This year’s Douglas Sirk Award goes to the British Oscar-winning actress Helen Mirren. For more than six decades, Helen Mirren has been a defining figure of theatre, film and television. Her career took her from the Royal Shakespeare Company to British television and Hollywood. One of her best-known roles is investigator Jane Tennison in the ITV series Prime Suspect, which Mirren played from 1991 to 2006 and with which she helped shape the image of female characters in the crime genre. Her definitive international breakthrough came with Stephen Frears’ The Queen (2006). For her portrayal of Elizabeth II, Mirren was awarded the Oscar for Best Actress. Instead of a mere imitation, she created the multi-layered portrait of a woman between public role, personal vulnerability and strict self-discipline. Her numerous other films include The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover (1989), Gosford Park (2001), Calendar Girls (2002) RED (2010), Woman In Gold (2014) The Good Liar (2019) and The Duke (2020). Between Shakespeare and Hollywood, auteur cinema and blockbusters, her career epitomises versatility, independence and a passion for characters who defy simple categorisation. Off-screen, too, she champions the visibility and recognition of women.