Berlinale 2025: Romanian director Radu Jude wins second Silver Bear with Kontinental '25

Romanian director Radu Jude has won the Silver Bear for Best Screenplay for Kontinental '25 at this year's Berlin International Film Festival/ Berlinale.

Kontinental '25 is Jude’s third film awarded in Berlinale’s main competition, after Aferim!, which earned him the Silver Bear for Best Director in 2015, and Babardeală cu bucluc sau porno balamuc/ Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn, for which he took home the Golden Bear in 2021.

The film, a mix of drama and comedy, follows bailiff Orsolya as she makes various attempts to address her feelings of guilt following the suicide of a homeless man she evicted from his shelter.

Shot on an iPhone and minimal equipment, it has been described as partly an homage to Roberto Rossellini’s Europa ’51.

The cast includes Eszter Tompa, Gabriel Spahiu, Adonis Tanța, Șerban Pavlu, Oana Mardare, Annamária Biluska, Adrian Sitaru, Marius Damian, Nicodim Ungureanu, Ilinca Manolache, and Dan Ursu.

The film is produced by Saga Film in co-production with RT Features (Brazil), Bord Cadre Films (Switzerland), Sovereign Films (UK), and Paul Thiltges Distributions (Luxembourg).

It is expected to open in local cinemas this spring.

The full list of awards granted at this year's Berlinale is available here.

Jude won the CICAE Art Cinema award at the 2009 Berlinale for his debut feature film, Cea mai fericită fată din lume/ The Happiest Girl in the World. His 2012 feature Toată lumea din familia noastră/ Everybody in Our Family premiered in Berlinale’s Forum section.

His 2016 Inimi cicatrizate/ Scarred Hearts received two awards at the Locarno International Film Festival and brought him the best director award at the Mar del Plata Film Festival. Jude's 2018 Îmi este indiferent dacă în istorie vom intra ca barbari/ I Do Not Care If We Go Down in History as Barbarians received the Crystal Globe Award at the 53rd edition of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival - the first Romanian feature to receive the distinction of the Czech film event.

(Photo: Kontinental 25 Facebook Page)