Semih Kaplanoglu's Turkish drama Honey, the final installment of an autobiographical trilogy that began with Egg (2007) and Milk (2008), was the unexpected winner of the 2010 Berlin Film Festival's Golden Bear.
Honey was the second Turkish film [not the first as previously reported] to win the Golden Bear. The first one was Metin Erksan's Susuz yaz — as per the IMDb, known variously as Dry Summer, I Had My Brother's Wife, and Reflections — in 1964. Additionally, Fatih Akin's Head-On, a German-Turkish co-production set in Germany, won in 2004.
Set in a mountainous forest, Honey tells the story of a six-year-old boy (Bora Altas) who ventures into the woods after his wild honey-collecting father has gone missing. "The central performance is touching, truthful and overpoweringly charming," wrote Nigel Andrews of the Financial Times. "One of those classic screen turns by a child, up there with The Kid and The Red Balloon."
The Berlin 2010 jury was composed of German filmmaker Werner Herzog, the jury president; Chinese actress Yu Nan; Italian writer-director Francesca Comencini; Spanish producer Jose Maria Morales; Somali-born writer Nuruddin Farah; American Oscar-winning actress Renee Zellweger; and German actress Cornelia Froboess.
According to Screen Daily, festival director Dieter Kosslick remarked that this year's edition of the Berlinale sold more than 300,000 tickets. A record.
Photo: Courtesy of the Berlin Film Festival
Thanks for correction.
Jose,
Thank you. And apologies for the oversight on our part. The author used an AP (or Reuters) report as his source for that. We should have double checked that bit of info. The text will be amended right away.
It's indeed the second time, a Turkish director succeeded to win Golden Bear with a "Turkish Film": Susuz Yaz (1964) Director: Ismail Metin Erksan
Additional info:
Susuz yaz (1964):
Berlin International Film Festival
Year Result Award Category/Recipient(s):
1964 Won Golden Berlin Bear
Metin Erksan