B3 BEN Award 2020 for Willem Dafoe

The prestigious main prize of the B3 goes to one of the most versatile and sought-after actors of his generation. Dafoe’s oeuvre includes over 100 films, who have been honored with a total of four Oscar nominations in addition to many other prizes, most recently in 2019 for his portrayal of the painter Vincent van Gogh in the film biography "Van Gogh – At Eternity’s Gate" (USA/F 2018, directed by Julian Schnabel).

Among his most important films are The Last Temptation of Christ, Platoon, Wild at Heart, The English Patient, Shadow of the Vampire, Antichrist, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Siberia, At Eternity’s Gate, The Lighthouse.

"We pay tribute to Willem Dafoe’s enormous artistic diversity, which ranges from experimental theater to movies and video games. Like our previous winners, Dafoe is an artist whose work, in keeping with the demands of our festival, transcends borders and genres," Prof. Bernd Kracke, artistic director B3 and President University of Art and Design Offenbach (HfG), explains the choice.

The international film database IMDb credits Willem Dafoe’s versatility, boldness, daring, and artistic curiosity in the exploration of human existence. Born in Appleton, Wisconsin in 1955, the actor is known for a broad range of roles that make it difficult to classify him as a specific genre actor.

He is also an original member of The Wooster Group, a New York based experimental theater collective. He has worked with Serbian performance artist Marina Abramović and in 2013, he took on a leading role in the video game Beyond: Two Souls by the French development studio Quantic Dream. He is currently starring in the Viking epic "The Northman" by Robert Eggers and Guillermo Del Toro’s “Nightmare Alley”.

Since 2013, the B3 Biennial of the Moving Image has been honoring established artists and young talents with the internationally renowned BEN Awards. Participants of the B3 Biennial compete for the main prizes and emerging talent awards with moving image works that tell their stories in outstanding or innovative ways. The prize was designed by South African artist Trevor Gould. Previous winners of the main award are Laurie Anderson (2013), Brian Eno (2015), Jonas Mekas & Ingvild Goetz (2017) and Steve McQueen in 2019.

All information about the B3 2020 can be found on the newly designed website of the festival www.b3biennale.com.