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Its director Nicolas Philibert said he was
deeply touched by the jury's decision to award the Berlinale's
top prize to a documentary rather than a work of fiction.
"That documentary can be considered cinema in its own right
touches me deeply," he said. "For 40 years I have always fought
for it to be seen as much."
Shot over three years, the film follows life at a daycare centre
aboard The Adamant, a barge moored on the right bank of the
Seine, where patients and carers interact in ways that break
with what Philibert sees as the dehumanisation of psychiatry.
"Patients in psychiatry are always stigmatised ... and always
considered through the prism of violence and I wanted to reverse
the cliche and show how human they are," he said on the red
carpet after his film won.
"I hope it will help to awake the consciousness of society."
The festival's Silver Bear for best leading actor went to Sofia
Otero, who plays an eight-year-old transgender child in "20,000
Species of Bees".
"It is rare to see someone convey so many emotions but remain
simple and shattering," said jury president Kristen Stewart.
"Especially in performances given to us by a child."
(Reporting by Thomas Escritt; Writing by Miranda Murray; Editing
by Alexander Smith)
(Photo: Nicolas Philibert poses for a photo with the Golden Bear
for Best Film for "On the Adamant" at the 73rd Berlinale
International Film Festival in Berlin, Germany, February 25,
2023. Jorg Carstensen/Pool via REUTERS)
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