Romanian drama wins Berlin's top award The highlight of the awards ceremony at the Berlin Film Festival was the presentation of the Golden Bear for best picture. It was won by Romanian drama "Child's Pose" which tells the story of a domineering mother who uses her social position to try and save her son from jail. Calin Peter Netzer the film's director explained the seeds of the film. "The idea for this movie came from discussions I had with my screenplay writer about the relationships we had with our mothers, that's where it started and then we added a lot of fiction," he said. The award
for best actor was the surprise of the ceremony with amateur Nazif Mujic the winner. The Bosnian Roma played himself in the film, "An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker". He had to be persuaded to take the part about his own experiences on the fringes of society. "This award is not only a message for Bosnia it's also a message for all Roma people around the world because what happened to us, what you see in the movie shouldn't happen to anybody, that's why we did the movie," he said. A sure-footed performance in the film "Gloria" won Chilean actress Paulina Garcia best actress. Best director at the 63rd film festival went to American filmmaker David Gordon Green for his movie "Prince Avalanche". Our correspondent in Berlin Wolfgang Spindler says: "It's the first time that a Romanian film has won a Golden Bear. After the international successes of Cristian Mungiu it's more proof that movies with strong stories from Romania convince the jury at international festivals.
