Fire at Sea wins top prize at Berlin Film Festival

The list of award winners from this year's Berlin Film Festival have been named, and the Italian documentary Fire at Sea (Fuocoammare) won the Golden Bear for best film.

From director Gianfranco Rosi, the film tells of African, Middle Eastern, and Asian immigrants and their journeys. As reported by Variety, Rosi said in accepting the award, "At this moment I have to think about all the people who did not survive the journey to Lampedusa. Lampedusa is a generous place. It is a place of fishermen, and fishermen always open their arms to those who come from the sea."

Meryl Streep was president of the seven-person jury panel, and she remarked they were "swept away" by the film. Other top honours went to Death in Sarajevo from Danis Tanovic (Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize), Mia Hansen-Love for Things to Come (Silver Bear for Best Director), and Majd Mastoura for Inhebbek Hedi (Silver Bear for Best Actor).