Berlin – The Berlinale is celebrating 40 years of the Teddy Award, its prize dedicated to queer cinema. Tonight’s ceremony will honor films and filmmakers pushing boundaries within the genre, a milestone marked by a retrospective of works that have shaped the landscape of queer film over four decades.
The award’s origins are rooted in a period of significant cultural and political change. In 1986, the Berlinale established the Teddy Award as the first film prize specifically recognizing LGBTQ+ representation. This pioneering move occurred against a backdrop of limited visibility and, at times, outright hostility towards queer content in mainstream media. Filmmaker Monika Treut, a recipient of the award in 2017, recalled the challenges faced by early queer filmmakers.
Treut’s 1981 film, “Verführung: Die grausame Frau” (Seduced: The Cruel Woman), based on Leopold von Sacher-Masoch’s “Venus in Furs,” sparked controversy upon its premiere at the Berlinale. “We already had problems with the then-Interior Minister, Friedrich Zimmermann, who was responsible for film funding,” Treut explained. “The funding was withdrawn because of the allegedly pornographic screenplay.” The film’s premiere at the Forum section of the Berlinale was met with walkouts and even an attack on festival director Ulrich Gregor, with some critics dismissing it as the worst film ever shown in the program. Despite the initial backlash, the film went on to achieve international acclaim, screening in the US, Australia, England, and Japan.
The Teddy Award, Treut argues, was instrumental in fostering greater acceptance of queer films. “The Berlinale was a pioneer festival,” she said. “Now You’ll see queer film prizes in Venice and Cannes as well.” The award’s establishment signaled a willingness to recognize and celebrate films that had previously been marginalized. According to the Teddy Award website, over 1,000 queer films have been shown in the Berlinale program since 2001, with 225 receiving a Teddy Award.
The nature of queer cinema itself has evolved significantly over the past four decades. Treut noted a broadening of genres and narrative approaches. “We used to have films, even in East Germany, where there was only one queer character, and the style of the film was very mainstream. Now we have many different genres: comedies, dramas, short films, romantic films, and coming-out films. There are now many different approaches to storytelling.”
Still, Treut also cautioned against complacency, pointing to a recent conservative backlash against progressive social movements. “There is a backlash. A different image of women is being promoted, not only in Germany, but also in many endangered democracies, with the claim that women should have more children. There is a conservative movement on the rise that criticizes these alternative lifestyles. I think we need to stand together and be careful and resist the fact that these freedoms are taken away from us again.”
Tonight’s ceremony will not only celebrate current achievements in queer filmmaking but also revisit the award’s history. Treut expressed excitement about reconnecting with colleagues, including Cheryl Dunye, whose film “The Watermelon Woman” will be screened as part of the retrospective, alongside Treut’s own debut film. “It’s great to speak to the makers again and celebrate together,” she said.