The Turkish-language drama set in Germany stars Ozgu Namal and Tansu Bicer as a married actor and playwright who lose their jobs and have to leave behind their comfortable lives after the husband is targeted by the Turkish state for posting critical content online.
"The real threat is not among us. It is out there. It's the autocrats. It's the right-wing parties. It's the nihilists of our time who try to come to power and destroy our way of living," said producer Ingo Fliess.
"Let's not fight each other. Let's fight them," he said.
Turkish-German director Ilker Catak, whose previous Berlin entry The Teachers' Lounge was nominated for an Oscar, said it was important that the film was not just about Turkey, but Germany as well.
"There is a sign that says 1933 and what we've seen in this country before, we must never forget," he said, referring to the year Adolf Hitler came to power.
This year's jury president, legendary German director Wim Wenders, praised the winner as "a movie that speaks up very clearly about the political language of totalitarianism".
Canadian director Genevieve Dulude-De Celles won the Silver Bear for best screenplay for her film Nina Roza, which follows a Bulgarian art conservator living in Quebec who returns home to investigate the veracity of a viral video depicting an eight-year-old Bulgarian art prodigy.
The festival maintained its reputation as the most overtly political of its peers, Venice and Cannes, with the war in Gaza in particular dominating public discussions about the films.
"If this Berlinale has been emotionally charged, that's not a failure of the Berlinale, and it's not a failure of cinema," said festival director Tricia Tuttle at the opening ceremony, using the festival's nickname.
Wenders used his final appearance as jury president to urge filmmakers and activists to act as allies, not rivals, after his comment that filmmakers should not be political caused Indian novelist Arundhati Roy to pull out.
Several award winners used their speech to express solidarity with the Palestinians and other oppressed peoples.
"The least we can do here is to break the silence and remind them that they are not really alone," said Turkish filmmaker Emin Alper, whose film Salvation took the second-place Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize.
Palestinian-Syrian director Abdallah Al-Khatib, whose Chronicles From the Siege won the Perspectives section for emerging filmmakers, criticised the German government for its stance on Gaza despite concerns about crossing a red line.
"I was under a lot of pressure to participate in Berlinale for one reason only, to stand here and say: 'The Palestinians will be free,'" he said.
German actor Sandra Hueller, who starred in 2024 Oscar-winning films Anatomy of a Fall and Zone of Interest, continued her winning streak by taking home best actor for the period piece Rose, in which she dresses as a man.
"To me, it's special because I won my first-ever recognition as an actor in a film at this festival 20 years ago," Hueller told Reuters.
Queen at Sea, a drama that follows French star Juliette Binoche as she deals with her mother's advanced dementia and its effects on her marriage, won two prizes: the third-place jury prize and best supporting actor, shared by its two elderly performers, Anna Calder-Marshall and Tom Courtenay.
Director Lance Hammer, who last competed at the festival in 2008, said he hoped that maybe "people will see this and feel some comfort or relief that they're not alone".
Director Grant Gee won best director for Everybody Digs Bill Evans, a black-and-white biographical drama starring Norwegian actor Anders Danielsen Lie as the US jazz pianist.
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