31st Berlin International Film Festival
The 31st annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 13 to 24 February 1981. The Golden Bear was awarded to the Spanish film Deprisa, Deprisa directed by Carlos Saura. The retrospective was dedicated to British film producer Michael Balcon, as well a tribute to Turkish film director Yılmaz Güney who was a political prisoner at the time. The guest of the Homage was German film director Peter Pewas.
Jury
The following people were announced as being on the jury for the festival:- Jutta Brückner, director, screenwriter and producer - Jury President
- Denis Héroux, director and producer
- Astrid Henning-Jensen, director and screenwriter
- Irina Kupchenko, actress
- Peter Bichsel, journalist and writer
- Antonio Isasi-Isasmendi, director, screenwriter, editor and producer
- Chatrichalerm Yukol, director
- Jerzy Płażewski, film critic, writer and film historian
- Italo Zingarelli, producer
Films in competition
| English title | Original title | Director | Country |
| In Search of Famine | আকালের সন্ধানে Akaler Shandhaney | Mrinal Sen | India |
| Children's Island | Barnens ö | Kay Pollak | Sweden |
| The Boat Is Full | Das Boot ist voll | Markus Imhoof | Switzerland |
| Hurry, Hurry! | Deprisa, Deprisa | Carlos Saura | Spain |
| The Inventor | Der Erfinder | Kurt Gloor | Switzerland |
| Der Neger Erwin | Herbert Achternbusch | West Germany | |
| Twenty Six Days from the Life of Dostoyevsky | Двадцать шесть дней из жизни Достоевского Dvadtsat shest dney iz zhizni Dostoevskogo | Aleksandr Zarkhi | Soviet Union |
| Fever | Gorączka | Agnieszka Holland | Poland |
| Head On | Michael Grant | Canada | |
| History of the World in Three Minutes Flat | Michael Mills | Canada | |
| Il minestrone | Sergio Citti | Italy | |
| The Truck | Камионът Kamionat | Christo Christov | Bulgaria |
| Köszönöm, megvagyunk | László Lugossy | Hungary | |
| Nature | कुदरत Kudrat | Chetan Anand | India |
| La provinciale | Claude Goretta | Switzerland | |
| Le Grand Paysage d'Alexis Droeven | Jean-Jacques Andrien | Belgium | |
| หลวงตา Luang Ta | Permphol Cheyaroon | Thailand | |
| Maravillas | Manuel Gutiérrez Aragón | Spain | |
| Milka – A Film About Taboos | Milka – elokuva tabuista | Rauni Mollberg | Finland |
| On Land, at Sea and in the Air | Ter land, ter zee en in de lucht | Paul Driessen | Netherlands |
| Tribute | Bob Clark | Canada | |
| ツィゴイネルワイゼン Tsigoineruwaizen | Seijun Suzuki | Japan | |
| Vrijdag | Hugo Claus | Belgium | |
| Come Back Swallow | 燕归来 Yen gui lai | Jinggong Fu | China |
Out of competition
- Ordinary People, directed by Robert Redford
- Raging Bull, directed by Martin Scorsese
Key
Retrospective
The following films were shown in the retrospective dedicated to Michael Balcon:| English title | Original title | Director | Country |
| Bulldog Jack | Walter Forde | United Kingdom | |
| Dead of Night | Alberto Cavalcanti, Charles Crichton, Basil Dearden and Robert Hamer | United Kingdom | |
| Foreign Affaires | Tom Walls | United Kingdom | |
| I Was a Spy | Victor Saville | United Kingdom | |
| Sabotage | Alfred Hitchcock | United Kingdom | |
| Secret Agent | Alfred Hitchcock | United Kingdom | |
| The Blue Lamp | Basil Dearden | United Kingdom | |
| The Gaunt Stranger | Walter Forde | United Kingdom | |
| The Man Who Knew Too Much | Alfred Hitchcock | United Kingdom | |
| The Ladykillers | Alexander Mackendrick | United Kingdom | |
| The Lavender Hill Mob | Charles Crichton | United Kingdom | |
| The 39 Steps | Alfred Hitchcock | United Kingdom |
The following films were shown in the homage dedicated to Peter Pewas:
| English title | Original title | Director | Country |
| Many Passed By | Viele kamen vorbei | Peter Pewas | West Germany |
Awards
The following prizes were awarded by the Jury:- Golden Bear: Deprisa, Deprisa by Carlos Saura
- Silver Bear – Special Jury Prize: Akaler Sandhane by Mrinal Sen
- Silver Bear for Best Actress: Barbara Grabowska for Gorączka
- Silver Bear for Best Actor:
- * Anatoly Solonitsyn for Dvadtsat shest dney iz zhizni Dostoevskogo
- * Jack Lemmon for Tribute
- Silver Bear for an outstanding single achievement: Markus Imhoof for Das Boot ist voll
- Honourable Mention:
- * Le Grand Paysage d'Alexis Droeven
- * Tsigoineruwaizen