A jury is considered independent when its members are not selected by the Berlinale. A number of independent juries award prizes at the Berlinale. The high level of quality and diversity of the films are an invitation for critical examination and discerning judgment that opens up new directions. Accordingly the independent juries award their prizes along different criteria, in accordance to the special intention linked to each award.  

The following prizes are awarded by independent juries during the Berlinale:  

Since 1992, the international film organisations of the Protestant and Catholic Churches - INTERFILM and SIGNIS - have been represented by the Ecumenical Jury. It consists of six members and awards its main prize to a film entered in the Competition. It also awards two other prizes, both worth 2,500 Euros, one to a film from the Panorama and one to a film in the Forum. The prizes go to directors who have succeeded in portraying actions or human experiences that are in keeping with the Gospels, or in sensitising viewers to spiritual, human or social values.  

The juries of the Fédération Internationale de la Presse Cinématographique (FIPRESCI), the international film critics association, view films from the Competition programme and the Panorama and Forum sections. They award a prize for the best film in each of these sections.  

The jury of the Guild of German Art House Cinemas is composed of three members who run cinemas and are members of the Guild. The jury awards its prize to a film screened in the Competition.  

The Confédération Internationale des Cinémas d’Art et d’Essai (C.I.C.A.E.), the International Confederation of Art House Cinemas, forms one jury for the Panorama and one for the Forum. Each jury awards one prize in its section.  

Launched for the first time in 2003 within the Cannes Film Festival, the Europa Cinemas Label has been created in order to help European films increase their distribution and raise their profile with audiences and media. The Label is since then awarded by a jury of 5 member exhibitors to a European film selected in the Directors' Fortnight section in Cannes and since 2004 in the Venice Days. Since 2005, Europa Cinemas has been cooperating with the Berlinale to award the Label in the Panorama section.  

The Teddy Awards go to films that have a gay and/or lesbian context. The nine members of this international jury - for the most part, organizers of gay and lesbian film festivals - view films screened in all sections of the Festival. Chosen from a list of films selected by the jury, a 3,000-Euro Teddy is awarded to a feature film, a short film and a documentary.  

The prize Dialogue en perspective for an outstanding work screened in the Berlinale section Perspektive Deutsches Kino was initiated by the French channel TV5Monde in co-operation with Franco-German Youth Office (DFJW) and the Berlin International Film Festival. The prize aspires to make new German cinema more accessible to young French audiences. With this aim in mind, the winning film will also be presented at the Festival of German Film in Paris. The jury has eight members: it is headed by a president, a professional whose work represents the cinematographic dialogue between France and Germany, and further consists of four French and three German members, who are selected by the prize donators by means of a public call for application.  

A three-person jury awards the Caligari Film Prize to a film in the Forum. The prize is sponsored by the "German Federal Association of Communal Film Work" and “filmdienst” magazine. The winning film is honoured with 4,000 Euros, half of which is given to the director, the other half is meant to fund distribution.  

The Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema (NETPAC) is an alliance of festival organisers and film critics whose aim is to support Asian film. The jury awards a prize to an Asian film screened in the Forum.  

The jury is composed of 9 members and views films from every section. The 5,000-Euro prize is donated by the Peace Film Award Initiative in association with the Heinrich Böll Foundation and the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW). The Peace Film Prize Jury can also award Special Mentions.  

The German branch of amnesty international has awarded the Amnesty International Film Prize for the first time at the Berlinale 2005. This award has already been presented at other international film festivals. The prize is worth 2,500 Euros. The jury will view films entered into the Competition, Panorama and Forum sections, paying special attention to documentaries. The aim of the prize is to draw the attention of audiences and representatives of the film industry to the theme of human rights and encourage filmmakers to tackle this topic.  

Germany’s Association of Women Working in Film will award for the first time the annual Femina Film Prize at the Berlinale. The prize honours the “outstanding artistic contribution of a female technician” in a German-language feature film in the areas of set design, camera work, costumes, music or editing. The aim of the prize is to highlight the contribution of the creative work of women towards the final result of a film. The prize is worth 3,000 Euros. The jury is comprised of three women working in the film industry.  

All Berlinale visitors can vote for the Panorama Audience Award by filling in a vote sheet. The prize was started in 1999 and is made possible by a joint initiative between the Berlin city magazine "tip", the radio channel "Radioeins" and the Panorama section itself.  

The jury is made up of 12 readers of the daily newspaper "Berliner Morgenpost". It is awarded to a feature film in the Competition section.  

The jury, which is made up of seven readers of the Berlin gay and lesbian magazine "Siegessäule", takes into account all films with gay or lesbian content, regardless of which section they are in. The prize is awarded to a feature film.  

Since the Berlinale 2007, the Berlin-based national daily newspaper "Tagesspiegel" has awarded a Readers' Prize. The jury consists of nine members and the prize is given to the best film in the Forum - along with 3.000 Euro. 

The Volkswagen-sponsored prize is directed towards young sound designers and composers. They can enter the Volkswagen Score Competition with sound recordings for selected film clips each two minutes long. An international jury chooses the three best contenders who can then produce their score with the Babelsberg film orchestra in Berlin studios. Afterwards, a jury awards the best score whose composer wins a trip to Los Angeles sponsored by Dolby. 

For the Berlin Today Award, Campus participants must form international teams and develop an idea for a short film which has something to do with Berlin. Three projects are selected and produced in co-operation with the Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg and Boxfish Films. The films are shown at the next year’s Berlinale Talent Campus. The jury gives the best of these films the Berlin Today Award.