Its director Nicolas Philibert said he was deeply touched by the jury's decision to award the Berlinale's top prize to a documentary rather than a work of fiction.
"That documentary can be considered cinema in its own right touches me deeply," he said. "For 40 years I have always fought for it to be seen as much."
Shot over three years, the film follows life at a daycare centre aboard The Adamant, a barge moored on the right bank of the Seine, where patients and carers interact in ways that break with what Philibert sees as the dehumanisation of psychiatry.
"I hope it will help to awake the consciousness of society."
The festival's Silver Bear for best leading actor went to Sofia Otero, who plays an eight-year-old transgender child in 20,000 Species of Bees.
"It is rare to see someone convey so many emotions but remain simple and shattering," said jury president Kristen Stewart. "Especially in performances given to us by a child."
