Dahomey wins the Golden Bear for best film at Berlin Film Festival 2024. Photo: Berlinale

This is the second film from Africa to win the top prize at the Berlin Film Festival after the musical "U-Carmen eKhayelitsha" directed by Mark Dornford-May won the Golden Bear in 2005. This is also the second year consecutively, a documentary film won the Golden Bear, after "On the Adamant" directed by Nicolas Philibert last year.

Vietnamese film “Cu Li khong bao gio khoc” (Cu Li never cries) directed by Pham Ngoc Lan and produced by Nghiem Quynh Trang and Tran Thi Bich Ngoc won the Best First Feature from the Society for the Management of Film and Television Rights (GWFF).

In the film, Lady M., a blue-collar retiree in Vietnam, returns to Berlin when she learns that her estranged German husband has died. The legacy her husband has left her is an urn with his ashes and Cu Li, a primate found primarily in Southeast Asia. Upon returning to Vietnam, Lady M. finds that her pregnant niece Van is rushing into marriage, and fears that she will make the same life mistakes as she did. Lady M. proceeds to embark upon a journey retracing her memories, evoking Vietnam’s storied past.

In 2006, the Berlin Film Festival began to include the GWFF Best First Feature award with a commitment to provide more support to the younger generation of filmmakers. At this year’s festival, 16 films in four categories were nominated for this award.