Silver Bear for Best Director

Silver Bear for Best Director
Silberner Bär/Beste Regie  (German)
Country	Germany
Presented by	Berlin International Film Festival
First awarded	1956
Currently held by	Claire Denis Both Sides of the Blade (2022)
Official website	www.berlinale.de

The Silver Bear for Best Director (German: Silberner Bär/Bester Regie) is an award presented annually at the Berlin International Film Festival since 1956. It is given for the best achievement in directing and is chosen by the International Jury from the films in the Competition slate at the festival.

At the 6th Berlin International Film Festival held in 1956, Robert Aldrich was the first winner of this award for his work on Autumn Leaves, and Claire Denis is the most recent winner in this category for her work on Both Sides of the Blade at the 72nd Berlin International Film Festival in 2022.

History

The award was first presented in 1956. The prize was not awarded on five occasions (1969, 1971, 1973–74, and 1981). In 1970, no awards were given as the festival was called off mid-way due to the controversy over official selection film, o.k. by Michael Verhoeven, which led to the resignation of the international jury. Mario Monicelli has received the most awards in this category, with three. Satyajit Ray is the only director to win the award in consecutive years, for Mahanagar (1964) and Charulata (1965). One directing team has shared the award: Michael Winterbottom and Mat Whitecross for The Road to Guantánamo (2006). Astrid Henning-Jensen was the first woman to have won the award, for 1979's Winterborn.

Winners

Table key

	Indicates Ex-aequo winners

Year	Director(s)	Film	Original title
1950s
1956 (6th)	Robert Aldrich	Autumn Leaves
1957 (7th)	Mario Monicelli	Fathers and Sons	Padri e figli
1958 (8th)	Tadashi Imai	Jun'ai Monogatari	純愛物語
1959 (9th)	Akira Kurosawa	The Hidden Fortress	隠し砦の三悪人
1960s
1960 (10th)	Jean-Luc Godard	Breathless	À bout de souffle
1961 (11th)	Bernhard Wicki	The Miracle of Father Malachia	Das Wunder des Malachias
1962 (12th)	Francesco Rosi	Salvatore Giuliano
1963 (13th)	Nikos Koundouros	Young Aphrodites	Μικρές Αφροδίτες
1964 (14th)	Satyajit Ray	Mahanagar	মহানগর
1965 (15th)	Satyajit Ray	Charulata	চারুলতা
1966 (16th)	Carlos Saura	The Hunt	La Caza
1967 (17th)	Živojin Pavlović	The Rats Woke Up	Buđenje pacova
1968 (18th)	Carlos Saura	Peppermint Frappé
1969 (19th)	No award given that year
1970s
1970 (20th)	No awards given that year because of the controversy surrounding the participation in the main competition of director Michael Verhoeven's film o.k. that led to the resignation of the international jury before the festival ended
1971 (21st)	No award given that year
1972 (22nd)	Jean-Pierre Blanc	The Old Maid	La Vieille Fille
1973 (23rd)	No award given that year
1974 (24th)	No award given that year
1975 (25th)	Sergei Solovyov	One Hundred Days After Childhood	Сто дней после детства
1976 (26th)	Mario Monicelli	Caro Michele
1977 (27th)	Manuel Gutiérrez Aragón	Black Litter	Camada negra
1978 (28th)	Georgi Djulgerov	Advantage	Авантаж
1979 (29th)	Astrid Henning-Jensen	Winterborn	Vinterbørn
1980s
1980 (30th)	István Szabó	Bizalom
1981 (31st)	No award given that year
1982 (32nd)	Mario Monicelli	Il Marchese del Grillo
1983 (33rd)	Éric Rohmer	Pauline at the Beach	Pauline à la plage
1984 (34th)	Costas Ferris	Rembetiko	Ρεμπέτικο
	Ettore Scola	Le Bal	Ballando ballando
1985 (35th)	Robert Benton	Places in the Heart
1986 (36th)	Giorgi Shengelaya	The Journey of a Young Composer	ახალგაზრდა კომპოზიტორის მოგზაურობა
1987 (37th)	Oliver Stone	Platoon
1988 (38th)	Norman Jewison	Moonstruck
1989 (39th)	Dušan Hanák	I Love, You Love	Ja milujem, ty miluješ
1990s
1990 (40th)	Michael Verhoeven	The Nasty Girl	Das schreckliche Mädchen
1991 (41st)	Jonathan Demme	The Silence of the Lambs
	Ricky Tognazzi	Ultra	Ultrà
1992 (42nd)	Jan Troell	Il Capitano: A Swedish Requiem	Capitano|Il Capitano
1993 (43rd)	Andrew Birkin	The Cement Garden
1994 (44th)	Krzysztof Kieślowski	Three Colours: White	Trois couleurs : Blanc
1995 (45th)	Richard Linklater	Before Sunrise
1996 (46th)	Richard Loncraine	Richard III
	Yim Ho	The Sun Has Ears	太陽有耳
1997 (47th)	Eric Heumann	Port Djema
1998 (48th)	Neil Jordan	The Butcher Boy
1999 (49th)	Stephen Frears	The Hi-Lo Country
2000s
2000 (50th)	Miloš Forman	Man on the Moon
2001 (51st)	Lin Cheng-sheng	Betelnut Beauty	愛你愛我
2002 (52nd)	Otar Iosseliani	Monday Morning	Lundi matin
2003 (53rd)	Patrice Chéreau	Son frère
2004 (54th)	Kim Ki-duk	Samaritan Girl	사마리아
2005 (55th)	Marc Rothemund	Sophie Scholl - The Final Days	Sophie Scholl - Die letzten Tage
2006 (56th)	Michael Winterbottom & Mat Whitecross	The Road to Guantánamo
2007 (57th)	Joseph Cedar	Beaufort	בופור
2008 (58th)	Paul Thomas Anderson	There Will Be Blood
2009 (59th)	Asghar Farhadi	About Elly	درباره الی
2010s
2010 (60th)	Roman Polanski	The Ghost Writer
2011 (61st)	Ulrich Köhler	Sleeping Sickness	Schlafkrankheit
2012 (62nd)	Christian Petzold	Barbara
2013 (63rd)	David Gordon Green	Prince Avalanche
2014 (64th)	Richard Linklater	Boyhood
2015 (65th)	Radu Jude	Aferim!
	Malgorzata Szumowska	Body	Ciało
2016 (66th)	Mia Hansen-Løve	Things to Come	L'Avenir
2017 (67th)	Aki Kaurismäki	The Other Side of Hope	Toivon tuolla puolen
2018 (68th)	Wes Anderson	Isle of Dogs
2019 (69th)	Angela Schanelec	I Was at Home, But	Ich war zuhause, aber
2020s
2020 (70th)	Hong Sang-soo	The Woman Who Ran	도망친 여자
2021 (71st)	Dénes Nagy	Natural Light	Természetes fény
2022 (72nd)	Claire Denis	Both Sides of the Blade	Avec amour et acharnement

Multiple winners

The following individuals received two or more Best Director awards:

Wins	Director	Nationality	Films
3	Mario Monicelli	Italy	Fathers and Sons (1957), Caro Michele (1976), Il Marchese del Grillo (1982)
2	Satyajit Ray	India	Mahanagar (1964), Charulata (1965)
	Carlos Saura	Spain	The Hunt (1966), Peppermint Frappé (1968)
	Richard Linklater	United States	Before Sunrise (1995), Boyhood (2014)

See also

• Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Director
• Silver Lion

External links

• Berlinale website