Henry Thomas in ‘E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial’, USA, 1982, directed by Steven Spielberg
Source: DVD ‘E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial’ (Universal Pictures Home Entertainment), Courtesy of Universal Studios Licensing LLC
Steven Spielberg
16 Feb 23–26 Feb 23
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To the programOn the Berlinale website
Honorary Golden Bear for Steven Spielberg
The Homage of the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival will be devoted to US-American director, producer and screenwriter Steven Spielberg, who will also be presented with an Honorary Golden Bear for lifetime achievement. In the scope of the Award Ceremony at the Berlinale Palast, the festival will screen his most recent work, ‘The Fabelmans’ on February 21, 2023.
© Brian Bowen Smith. Courtesy Amblin Partners
A recipient of multiple Academy Awards, Spielberg is one of the world’s most renowned filmmakers. His oeuvre, consisting of over 100 films and series, is unique in the history of international cinema of the past 60 years for its immense variety.
Spielberg has been nominated for an Academy Award a total of 19 times throughout his career – to date he has taken home an Oscar statuette on three occasions. He is considered the most successful filmmaker of all time. His career has been studded with awards, including numerous Golden Globes and Emmys for his filmmaking, as well as a host of honours for his commitment to social causes. For instance, in 1998 he was awarded the Grand Cross with Star of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany in recognition of his film ‘Schindler’s List’ and his Shoah Foundation. In 2001, Queen Elizabeth II appointed him Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE). In 2015, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from sitting US President Barack Obama.
“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,” say the Berlinale director duo Mariette Rissenbeek and Carlo Chatrian.
In ‘The Fabelmans’, an autobiographical work, the director takes a very personal look back at his childhood years. Universal Pictures Germany will release the film in German theaters in March 2023.
The films of the Homage
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Bridge of Spies
USA/GER, 2015, directed by Steven Spielberg
with Tom Hanks, Mark Rylance, Scott Shepherd, Amy Ryan and Sebastian Koch
![Still in color: A man is standing on the airfield of Tempelhof airport in Berlin next to a car parked under the wing of a plane.]()
Tom Hanks in ‘Bridge of Spies’, USA/GER, 2015, directed by Steven Spielberg
Source: Park Circus © 2015 DreamWorks Distribution Co. LLC and Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All rights reserved.
A New York lawyer unsuccessfully defends a Russian spy in court. He then organises a prisoner exchange for him in East Berlin at the height of the Cold War. Based on historical events, Spielberg’s thriller sports the style of contemporary spy movies.
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Duel
USA, 1972, directed by Steven Spielberg
with Dennis Weaver, Jacqueline Scott, Eddie Firestone, Lou Frizell and Gene Dynarski
![Still in color: A truck driving down a desert road.]()
USA, 1972, directed by Steven Spielberg
Source: DVD ‘Duell’ (Universal Pictures Home Entertainment), Courtesy of Universal Studios Licensing LLC
Driving through the California desert, a businessman finds himself besieged and threatened by a tanker truck. To survive, he must draw on unknown reserves of courage. This breakneck gem of visual storytelling was Spielberg’s first theatrical release.
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E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
USA, 1982, directed by Steven Spielberg
with Dee Wallace, Peter Coyote, Robert MacNaughton, Drew Barrymore and Henry Thomas
![Still in color: An alien in a dark forest has its hand lifted and the left index finger is glowing.]()
USA, 1982, directed by Steven Spielberg
Source: Deutsche Kinemathek, Courtesy of Universal Studios Licensing LLC
A lonely young boy gets a new best friend when he finds a small alien in the trash. This moving story of home and separation not only won over the hearts of millions of children, but became a box office smash with vast merchandising potential.
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The Fabelmans
USA, 2022, directed by Steven Spielberg
with Gabriel LaBelle, Michelle Williams, Paul Dano, Seth Rogen and Chloe East
![Still in color: A darkhaired man, a darkhaired boy – both wearing suits – and a blonde woman are sitting in a row of seats line in a movie theater.]()
Paul Dano, Mateo Zoryan Francis-DeFord and Michelle Williams in ‘The Fabelmans’, USA, 2022, directed by Steven Spielberg
© Storyteller Distribution Co., LLC. All Rights Reserved.
The story of the colourful Fabelman family, and son Sammy’s passion for amateur movie-making. The film is Steven Spielberg’s homage to his own journey to a successful directing career, making it his most personal film to date.
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Jaws
USA, 1975, directed by Steven Spielberg
with Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss, Lorraine Gary and Murray Hamilton
![Still in color: Two men and a shark, lying on the street, are surrounded by people. The shark’s jaw is wide open.]()
Richard Dreyfuss and Roy Scheider in ‘Jaws’, USA, 1975, directed by Steven Spielberg
Source: DVD ‘Der weiße Hai’ (Universal Pictures Home Entertainment), Courtesy of Universal Studios Licensing LLC
After a great white shark kills several swimmers in a small resort town, three very different men set out to sea together to hunt the predator. Steven Spielberg’s thriller pioneered the blockbuster movie trend, using Hitchcockian cinematic devices.
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Munich
USA/CA/France, 2005, directed by Steven Spielberg
with Eric Bana, Daniel Craig, Ciarán Hinds, Mathieu Kassovitz, Hanns Zischler
![Still in color: In a dark, smoky livingroom four men are sitting on a couch, the table in front of them is covered in photos. Another man is standing opposite of them, holding a photo and a pipe in his hands.]()
Daniel Craig, Eric Bana, Hanns Zischler, Mathieu Kassovitz and Ciarán Hinds in ‘Munich’, USA/CA/France, 2005, directed by Steven Spielberg
Image courtesy of Park Circus / Universal
After the massacre at the 1972 Munich Olympics, the Israeli secret service tasks a group of men with killing those deemed responsible. A high-octane thriller with international locations and actors, which explores the legitimacy of violent retaliation.
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Raiders of the Lost Ark
USA, 1981, directed by Steven Spielberg
with Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman, Ronald Lacey and John Rhys-Davies
![Still in color: A man wearing a cowboy hat and leather jacket is standing in a cave. In front of him a bag is laid out on a bale of straw and he is holding a bundle of fabric in his right hand.]()
Harrison Ford in ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’, USA, 1981, directed by Steven Spielberg
Image courtesy of Park Circus / Paramount
In this opener in what would become a five-part franchise, Harrison Ford’s archaeologist Indiana Jones skirmishes with Nazi henchmen on three continents. A fast-paced adventure film filled with tongue-in-cheek references to classic Hollywood movies.
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Schindler’s List
USA, 1993, directed by Steven Spielberg
with Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley, Ralph Fiennes, Caroline Goodall and Jonathan Sagalle
![Black and white still: In a room like a barn, a man is standing with his back to a crowd and behind hin another man is standing and looking at his back.]()
Liam Neeson and Ben Kingsley in ‘Schindler’s List’, USA, 1993, directed by Steven Spielberg
Source: Deutsche Kinemathek, Courtesy of Universal Studios Licensing LLC
One of Steven Spielberg’s most notable works. The multi-award-winning film tells the story of a manufacturer in Nazi-occupied Poland who managed to save more than 1000 of his Jewish employees from deportation to the concentration camp Auschwitz.
