A likely unexpected group was on the receiving end of Tilda Swinton’s Golden Bear for Lifetime Achievement acceptance speech at Thursday night’s Berlin Film Festival opening ceremony, as the actress took to the stage to call out “war criminals, “state-perpetrated and internationally enabled mass murder,” and “greed-addicted governments.”
In her speech (via Variety), Swinton lauded the festival as “a borderless realm and with no policy of exclusion, persecution, or deportation.” She then acknowledged the rise of “entitled domination and the astonishing savagery of spite, state-perpetrated and internationally enabled mass murder… unacceptable to human society,” though she didn’t go into specifics or name current conflicts.
She continued, “These are facts. They need to be faced. So for the sake of clarity, let’s name it. The inhumane is being perpetrated on our watch. I’m here to name it without hesitation or doubt in my mind and to lend my unwavering solidarity to all those who recognize the unacceptable complacency of our greed-addicted governments who make nice with planet-wreckers and war criminals, wherever they come from.”
Swinton did also take time to further laud the festival, where she has appeared in a staggering 26 films in the festival’s selection, including Silver Bear winner “Caravaggio,” “The Beach” (2000), “Derek” (2008), “Julia” (2008), “The Garden” (1991), and “Last and First Men” (2020). She also served as jury president in 2009.
“Here’s one of the best things that can happen to young person curious about the world and how to live a life in it,” she said to the festival crowd (via THR). “They can find themselves here at the Berlinale. When I first came to this festival, I was 25 and looking for my life, looking for the world and signs of human life there, how I might take my place among it, on the hunt for amazement, for solidarity and connection, and I can say I found it all right here in one fell swoop.”
When Jury President Todd Haynes who, earlier in the day, used some of his time at the festival’s opening press conference to worry and wonder how filmmakers will fare under the Trump administration, took the stage after Swinton, the filmmaker praised Swinton’s speech.
The 75th Berlinale runs from February 13 to February 23, with the European Film Market also being held there during this time, from February 13 to February 19. Haynes leads a jury comprised of Nabil Ayouch, Fan Bingbing, Maria Schrader, Bina Daigeler, Rodrigo Moreno, and Amy Nicholson.
Additional reporting by Ryan Lattanzio.
