Italian Docudrama Wins Top Award at Berlin Film Festival

Posted February 18th, 2012 at 4:35 pm (UTC-5)
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An Italian movie showing inmates of a high-security prison staging Shakespeare's drama “Julius Caesar” has won the top award at the prestigious Berlin film festival.

The documentary “Caesar Must Die'' by directors Paolo Taviani and Vittorio Taviani received the Golden Bear award Saturday in the German capital.

After receiving the award, Vittorio Taviani expressed hope that people who see the documentary will understand that even a prisoner with a terrible sentence is, and remains, a human being.

The brothers, both in their 80s, also thanked the inmates of Rome's Rebibbia prison who are shown in the movie.

The second prize went to Hungarian director Bence Fliegauf for “Just the Wind,'' which depicts the life of a Roma family whose community faces a series of deadly attacks.

Roma people, also known as Gypsies, battle deep prejudice in many European countries.

Danish actor Mikkel Boe Folsgaard received the Silver Bear for best actor in the movie “Royal Affair,'' and the award for the best actress went to Rachel Mwanza for her role as a Congolese child soldier in “War Witch.''

Outside the main competition of the Berlin festival, U.S. actress Meryl Streep was honored for her lifetime achievement and Angelina Jolie for her directorial debut “In the Land of Blood and Honey'' set in wartime Bosnia.