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Márta Mészáros, Photo: Éva Fábián |
Festival director Dieter Kosslick presented the award and noted that Mészáros was no stranger to the festival, being one of the first Hungarians to participate at the festival and the first female director to win a Golden Bear, for her film Adoption in 1975.
The Berlinale Camera is awarded to a film personality to whom the film festival feels especially attached. The award is a way of expressing thanks and has been given every year since 1986. Previous recipients of the honour include Jodie Foster, Meryl Streep, Daniel Day Lewis and the Greek director Costa Gavra.
In an interview with the Hungarian News Agency's correspondent in Berlin, Mészáros recalled the importance of the Golden Bear for her.
The Berlinale is one of the three most important international film festivals - the others being the Cannes and Venice film festivals - and an award at the festival is something big, she said.
"The prize is just a prize, but the real meaning of it was that, after I received the Golden Bear, Adoption was picked up in 80 countries," Mészáros said. She added that the award broadened the audience for her later films as well.
Asked about the international success of Adoption, Mészáros said "I can't really analyze my own film, still, I think that Adoption and that which followed created a new tone for human relationships, relationships between men and women, the family, the child and love. I believe it was in some way novel."
Mészáros said the Germans had long been interested in her films, releasing not only Adoption, but Diary For My Loved Ones, The Fetus and Nine Months.
"The Germans bought many films. The interesting thing was that West Germany and East Germany both bought many films," she said.
Asked how this latest Berlinale prize affects her plans for the future, Mészáros smiled and said, "I still have plans. With such a prize, there will obviously be possibilities later, maybe it will be easier to find financial backing for my films. That's the kind of thing one thinks of first of all, but I'm happy that there are so many people who are happy for me."
Source: Hungarian News Agency (MTI)
