The 75th Berlin International Film Festival will honor Scottish actor Tilda Swinton with the Honorary Golden Bear for her lifetime achievements. The award will be presented during the Opening Ceremony at the Berlinale Palast on February 13, 2025.
“The range of Tilda Swinton’s work is breathtaking. She brings so much humanity, compassion, intelligence, humor, and style to cinema, expanding our understanding of the world through her work. Tilda is one of our modern filmmaking idols and has long been part of the Berlinale family. We are delighted to present her with this Honorary Golden Bear,” said Festival Director Tricia Tuttle.
“The Berlinale was the first film festival I ever attended, back in 1986 with Derek Jarman and the first film I made, Caravaggio. It was my portal into the world in which I have made my life’s work—the world of international filmmaking—and I have never forgotten the debt I owe it. To be honored in this way by this particular festival is deeply touching for me. It will be my privilege and pleasure to celebrate, once more next February, the seedbed that is this wide-eyed and reliably wonderful gathering,” said Tilda Swinton.
Academy Award-winning actor Tilda Swinton has been closely associated with the Berlin International Film Festival for many years. She served as the President of the International Jury in 2009 and has appeared in 26 films featured in the festival program, including Caravaggio (1986), which won the Silver Bear, The Beach (2000), Derek (2008), Julia (2008), The Garden (1991), and Last and First Men (2020).
Swinton began her film career in 1985 with Derek Jarman, appearing in all of his films, including The Last of England (1987), War Requiem (1989), Edward II (1991)—for which she was named Best Actress at the Venice International Film Festival—and Wittgenstein (1993). She gained wider international recognition in 1992 with her portrayal of Orlando, based on the novel by Virginia Woolf and directed by Sally Potter.
Since then, she has cultivated ongoing collaborations with numerous acclaimed directors. Notable performances include Tony Gilroy’s Michael Clayton (2007), which earned her the BAFTA and Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress; Béla Tarr’s The Man From London (2007); Jim Jarmusch’s Only Lovers Left Alive (2013) and The Dead Don’t Die (2019); Luca Guadagnino’s I Am Love (2009), A Bigger Splash (2015), and Suspiria (2018); Joanna Hogg’s The Souvenir Parts 1 and 2 (2019, 2021) and The Eternal Daughter (2022); and Bong Joon Ho’s Snowpiercer (2013) and Okja (2017).
More recently, Swinton appeared in Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City (2023), marking their fifth collaboration, as well as in George Miller’s Three Thousand Years of Longing (2022), David Fincher’s The Killer (2023), Joshua Oppenheimer’s The End (2024), and The Room Next Door (2024), her second project with Pedro Almodóvar. She has just completed filming The Ballad of a Small Player with Edward Berger for Netflix.
Among her many accolades, Tilda Swinton was awarded a BFI Fellowship and the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the Venice International Film Festival in 2020.