Norwegian coming of age film Drømmer wins top prize at Berlinale
The coming of age film "Drømmer," or Dreams, by Norwegian director Dag Johan Haugerud has won the Golden Bear, the top prize of the Berlin International Film Festival, known as the Berlinale, the festival has announced.
The feature film is about a young woman who falls in love with her teacher, but the feelings of 17-year-old Johanne, played by Ella Øverbye, are not reciprocated.
Motivated by her mother and grandmother, she turns her fantasies and heartbreak into a novel. "Drømmer" is the third part of a trilogy by Haugerud, which is about love and sexuality.
Other films awarded prizes
The Jury Grand Prix went to "O último azul" ("The Blue Trail") by Brazilian director Gabriel Mascaro.
The Jury Prize was awarded to "El mensaje" ("The Message") by Argentinian director Iván Fund. The Chinese filmmaker Huo Meng was honoured for best direction with his social panorama "Sheng xi zhi di" ("Living the Land").
The Silver Bear for best acting performance in a leading role went to Australian Rose Byrne for "If I Had Legs I'd Kick You." Irish actor Andrew Scott was honoured for his supporting role in the chamber play "Blue Moon." He gave a video message to thank the audience.
Film about Hamas hostage wins best documentary
Radu Jude, who won the Golden Bear in 2021, received a Silver Bear for the script of "Kontinental 25.' The creative ensemble of "La Tour de Glace" ("The Ice Tower") was honoured for outstanding artistic achievement.
The award for best documentary film went to "Holding Liat" by Brandon Kramer, which tells the story of former Hamas hostage Liat Beinin Atzili.
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The cult of Greta proves that the loony Left has gone mainstream
It was a sight so uncannily ghoulish I felt repelled and fascinated in equal measure. I was watching the coverage of Greta Thunberg and a band of other mouth-frothing young Palestine activists board the Madleen, a yacht that left from the Sicilian port of Catania last weekend, sailing, to our shame, under a British flag (though it is the Palestinian flag that blows aggressively from the prow). The Madleen is heading for Gaza with 'aid'. Say hello to the 'freedom flotilla' on which Swedish climate-turned-Palestine activist Thunberg is joined by the Brazilian activist Thiago Avila, the Irish Game of Thrones actor Liam Cunningham, and Rima Hassan, a French-Palestinian European Parliament member. I used to think nautical adventures were romantic, full of derring-do: this one makes me feel more vomitous than even the highest of seas. The website for the Madleen's voyage uses exactly the same tone and tactics as Thunberg's horrible climate stunts did: extreme, unbending, threatening, self-loving and bratty all at once. 'We sail until Palestine is free' runs the banner. The site explains: 'Since 8 October 2023, Israel has escalated its genocidal campaign against Palestinians in Gaza in an attempt to destroy all forms of life. The Israeli military has murdered tens of thousands of people, if not hundreds of thousands.' You almost have to laugh. It's not clear whether any of these activists, drunk on their love of themselves, are even aware of October 7 or Hamas. And 'all forms of life'? Are they saying Israelis murder plants and pets too? At any rate, Thunberg and co do not mean freedom from Hamas, against whom thousands of brave Gazans have been protesting. They mean from Israel. Not just Israeli military action but, in accordance with the rest of their playbook of slogans, from the proximity of the Jewish state full stop. Anti-Israel chanting, stickering, posturing and boycotting has been a mainstay of Lefty life for as long as I've been alive. But since October 7, a new normal has spread and spread; a kind of slow-release pogrom, if you will. The loony Left, once possibly to ignore, is now everywhere, and everything. This flotilla is a prime example. Instead of being ignored as wacky trouble-making, it is instead taken seriously, hailed as heroic by millions who should know better. The Palestine solidarity mob peddles lies rooted in the anti-Semitic blood libel of Jewish bloodlust for innocents. It claims, without a single piece of self-awareness or verification, that Israeli forces have 'murdered' hundreds of thousands of Palestinians. For these folks, context is colonialism, racism, murder – of a type that only Israel is capable of – so there is no understanding or desire to understand the cause of anything that has happened, or what has actually been going on with aid and food. In fact, flotilla wisdom is riddled with so many evil falsehoods there is no space to refute even half of them here. Now that the loonies have taken over, the flotilla is just an emblem of the new normal rather than considered fringe or extreme, or a curiosity. This is because the boundary between the wackiness of grassroots activism and the sobriety of government and the prestige mainstream media – both of which are expected to at least look into facts, verify claims and consider bias – has evaporated. Raw anti-Israel feeling has simply taken over. Some of it is done terribly respectably. A study by Andrew Fox of the Henry Jackson Society found that 98 per cent of the world's media, including The New York Times and CNN, simply repeated Hamas's casualty figures. Meanwhile, the goings-on of the likes of the Madleen is legitimised by statements made by our government. When Keir Starmer and David Lammy, the Foreign Secretary, publicly call into question the motives of Israel and Gaza, insult the valiant Jewish State as 'appalling' and 'monstrous', threaten to halt trade with its ally, and act like Israel is exactly what Thunberg and friends say it is, then what's the difference? We might as well all be sailing on that flotilla. Thunberg's power seemed likely to fade away; nobody so niche, I used to comfort myself, can stay at the forefront for long. Times change, trends move on. But the reality is even grimmer than I anticipated. All the climate loonies have just migrated to the cause of Palestine. Just Stop Oil has laid down arms