Renowned filmmaker Martin Scorsese received the honourary Golden Bear Award at the Berlin Film Festival on February 20 as an ode to his lifelong contributions to cinema. During his acceptance speech, Scorsese, whose latest movie, ‘Killers of the Flower Moon,’ has been nominated for 10 Oscars, looked back on his decades-long illustrious career and hinted at making a comeback to the festival “in a couple of years.”
After German director Wim Wenders introduced his long-time friend Scorsese, the renowned filmmaker graced the stage and began his speech by his connection to the Berlinale and how being at that very stage has impacted him as a director. He specifically reminisced about the 1968 festival, highlighting Brian De Palma’s achievement in winning the Silver Bear for ‘Greetings.’
“It was a very important event and it was a real turning point for all of us — for Brian, of course, and by extension all of us who were working low-budget in America at the time, particularly not in Hollywood. Low-budget, independent pictures were quite rare in America at the time, and it helped open the way for filmmakers like Jim McBride and Phil Kaufman, for myself,” he said, adding, “It gave a stature in a sense that the studios started to take us seriously … It paved the way for me meeting up with Bob De Niro and casting him in ‘Mean Streets.’ And 10 years later, I would come to Berlin for the first time with ‘Raging Bull,’ opening night 1980 and then back again with the Rolling Stones for ‘Shine a Light,’ and then again with ‘The 50 Year Argument.’”
Scorsese further mentioned that film festivals are where he has encountered his community of fellow filmmakers. “Watching each other’s pictures, complimenting each other, arguing with each other, going down our own paths. I mean, what else can one do when you become obsessed with an art form?”
“As for looking back on my work, I can’t … partly because I really do seem to keep wanting to make pictures. So maybe I’ll see you in a couple of years, I hope with another one.”
Alongside being bestowed upon with the Honourary Golden Bear, his 2006 film ‘The Departed’ was showcased as a tribute to his cinematic achievements.
