The Way He Looks (Hoje Eu
Quero Voltar Sozihno) has won the Teddy Award at the 64th
Berlin International Festival, also known as Berlinale.
In the film from Brazilian
writer-director Daniel Ribeiro, a blind teenager falls in love with
the new boy in his class. (The film's trailer, in Portuguese, is
embedded on this page. Visit
our video library for more videos.)
“A joyous debut feature from a
director who combines great writing, characterization, performance,
camera, and music to deliver a film that soars above the
well-explored coming of age genre, giving new meaning to the old
adage 'love is blind,'” the jury said in a statement announcing
this year's winners.
Director Stefan Haupt's The Circle
(Der Kreis) won the Teddy for the best documentary. The
Circle takes a look at an underground organization fighting for
gay rights in mid-twentieth century Switzerland.
Roy Dib's Mondial 2010 won the
best short film and Bruce LaBruce's Pierrot Lunaire won a
special jury prize.
The
Teddy, now in its 28th
year, recognizes the best LGBT cinema at the festival. In 2010,
American director Lisa Cholodenko took home the prize with the
lesbian moms movie The Kids Are All Right.