Berlinale 2024: Honorary Golden Bear for Martin Scorsese

“For anyone who considers cinema as the art of shaping a story in such a way that is both completely personal and universal, Martin Scorsese is an unmatched role model. His films have accompanied our history as spectators and human beings, his characters have lived and grown within us, his view of history and mankind has helped us to understand and question who we are and where we come from. Killers of the Flower Moon, his latest film, is one of his greatest achievements. As Scorsese himself so eloquently has said, the film is an ‘offering that acknowledges the extent of the terror the Osage community experienced, and one that might also give some kind of solace’. It is a great pleasure to welcome once more a good friend of the festival and offer him our most prestigious prize of honour,“ says the Berlinale director duo Mariëtte Rissenbeek and Carlo Chatrian.

Since the 1970s, the Oscar-winning director has been one of the most influential filmmakers in the world of cinema. The directorial works of the Italian American with Sicilian roots alone comprise more than 70 films. Many of his works have written film history and the versatility of his oeuvre is unique. His best-known films include Taxi Driver (1975, Palme d’Or Cannes 1976), Raging Bull (1980, Berlinale Competition – Out of Competition 1981), After Hours (1985, Best Director at Cannes 1986), The Color of Money (1986), Goodfellas (1990), Cape Fear (1991, Berlinale Competition 1992), The Age of Innocence (1993), Casino (1995), Gangs of New York (2002, Berlinale Competition – Out of competition 2003 and Retrospective 2010), The Aviator (2004), The Departed (2006), Shine a Light (2008 Berlinale Opening Film), Shutter Island (2010, Berlinale Competition – Out of competition), Hugo (2011), The Wolf of Wall Street (2013), Silence (2016) and The Irishman (2019). Another presentation at the Berlinale was the work in progress Untitled New York Review of Books Documentary (2014), which was later launched by HBO as The 50 Year Argument.

His latest film, Apple Original Films’ Killers of the Flower Moon, was recently voted the best film of 2023 by the renowned US film association “National Board of Review” and has been named one of the top 10 films of the year by the American Film Institute, as well as No. 1 Best Film of 2023 by “The New York Times”, “The New Yorker” and The New York Film Critics Circle.

Martin Scorsese is also very committed to historical film heritage. With The Film Foundation, he supports the restoration and distribution of classic films.

The Berlinale associates Scorsese with presenting many of his films – including the spectacular concert film Shine a Light about the Rolling Stones, which opened the Berlinale 2008. In addition, some Berlinale Classics were supported by The Film Foundation and the world’s first exhibition on the director was shown by the Deutsche Kinemathek from January to May 2013.