und seine Klasse” won the Audience Award Berlinale won. The prize was awarded once among all contest entries this year.

Director Maria Speth accompanied a class at the school over an extended period of time for a three-and-a-half hour documentary.

The film had already won the Silver Bear – the jury prize – in March. Now viewers of the summer festival have chosen it as their favourite, as announced by the festival management at the end of the Berlinale on Sunday.

Because of the pandemic, the Berlin Film Festival has been divided this time: in March, the Berlinale offered films online for professionals, and the shows have now been rescheduled to the public. Thousands of people visited the many open-air cinemas in the city.

The audience award in the panorama section, which has been awarded for a long time, goes to “The Last Forest”. Louise Bolognese tells us about the indigenous community and their threatened environment in the Amazon rainforest. The two audience awards are given by Berlinale as well as Radioeins and rbb TV.