40 Years of Teddy Award: A Celebration of Queer Cinema at the Berlinale
The beginning of it all was an informal gathering of queer film festival programmers at the Prinz Eisenherz bookstore, whose German name honors Prince Valiant, located in Nollendorf, Berlin, during the Berlinale. Founded in 1978, the bookstore was the first aimed at the gay community in Germany and continues to this day, known as Buchladen Eisenherz. It was at those meetings that the idea of an award for LGBT films was born, which would be presented during the Berlin International Film Festival.
In 1987, the German filmmakers Wieland Speck and Manfred Salzgeber, who passed away in 1994, co-founded the Teddy Bear award, inspired by the main awards of the festival, the Golden and Silver Bears. The trophy retained its plush bear shape even after the award became simply known as the Teddy Award. Pedro Almodóvar was the first to win it with the film 'Law of Desire', starring Antonio Banderas. Since then, the award has been recognizing prominent figures of independent cinema.
Originally focused on the Panorama section of the Berlinale and officially recognized in 1992, the Teddy Award celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2023 and gained international prominence in queer cinema, inspiring other awards through dialectics. In celebration of this milestone, the festival organized the special program 'Teddy 40', highlighting the historical importance and cultural impact of the award, with screenings and discussions on topics relevant to the queer film industry.
Despite initial resistance closely related to homophobia and the fear of the centricity of this award, the Teddy ceremonies and parties quickly became iconic, and the event inspired the creation of similar awards, such as Kyiv International Film Festival's Sunny Bunny. In the wake of the 40th-anniversary celebrations, Wieland Speck expresses a sense of gratitude to those who have contributed to the prominence of queer cinema and reaffirms the importance of standing firm in the face of the global rollback of LGBTQIA+ rights.