The Brazilian film The Way He Looks / Hoje Eu Quero Voltar Sozinho (pictured), the directorial feature by Daniel Ribeiro won the Teddy Award as best LGTB film at the Berlin Film Festival. The coming-of-age film stars Ghilherme Lobo, Fabio Audi and Tess Amorim and is based on Ribeiro's 2010 short film I Don't Want to Go Back Alone / Eu Não Quero Voltar Sozinho.
The film, which premiered in the Panorama section of the festival also winning the FIPRESCI award, tells the story of Giovana who is Leo’s best friend. They spend their afternoons at the pool, awarding points for the level of their boredom and just hanging out. But there are limits to their intimacy. Leo is rather self-contained; even his schoolmates’ barbs can’t dent his sense of his own independence.
Tired of his parents’ over-protective attitude, this blind fifteen-year-old wants to take control of his own life and apply for a school exchange. The arrival of a new pupil at school prompts Leo to reassess his daily routine. Having made friends with Gabriel he must now find a way to deal with Giovana’s jealousy. And yet, as naturally as Leo becomes aware of his feelings for Gabriel, the more he allows himself to feel unsettled by his friend’s tentative advances.
The Teddy Award is an international queer prize which is presented by an independent jury and as an official award of the Berlin Film Festival. The award, a socially engaged, political honour presented to films and people who communicate queer themes on a broad social platform, thereby contributing to tolerance, acceptance, solidarity and equality in society, comes with a cash prize of 3,000 euros. The award was first given in 1987, and since then several Latin American filmmakers have won it including Mexican director Julián Hernández who's won the prize twice for A Thousand Clouds of Peace in 2003, and Raging Sun, Raging Sky in 2009.
