Director Ira Sachs' Keep The Lights On has won the Teddy Award at the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival, also known as Berlinale.

The film traces the relationship of two men – documentary filmmaker Erik (played by Thure Lindhardt, Flame and Citron) and closeted lawyer Paul (Zachary Booth, Damages) – from a casual encounter in 1977 New York City through all its highs and lows over the the next many years. Each is haunted by his own compulsions and addictions. (A trailer for the film is embedded in the right panel of this page. Visit our video library for more videos.)

In an interview conducted during the festival, Sachs said his film, which premiered at Sundance, was inspired by events in his own life.

“I ended a relationship in 2007. And really on the last day of the relationship I was aware that there was a last day and there was a first day ten years before, and there was a really compelling story somewhere in between those two dates,” Sachs said.

The Teddy, now in its 26th year, recognizes the best gay and lesbian cinema at the festival. In 2010, American director Lisa Cholodenko took home the prize with the lesbian moms movie The Kids Are All Right.