I am very glad to see the international jury decide to award the Golden Bear to Jafar Panahi.

I am here today in the homeland of one of the members of that jury, Claudia Llosa. People here see the jury’s decision as an important message for artistic freedom and are proud to know that a Peruvian artist was involved in it.

What this shows is that the Berlin International Film Festival, the Berlinale, weaves a global network of cinematic culture stretching from Lima to Berlin to Tehran. This is just the kind of cultural network that we need, and I congratulate the whole Berlinale team, especially Festival Director Dieter Kosslick, on that achievement.