Polanski wins Director, Honey Wins Pic at Berlin

The Turkish film, Bal (Honey), was the surprise winner of the coveted Golden Bear for best picture at the festival.

Directed by Semih Kaplanoglu, it tells the story of a six-year-old boy who ventures into the woods to find his missing father, a beekeeper.

The runner-up prize was awarded to the Romanian entry, Eu Cand Vreau Sa Fluier, Fluier (If I Want To Whistle, I Whistle), a tough prison drama about a teenager who escapes from jail to stop his mother taking his brother away to Italy.

Appeal

The Ghost Writer, which is about a writer hired to complete the memoirs of a former British prime minister, had its premiere at Berlin.

Accepting the best director prize on Saturday, Sarde said: “I am sure Roman will be very happy.”

“However, when I was lamenting with him that he cannot be with us, he said to me, ‘even if I could, I wouldn’t because the last time I went to a festival to get a prize, I ended up in jail.'”