to focus on 'Palestine', which it calls the next all-consuming cause for the world, as urgent as saving the planet from global warming. A thousand new grassroots, student and cultural campaign groups and coalitions have sprouted up to wage war on Israel and celebrate terrorists. Fossil Free Books led debilitating boycotts of British literary festivals last year, deviously and also perplexingly linking sponsors' tangential investments in fossil fuels with support for alleged Israeli criminality. Youth Demand, another group of anti-Israel fanatics, does the same. Its ghastly red website screams: 'The government is engaging in absolute evil. They are enabling genocide in Palestine by sending money and arms to Israel. They are contributing to the murder of billions to keep the fossil fuel profits flowing' and urges people to 'join the resistance'. It's barking mad, nightmarish conspiratorial nonsense. And so, under the frenzy of anti-Israel passion, bolstered by years of woke and trans madness, our society has lost decorum, professional standards, and, it often feels, any sphere at all that remains free of the politics of Israel hatred. Even the hushed plush corridors of Harley Street aren't safe. A Jewish friend texted me: 'Went to see a specialist, hadn't realised I'd get a thorough indoctrination treatment thrown in for free … Palestine badges on lanyards and prominently displayed items wherever you look.' She described the experience as 'chilling' and expressed gratitude her kids weren't there. 'No way I'd dare wear a Star of David there. How twisted is that?' Indeed. As I looked at the pictures she sent through, the menacing black, green and red badges on backpacks demanding freedom for Palestine, I too felt chilled, but only in a way that has become utterly familiar. I live in a mixed area that is, traditionally, also a bastion of the secular Jewish community. 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Since October 7 Britain – and other countries in the West – are starting to feel eerily similar where Israel discourse is concerned. Except unlike the totalitarian regimes of historical fame, we aren't being forced: we're embracing the madness of our own free will, and that is unforgivable. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
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11 hours ago
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Dawn French apologises for ‘Oct 7 attacks' video
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Dawn French ‘dismisses' Oct 7 Hamas attacks
Credit: X/@Dawn_French Dawn French has been accused of dismissing the Oct 7 Hamas attacks in Israel in a new social media video. The British comedian and actress, 67, posted a video of herself to X in which she appears to mimic Israel's supporters amid the military campaign in Gaza. In the video, published by French on the social media platform on Thursday, she says about the conflict in the Middle East: 'Complicated, no, but nuanced. But [the] bottom line is no.' She then goes on to mimic apparent defences of Israel's military campaign in neighbouring Gaza since the Hamas-led massacre in 2023, saying: ''Yeah but you know they did a bad thing to us'... Yeah, but no. ''But we want that land and there's a lot of history…'. No. 'These people are not even people, are they really?' No.' In response to the viral tweet, which has been viewed more than half a million times in the 24 hours since it was published, Tracy-Ann Oberman, the West End star and playwright, branded French's tone as 'mocking'. The Jewish actress, 58, reposted French's video and said: 'I am so saddened by this post. 'This mocking voice 'bad thing' of October 7 that Dawn (who I revere by the way) appears to be mocking involved the most horrific terrorist attack involving rape, sexual violence, burning alive child, mutilation and the taking of civilian hostages.' She added: 'Why would Dawn seem to deny that which has affected so many of us personally in the most painful way possible. 'I can mourn the horrors of the war in Gaza whilst also remembering the horrors of what started it. Is this how most of our industry feels now – Oct 7 was a 'little thing'? NO!' Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza in response to Hamas's massacre on Oct 7 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed by the terror group and 251 others were taken hostage. There are now 56 hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza, at least 20 of whom are believed to be alive. Israel said its expanded offensive in the Strip, named Operation Gideon's Chariot, will increase the chances of returning the missing. The Hamas-run health ministry that operates in Gaza has said that at least 54,000 people have been killed in the territory during the war. Hamas has rejected proposed ceasefire and hostage release deals that do not guarantee a full Israel withdrawal from the Strip and an end to the war. Other responses to French's post include the financier Ben Goldsmith, who has been a strong defender of Israel's response to the Hamas terrorist attacks. He remarked: 'Wow, this is really bad. Who knew.' Elsewhere, comedy writer and self-described 'champion of Jewish rights' Lee Kern wrote: 'What you sneeringly mock as a 'bad thing' included the grieving children I met in hospital whose friends and family had been murdered, kidnapped and raped and who themselves were coming to terms with their own life-altering injuries. 'It also includes the 1,200 people murdered and tortured on October 7th… you proactively broadcast – with misplaced pride – a wicked glee in your mockery and dismissal of Jewish suffering, pain and death.' In a subsequent post following the criticism by Oberman, French clarified that she did not mean to 'support the atrocities of Oct 7th'. Writing on X, she said: 'I do not say 'a little thing'. In NO WAY do I support the atrocities of Oct 7th. Of course not. Appalling. Horrific. 'But starving innocent children is not the answer. NO is the answer to ALL of it, Tracy.' French has been approached for comment. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
