The Berlin Film Festival is switching to gender-neutral acting awards

The Berlin International Film Festival has just become a little bit more inclusive. Starting next year, the performance awards will be gender neutral, said the festival directors Mariette Rissenbeek and Carlo Chatrian in a joint statement.This means that the previous Best Actor and Best Actress categories will be condensed into one category, ‘Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance.’ There will also be a supporting performance category, ‘Silver Bear for Best Supporting Performance,’ both of which will be awarded on a gender-neutral basis and will presumably comprise of nominees from across the gender spectrum.