Javier Bardem was one of the presenters at the 2007 Teddy Awards ceremony. Photo by Fabrizio Maltese for euopean-films.net, all rights reserved.

The Teddy Awards, the Queer Film Awards that are part of the Berlin Film Festival, were awarded yesterday evening for the 21st time in a ceremony at a former Tempelhof Airport hangar in the centre of the German capital. The Best Feature Film Teddy Award went to the Chinese film Ci qing (Spider Lillies) from director Zero Chou, while Spanish star Javier Bardem, sporting some unusually large fake eyelashes, gave the Best Documentary Teddy to the US production A Walk into the Sea: Danny Williams and the Warhol Factory, from Esther B. Robinson.

Director of the Panorama section of the Berlinale and co-founder of the Teddy Awards Wieland Speck duly noted the strong presence of women filmmakers and films with lesbian themes this year (which has not always been so strong) and also noted the presence of films from Hungary and Korea, both for the first time.

Actor Helmut Berger (most well-known for his intimate collaboration with Luchino Visconti) received a Special Teddy Award, while the newly introduced Audience Award went to Richard Eyre's UK production Notes on a Scandal with Cate Blanchett and Judi Dench.

Films with gay, lesbian or transgendered themes from all sections in the Berlinale were eligible for the award; this year a total of 36 feature length titles qualified.