Berlin winner 'Yellow Letters' enters Oscar race under new festival rule
İlker Çatak's Golden Bear winner qualifies directly for the international feature Oscar. 'Rose,' which won Sandra Hüller a Silver Bear, is also in the race as Austria's entry.
Photo: Harald Krichel / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped and resized)
Video: YouTube · Berlinale - Berlin International Film Festival · youtube.com
"Yellow Letters," this year's Golden Bear winner at the Berlin International Film Festival, is in the race for the Academy Award for best international feature. A new Academy rule makes that possible: award winners at selected festivals, including Berlin, Sundance and Toronto, can qualify without a country submission. Germany had picked Sandra Wollner's "Everytime" as its official entry. The category currently has 103 films, according to the trade outlet TheWrap.
Çatak's drama premiered in competition at the 76th Berlinale in February and won the Golden Bear from a jury led by Wim Wenders. It follows Derya (Özgü Namal) and Aziz (Tansu Biçer), an artist couple from Ankara who draw the state's attention after an incident at a theater premiere, lose their jobs and apartment, and move to Istanbul with their daughter. Alamode Film released it in German theaters on March 5. Çatak's previous film, "The Teachers' Lounge," was nominated for an Oscar.
Another Berlinale film is also in contention: Austria has entered Markus Schleinzer's "Rose," whose title role earned Sandra Hüller the Silver Bear for best leading performance in Berlin. The shortlist will be announced Dec. 15, with nominations on Jan. 21, 2027. The next Berlinale runs Feb. 10-21, 2027, one day longer than previous editions.