An Iranian film about the breakdown of a relationship has picked up the top prize at the Berlin Film Festival.
Nader and Simin: A Separation also picked up the best actor and best actress prizes, for its cast, led by Peyman Moaadi and Leila Hatami respectively.
The film’s director, Asghar Farhadi missed out on the award for best director, which went to Germany’s Ulrich Kohler, for his film Sleeping Sickness, about a corrupt Western aid programme in Africa.
Collecting his Golden Bear prize, Farhadi paid tribute to his fellow Iranian film-maker Jafar Penahi, who’s been jailed by the authorities in Tehran, which meant he was unable to take up the invitation to be on the jury in Berlin. A chair was let empty in his honour.
American Joshua Marston’s first film since 2004’s Maria Full of Grace, The Forgiveness of Blood, earned him the best screenplay award, alongside his co-writer, Andamion Murataj.
The jury, chaired by the actress Isabella Rossellini, gave its runner-up prize, the Silver Bear, to Hungary’s Béla Tarr, for his film The Turin Horse, which he has said contains everything he’ll ever need to say on film, so it’ll be his last.