A Cypriot is a member of the International Jury of 38of Teddy Awards, the film awards for films with an LGBTQI+ theme that are awarded within the framework of the Berlin International Film Festival. The 74the Berlinale takes place from 15 to 25 February 2024.
The reason for him Diego Armando Aparicio, artistic director of the Cypriot festival Queer Wave, who is in Berlin as a guest of the organizers for the independent five-member committee of the Teddy Award, which is awarded as an official award of the Berlinale. This year’s award will take place on Friday, February 23.
Diego Armando Aparicio is joined by the program director of the Melbourne Queer Film Festival in the composition of this year’s Jury Cerise Howardthe artist and curator Cami Sand from Pakistan, the film curator, coordinator and consultant Luis Fernando Moura from Brazil and the actress and writer Vic Carmen Sonne from Denmark.
The Teddy Award is the oldest and most important queer film award in the world. Basically, the Jury for this award consists of established creative cinema professionals, organizers of queer themed film festivals, who watch films shown in all sections of the Berlinale.
Films do not need to be part of the official competition section of the Festival to be eligible for the Teddy Awards. The Jury selects a shortlist of films that meet the criteria and awards prizes to one short film and one documentary, while also awarding a Jury Teddy Award. This year, this list includes a total of 33 films.
The Teddy Award has previously been awarded to directors such as Pedro Almodovar, Derek Jarman, Gus Van Sant, Tilda Swinton, James Franco, Udo Kier and Barbara Hammer.
Established in 1987, the Teddy Award enjoys high prestige and recognition and has developed into an established international platform for communication and discussion about diversity in societies and cultures. Today it is considered the largest meeting of the queer film and media industry in the world. Teddy’s network includes more than 180 queer film festivals.
Who is Diego Armando Aparicio
Born in Cyprus in 1993, Mr Diego Armando Aparicio is the founder and artistic director of the Queer Wave festival, for his work he was among the 20 finalists for the 2021 Commonwealth Youth Prize among 1000 applicants from 43 countries. In 2018 he served as an official jury member of the Giornate degli Autori at the Venice International Film Festival. In 2022 he was a member of the selection committee for the LUX Audience Award of the European Parliament. He has worked in the production and directing departments for many international co-productions, including feature films and TV series that premiered at Venice, Cannes Critics’ Week and the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. He graduated with a degree in physics from Imperial College London in 2016. He is a member of the European Film Academy.