The French film "Sur l'Adamant" has been awarded the Golden Bear at the 73rd Berlin Film Festival. Nicolas Philibert's documentary portrays the patients of a day psychiatric clinic on the Seine in Paris. In Philibert's masterpiece, the jury president, American actress Kristen Stewart, explained at the award ceremony, the boundaries drawn by the film industry between art and commerce no longer apply.

From the nineteen entries in the festival competition, the jury selected four other films for their main prizes. The grand prize of the jury went to Christian Petzold's "Red Sky", which tells the story of a chance community in a holiday home on the Baltic Sea in the midst of a catastrophic fire. The jury prize was won by João Canijo's generational drama "Mal viver" about three women in a Portuguese family hotel. French director Philippe Garrel received a Silver Bear for Best Director for "Le grand chariot", the chronicle of a family running a small puppet theatre. The jury awarded a Silver Bear for Best Screenplay to German filmmaker Angela Schanelec for her film "Music", which translates the Greek myth of Oedipus into the present.

The acting awards were won by two actresses whose film characters are in transition between the sexes. Sofia Otero was honoured as Best Actress for her portrayal of an eight-year-old trans girl in the Spanish film "20,000 especias de abejas" ("20,000 bee species"). With the award for the best supporting actress, the jury honored the Austrian Thea Ehre for her role in Christoph Hochhäusler's police thriller "Bis ans Ende der Nacht".

Another Silver Bear for outstanding artistic achievement went to French cinematographer Hélène Louvart for her work in "Disco Boy" by Giacomo Abbruzzese. The Golden Bear for Best Short Film went to "Les chenilles" by Michelle and Noel Keserwany. The Belgian entry "Here" by Bas Devos was awarded as the best feature film in the Encounters series, which ran parallel to the competition in the main programme.