US director Ira Sachs received the Teddy Award on Friday evening for his film "Keep the Lights on". The film prize, the only one of its kind in the world, was awarded for the 26th time at the Berlin Film Festival.
Over the course of a decade, filmmaker Ira Sachs followed the passionate relationships of two gay men in New York, which were also characterised by conflicting expectations, drugs and other addictions. The international jury selected "Keep the Light on" as the best queer feature film at the 2012 Berlin Film Festival.
During the gala in the departure lounge at Tempelhof Airport, "Loxoro" by Claudia Llosa was also honoured as best short film and "Jaurès" by French director Vincent Dieutre was awarded the Special Jury Prize. The readers of the Berlin gay and lesbian city magazine "Siegessäule", on the other hand, voted the Serbian-Bosnian feature film "Parada", a garish satire about the riots at Gay Pride 2010 in Belgrade, as their favourite.
Call Me Kuchu" by filmmakers Katherine Fairfax Wright and Malika Zouhali-Worrall follows the brutal murder of Ugandan gay activist David Kato in 2011 and the political, Christian-religious and media preparations for the crime. The film won the Teddy Award for best documentary film.
In their acceptance speech, the directors reminded the audience that the LGBT community in Uganda needs international support more than ever since another motion for an anti-gay law was tabled in parliament last week. Such a law would not only make HIV prevention impossible in the African country, but also threaten any gay and lesbian life with a prison sentence.
Arte will be showing a 95-minute compilation of the Teddy Awad Gala today, 18 February at 11.25 pm, including performances by Peaches, Stereo Total and Marianne Rosenberg. The award ceremony will also be available online after the TV broadcast: www.teddyaward.tv
(sho)
