Legendary director Steven Spielberg will be presented with an Honorary Golden Bear Award for Lifetime Achievement at the 73rd Berlinale, the Berlin International Film Festival, which will run from February 16-26. In addition, selected works from his career will be presented at the festival in the Homage section, which pays tribute to great film personalities for their lifetime achievement.
As part of the award ceremony at the Berlinale Palast, the festival’s central venue, Spielberg’s latest movie, The Fabelmans, will be shown. The Fabelmans, which is currently playing in the United States and Israel, is a semi-autobiographical coming-of-age story that is expected to be a major Oscar contender when the nominations are announced in January. The movie will be released in German theaters in March.
An incredible career
“With an incredible career, Steven Spielberg has not only enchanted generations of viewers all over the world but has also given a new meaning to the cinema as the factory of dreams. Be it in the everlasting magic world of teenagers or in the reality that history has carved forever, his movies take us to a different level, where the big screen becomes the adequate surface for our emotions to be fulfilled. If Berlinale 2023 represents a new beginning, we couldn’t find a better start than the one offered by Spielberg’s great work.”
Mariette Rissenbeek and Carlo Chartrian
“With an incredible career, Steven Spielberg has not only enchanted generations of viewers all over the world but has also given a new meaning to the cinema as the factory of dreams. Be it in the everlasting magic world of teenagers or in the reality that history has carved forever, his movies take us to a different level, where the big screen becomes the adequate surface for our emotions to be fulfilled. If Berlinale 2023 represents a new beginning, we couldn’t find a better start than the one offered by Spielberg’s great work,” the Berlinale co-directors Mariette Rissenbeek and Carlo Chatrian said in a statement.
Spielberg’s career has spanned 55 years and he is known for many of the most popular and entertaining movies ever made, such as Jaws, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, and the Indiana Jones and Jurassic Park series, as well as serious historical epics including Schindler’s List, Lincoln and Saving Private Ryan. He has made movies in almost every genre, including last year’s remake of the classic musical, West Side Story.
In the coming weeks, the Berlinale will release the full program for the Spielberg tribute.