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Fresh from The Fabelmans having kicked off the Cairo International Film Festival this month, American filmmaker Steven Spielberg will be honored in Berlin at the upcoming festival. His latest film will be screened at the Award Ceremony inside the Berlinale Palast and Spielberg with receive the Honorary Golden Bear, with past recipients having spanned from Hollywood royalty, like James Stewart, Dustin Hoffman, Billy Wilder and Gregory Peck, to world cinema auteurs like Andrzej Wajda, Francesco Rosi, Ken Loach, Wim Wenders and megastars like Isabelle Huppert (last year's honoree), Hanna Schygulla, Meryl Streep and Claudia Cardinale.
The recipient of multiple Academy Awards, Spielberg is one of the world's most renowned filmmakers. His collective oeuvre, consisting of over 100 films and series, is unique in the history of international cinema of the past 60 years for its immense variety.
Among the honors already bestowed upon the prolific filmmaker, Spielberg has been nominated for an Academy Award a total of 19 times throughout his career –- to date he has taken home an Oscar statuette on three occasions. He is considered the most successful filmmaker of all time. His career has been studded with awards, including numerous Golden Globes and Emmys for his filmmaking, as well as a host of honors for his commitment to social causes. For instance, in 1998 he was awarded the Grand Cross with Star of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany in recognition of his film Schindler’s List and his Shoah Foundation. In 2001, Queen Elizabeth II appointed him Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE). In 2015, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from sitting US President Barack Obama.
Carlo Chatrian and Mariette Rissenbeek, the directing duo of the Berlinale, said in a joint statement: “With an incredible career, Steven Spielberg has not only enchanted generations of viewers all over the world, but has also given a new meaning to the 'cinema' as the factory of dreams. Be it in the everlasting magic world of teenagers or in the reality that history has carved forever, his movies take us to a different level, where the big screen becomes the adequate surface for our emotions to be fulfilled. If Berlinale 2023 represents a new beginning we couldn’t find a better start than the one offered by Spielberg’s great work."
In The Fabelmans, an autobiographical work, the director takes a very personal look back at his childhood years. Universal Pictures Germany will release the film in German theatres in March 2023.
The Homage exact titles and the date of the Award Ceremony are yet to be announced. The Berlinale will run from the 16th to the 26th of February, 2023 and for more info, check out their website.
Photo courtesy of the Berlinale, used with permission.
