BERLIN--British actor Tilda Swinton railed against the inhumane and praised the power of cinema in the German capital on Thursday evening as she accepted the Berlin Film Festival's honorary Golden Bear award in recognition of her long-running career.
German director Edward Berger, himself competing for an Oscar for "Conclave" next month, presented the prize to the actor he described as "an extraordinarily beautiful soul."
Swinton, known for films including her Oscar-winning turn in "Michael Clayton" and Venice Film Festival winner "The Room Next Door," received standing applause for her speech criticizing repression and governments she characterized as greedy, urging the importance of art and culture.
"State-perpetrated and internationally enabled mass murder is currently actively terrorizing more than one part of our world," she said, adding: "The inhumane is being perpetrated on our watch."
Cinema, she said, offers "a borderless realm" that is "immune to efforts of occupation, colonization, takeover, ownership, or the development of Riviera property" - an apparent jab at U.S. President Donald Trump's stated plans for the Gaza Strip.
"Long live cinema and all its never-ending promise, a light in the dark that never goes out," she said.
The Berlin-based German-language film "The Light," by "Run Lola Run" director Tom Tykwer, was this year's opening film, kicking off the festival that runs until February 23. "The movie is really trying to remind us it's all about reaching out. It's about holding on to each other, being together, not apart," Tykwer told Reuters on the red carpet.
Actors including Fan Bingbing, one of China's biggest film stars, and "The Light" leading man Lars Eidinger braved heavy snow in their finest clothes to attend the opening ceremony of the 75th Berlin Film Festival.Fan, a member of the festival jury, elicited an excited cry from fans as she stepped out of a CUPRA, an electric car brand owned by Volkswagen that is a festival sponsor.
Politics also made an appearance on the red carpet. German climate activist Luisa Neubauer wore a dress that read "Donald & Elon & Alice & Friedrich?," a reference to the U.S. president and his billionaire adviser's comments on German politics ahead of elections set for February 23 - the festival's final day.
Other demonstrators outside the red-bedecked Berlinale Palast included representatives of the #MeToo movement, support for an Israeli hostage in Gaza, and protests about the situation in Gaza.
