Press release:
American actress and Oscar-winner Meryl Streep will be awarded an Honorary Golden Bear at the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival.
Meryl Streep has appeared in over 40 films and is looked upon as one of the world’s most talented and popular actresses. She has received countless awards and nominations as an artist, including an unprecedented 16 nominations for the Oscar (two of these coveted prizes which she won) and 18 Golden Globe nominations and seven wins.
“We are delighted to be able to award the Honorary Golden Bear to such a terrific artist and world star. Meryl Streep is a brilliant, versatile performer who moves with ease between dramatic and comedic roles,” says Berlinale Director Dieter Kosslick.
Meryl Streep’s international breakthrough came in the late 1970s with the TV series Holocaust and Michael Cimino’s The Deer Hunter (1978, first Oscar nomination) as well as the divorce drama Kramer vs. Kramer (1979, directed by Robert Benton), for which she received her first Oscar. She won a second Academy Award for her compelling performance in Sophie’s Choice (1982, directed by Alan J. Pakula).
She also starred in Woody Allen’s romantic comedy Manhattan (1979) and the historical drama The French Lieutenant’s Woman (1981, directed by Karel Reisz). She portrayed a very committed union activist in Silkwood (1983) by Mike Nichols, as well as Tania Blixen in Sidney Pollack’s epic adaptation of Out of Africa (1985). With Susan Seidelman’s She-Devil (1989), Streep appeared in her first comedy; in 1992, she gave yet another brilliant comic performance in Death Becomes Her (directed by Robert Zemeckis). In the 1995 drama The Bridges of Madison County, she played the lead alongside Clint Eastwood, who also directed the film. In 2002, she performed in Stephen Daldry’s screen adaptation of the novel The Hours. Leading roles followed in the energetic satire The Devil Wears Prada (2006, directed by David Frankel), Robert Altman’s A Prairie Home Companion (2006), and the political thriller Lions for Lambs (2007, directed by Robert Redford). With the musical comedy Mamma Mia (2008, directed by Phyllida Lloyd), and Julie & Julia (2009, directed by Nora Ephron), Meryl Streep once again showed how versatile she is. She has received her most recent Golden Globe nomination with her performance as Margaret Thatcher in the upcoming film The Iron Lady (2011, directed by Phyllida Lloyd).
Meryl Streep has been invited to the Berlin International Film Festival several times: in 1999, she was awarded the Berlinale Camera; and in 2003, Julianne Moore, Nicole Kidman and she shared a Silver Bear for their performances in The Hours. In 2006, she could again be seen in the Berlinale Competition in Robert Altman’s ensemble comedy A Prairie Home Companion.
On February 14, 2012, Meryl Streep will be awarded the Honorary Golden Bear for Lifetime Achievement at a screening of her latest work The Iron Lady at the Berlinale Palast in Berlin. In The Iron Lady she portrays Great Britain’s former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. The film imagines how Margaret, at the end of her life, might look back through fragmented memories to weigh-up the personal cost of her decisions. The film is not so much about politics as about power and the loss of power.
During the Berlinale’s Homage series for Meryl Streep, audiences will have the opportunity to see the following films:
Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)
By Robert Benton
With Meryl Streep, Dustin Hoffman, Justin HenrySophie’s Choice (1982, Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role)
By Alan J. Pakula
With Meryl Streep, Kevin Kline, Peter MacNicol, Günther Maria HalmerOut of Africa (1985)
By Sidney Pollack
With Meryl Streep, Robert Redford, Klaus Maria BrandauerThe Bridges of Madison County (1995)
By Clint Eastwood
With Meryl Streep, Clint Eastwood, Victor SlezakA Prairie Home Companion (2006)
By Robert Altman
With Meryl Streep, Woody Harrelson, Kevin Kline, John C. ReillyThe Iron Lady (Great Britain 2011)
By Phyllida Lloyd
With Meryl Streep, Jim Broadbent, Olivia Coman, Roger Allam
Press Office
January 2, 2012
Well-deserved Meryl! A win for The Iron Lady would be a great capper to a legendary career!
I really think she will win this time. I’ll be glad if it happens since her performance in The Iron Lady is absolutely brilliant.
