In the entire history of the Berlin Film Festival, only one director has received the Golden Bear twice for his films. But in the history of other prestigious film festivals there are many more such cases.
Taiwanese director Ang Lee received the main award of the film forum in 1993 with his film “The Wedding Banquet”, and in 1996 with the film “Sense and Sensibility”.
He repeatedly refuted the popular truth that when an artist becomes detached from his cultural roots, he can no longer create truly interesting work. During his lifetime, he filmed in Europe, the USA, China, and even Oceania. (I wonder if he would have been able to film something worthwhile in Ukraine? – ed.)
And wherever fate took him, his films always ended up, if not at the most prestigious film festivals, among the Oscar nominees. By the way, there are three of the latter in his collection.
He filmed the melodrama “Sense and Sensibility” in England based on the novel of the same name by Jane Austen. When the film entered the Berlinale competition, Nikita Mikhalkov chaired the jury. The latter is well known for his love of film adaptations of classic novels. This is probably what determined the film’s victory.
Well, Ang Lee received his first and very controversial Golden Bear for the social comedy The Wedding Banquet. That year, two winners were announced at the festival. This happens extremely rarely and shows that none of these winners are undisputed masterpieces.
In the 90s, the fashion for oriental cinema raged in Europe, which could not but affect both of Ang Lee’s victories.
Director Robert Altman also has two Golden Bears. If he received the first one in 1976 for the film “Buffalo Bill and the Indians,” then the second one was for his contribution to cinema, which is not so honorable.
Both of these directors were able to receive two major awards at the Venice Film Festival.