Iranian families drama wins Berlin's Golden Bear prize

A gripping Iranian families drama, "Nader and Simin: A Separation", won the Golden Bear top prize Saturday at the 61st Berlin film festival, which spotlighted the country's embattled directors.

The picture by Asghar Farhadi, telling the story of a crumbling marriage, examines the conflict between strict religious observance and the shifting values of the educated urban elite in Iranian society.

It was the favourite among 16 international contenders to win the coveted prize at the first major European film festival of the year.

Farhadi, who had already won a best director prize for his haunting film "About Elly" at the 2009 Berlinale, paid tribute to banned Iranian director Jafar Panahi in his acceptance speech.

"I would like to take this opportunity to think of the people in my country, the country where I grew up, where I learned history," said Farhadi, who was born in 1972 and has made five feature films.

"This is a great people, a patient people, a good people. I want to think of Jafar Panahi. I really think his problems will soon be solved and I hope he will be standing here next year."

The 11-day event focused on the plight of Iran's film-makers, offering a seat on the jury to Panahi, presenting a retrospective of his work and leaving one chair vacant for him at every competition screening.

However an Iranian court in December handed Panahi a six-year jail sentence and a 20-year film-making ban and though he is free on bail pending an appeal, he is barred from travelling abroad.

The international jury led by Italian-American actress Isabella Rossellini also awarded the Silver Bear prizes for best actor and best actress to the entire ensemble of "Nader and Simin".

Babak Karimi, who played a judge settling a dispute between two families, said: "I'd like to thank the jury ... In the worst situation, it is the job of the artist to do the best job possible."

Berlinale audiences quickly embraced the film in what many observers called an underwhelming year in the competition.

"Just when it seemed impossible for Iranian film-makers to express themselves meaningfully outside the bounds of censorship, Asghar Farhadi's 'Nader and Simin: A Separation' comes along to prove the contrary," Hollywood Reporter critic Deborah Young wrote in a glowing review.

The Silver Bear runner-up Jury Grand Prix went to "The Turin Horse" by Hungarian veteran Bela Tarr, tracing the hardscrabble lives of two peasants and their long-suffering steed.

German film-maker Ulrich Koehler won the Silver Bear for best director for "Sleeping Sickness" about European aid workers in Africa caught between fascination and frustration with their environment and a longing for home.

Koehler spent part of his childhood in Zaire, today's Democratic Republic of Congo, with his aid worker parents.

"I'd like to thank my parents for having given us children such a fear-free and exciting life," he said.

US independent director Joshua Marston and his co-writer Andamion Murataj won the best screenplay Silver Bear for "The Forgiveness of Blood", the story of an Albanian blood feud and its impact on two teenagers caught between ancient practices and modern aspirations.

Marston, whose Colombian drug mule drama "Maria Full of Grace" picked up a Silver Bear in 2004, said his latest film arose from a fascination with that struggle.

"We did a lot of research and had hundreds of conversations with many Albanians about their experiences there," he said.

"I'd like to dedicate this to Albania."