My Week with Marilyn is as sucky as The Iron Lady. Just warning you who have not seen either. Both are bad, but they include good performances.
Thank you Piere. Some people need a fun transplant.
Are they only counting her Golden Globe nominations for film? Streep has 25 Globe noms, not 18.
Slim: Humor is not illegal in Pierreville — it’s okay to remove your lips from your purse.
Streep is stellar in The Iron Lady. Too bad the movie around her is flimsy and forgettable. Gosh, it makes My Week with Marilyn seem profound.
@jason
you are incorrect. if you look closely at predicted winners of Gold Derby you will see that Streep is the frontrunner. This includes experts, editors and viewers. Meryl Streep is predicted to WIN and it’s been that way for several weeks now.
Viola Davis is now ahead of Meryl Streep at Gold Derby, but their rankings change from week to week. I don’t think Viola can win the Oscar without winning some other award first (Golden Globe, SAG, anything) to indicate that she has the necessary support. I could see Meryl and Michelle winning at the Globes, but beyond that, it’s too early to call.
Sean, according to whom is it going over well? I have hears the opposite.
@FilmFatale
THE IRON LADY is going over very well at Academy Screenings as is J EDGAR. The performances are pulling these fils UP.
Why ignore me? Humor is illegal in Gustavoland? Where all smiles are punishable by an act of lip chopping??
I will now purse my lips in protest.
@Mathilda He’s clearly joking, just ignore him.
Is she a recent graduate of the NYU Tisch program? I missed the league performances last year.
@slim You’re joking right ??
Who is this Meryl you speak of? Is she an up and coming actress?
Meryl is a genius and, bar none, the best there has ever been or will ever be. She deserves an honorary Oscar every year for singlehandedly raising the bar of what acting can achieve. She is truly in a class by herself and has been for the last 35 years.
That said, all of the campaigning and honors bestowed upon her this year cannot change the wretched movie that is The Iron Lady, which no one here wants to acknowlege is a HUGE problem that all the PR blitz in the world cannot hide. I believe the Academy will not look kindly on this mess of a movie and to award Streep for such a debacle would be, in my view, a debacle and an embarrassment to her career given the heights of her genius. She needs to win for a better, stronger, deeper, more human, original, complex and identifiable person onscreen. To coronate her with a long-awaited 3rd Oscar for a superb performance in dreck is unfortunate, and I do not think her road show is going to influence votes simply because she is so “out there” this year.
If you look carefully at Gold Derby, Meryl Streep is in fact the frontrunner to win.
@ wolf, yes, I’m sooooo tired of the next year thing. Because there will always be the next year… It isn’t Meryl’s fault that she’s consistently good. She’s great this year and she should win this year! And I believe she will!!! Wow, wait for the ovation if she does!!!
The unstoppable train that is Meryl Streep 🙂
A couple more of things like this and even Academy can’t refuse.
Is she the frontrunner with GoldDerbyists?
@akumax: And when will be “next time”? Nearly every year we can read this phrase…
@ akumax,
I believe Meryl will win the Oscar for the very same reason Kate Winslet did. Yes, the performance in The Iron Lady is OUTSTANDING – to me the best of this year’s potential nominees. But what will make her the winner is that she’s everywhere – the Kennedy Center Honor, all the covers, the 60 Minutes interview. And now this honor. This makes people aware of how great she is and how many times she’s been snubbed. In the last week she got so many profiles (NY Times), interviews etc etc. The third Oscar is the talk of the season. And now Berlin. And if you actually pay attention, the Berlin Film Festival is in the final weeks of voting, maybe even the last week of voting. I believe it will be Meryl’s Oscar this year. The Weinsteins will do their job as well.
Meryl Streep is great and this time around will receive every Honor but the Oscar. Next time… maybe…
Congrats! Kepp it up Meryl! Road to the 3rd Oscar 😛
Congratulations! I´m really happy for her!
Another great honor for the great Meryl Streep, Another part of her glorious campaign this year, She’s winning her 3rd Oscar this year!!!
Not much point in listing her performances, is there? There’s so many, and all are so well-remembered, that you’re always bound to miss some out.
Seven Golden Globes? You see, the thing is, no-one’s counting at the Golden Globes, so no-one minds giving seven to one person. AMPAS, take note!