Short Films

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Young Masters

QUEEN AT SEA

• Director: Lance Hammer 
• UK, USA / 2026 / DCP / Colour / 121' / English, French; Turkish, English s.t.

• Screenplay: Lance Hammer 
• Director of Photography: Adolpho Veloso
• Editing: Lance Hammer 
• Cast: Juliette Binoche, Tom Courtenay, Anna Calder-Marshall, Florence Hunt
• Producer: Tristan Goligher, Lance Hammer
• Production Co.: The Bureau, Alluvial Film Company
• World Sales: The Match Factory

2026 Berlin Jury Prize, Best Supporting Performance

American independent filmmaker Lance Hammer, who achieved great success with his debut Ballast in 2008, directed his first film following a hiatus of 18 years. Queen at Sea, which won both the Jury Prize and supporting performance awards for Tom Courtenay and Anna Calder-Marshall, who played the role of mother Leslie, at the Berlinale, where it had its world premiere. The film follows Amanda and her stepfather, Martin, as they struggle with a moral issue that divides them: Has Amanda’s mother, Leslie, who is suffering from advanced dementia, lost the ability to make critical decisions in her own best interests? And, if so, who is responsible – a spouse, a child, an institution – for making such a determination? As Amanda and Martin are forced to make increasingly difficult choices, the repercussions spiral out of their control. Queen at Sea is a devastatingly sad but unsentimental family drama.

This film was a Meetings on the Bridge participant.