Award Winners 2011

BEST FILM - VFF YOUNG TALENT AWARD (€ 7500)
(Sponsor: German Royalty Collecting Company of Film & TV Producers Ltd. (VFF))

LES TROUS NOIRS (COLLAPSAR) directed by Lilian Corbeille
La Fémis, Paris, France

The jury: "LES TROUS NOIRS (COLLAPSAR) neither belittles nor glorifies its juvenile characters but shows their desperation, violence and hopes for intimacy without falling into the trap of just depending on big outside drama. Instead, Lilian Corbeille unpretentiously maneuvers his poetic film from moment to moment till it becomes a strong and daring drama about growing up."

(The nominated films were: COLLAPSAR, FROZEN STORIES, SILENT RIVER)

SPECIAL PRIZE OF THE JURY PRESIDENT

SISTER OF MINE directed by Oshrat Meirovitch
Ma'aleh School of Television, Film and the Arts (MSTFA), Jerusalem, Israel

Jury President Sebastian Schipper: "SISTER OF MINE is a highly disturbing film. By telling the story about a young woman in a closed society who faces a choice that will determine the rest of her life, it also challenges our self-assured understanding that all the choices we make are based purely on our free will."

ARTE SHORT FILM PRIZE
(Sponsor: ARTE Television; Arte buys the broadcast rights to the film up to € 6.000)

ABUELAS (GRANDMOTHERS) directed by Afarin Eghbal
The National Film and Television School (NFTS), Beaconsfield, United Kingdom

The jury: "ABUELAS (GRANDMOTHERS) is a work of great maturity that finds a uniquely poetic yet playful style to recreate the experience of loss. By mixing animation, live action, historic photographs and voice-over narration Afarin Eghbal weaves a love poem to the grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo that has great sincerity and emotional depth."

(The nominated films were: A CURIOUS CONJUNCTION OF COINCIDENCES, GRANDMOTHERS, PLAYING GHOST)

BEST DOCUMENTARY - ARRI AWARD
(ARRI Services worth € 4000; Sponsor: ARRI - Arnold & Richter Cine Technik)

DER MOND IST EIN SCHÖNER ORT (THE MOON IS A WONDERFUL PLACE)
directed by Anne Maschlanka & Viktoria Gurtovaj
Internationale Filmschule Köln (ifs), Cologne, Germany

The jury: "THE MOON IS A WONDERFUL PLACE is not simply a portrait of an adorable child, but also a clever, very funny story about a girl facing the challenges of adulthood. Anne Maschlanka and Victoria Gurtovaj, the directors of this extraordinary film, manage to find a very precise way to show the complexity of the world through a child's eyes. The integration of amateur camerawork is part of a consequently executed choice which lets us not only see, but also experience the colorfulness of the main character's world."

(The nominated films were: HOW TO PICK BERRIES, THE MOON IS A WONDERFUL PLACE)

BEST SCREENPLAY - LUGGI WALDLEITNER AWARD
(€3000; Sponsor: the family of producer Luggi Waldleitner)

Grzegorz Jaroszuk for OPOWIESCI Z CHLODNI (FROZEN STORIES)
PWSFT, Lódz, Poland

The jury: "Slow paced, uniquely funny, perfectly casted, well acted and truly innovative in it's conception, this film tells the story of two young people in search of their place in life. FROZEN STORIES is a beautiful short by a promising director heading towards a great future. "

(The nominated films were: FROZEN STORIES, GOD OF LOVE, SILENT RIVER)

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY OF A GERMAN STUDENT - STUDENT CAMERA AWARD
(€1000; Sponsor: The magazine 'Film & TV Kameramann')

Jakob Stark for GUANAPE SUR
(directed by János Richter)
ZeLIG School für Documentary, Television and New Media, Bolzano, Italy

The jury: "The outstanding quality of Jakob Stark's camerawork on GUANAPE SUR lies not only in the beauty of the images. The contemplative cinematography and the graphic structure of the images show and underline the complex relation between men and nature portrayed by the film."

(The nominated films were: GUANAPE SUR, THE MOON IS A WONDERFUL PLACE)

BEST PRODUCTION OF A GERMAN FILM - PANTHER PRIZE
(Sponsor: Panther; the winner is provided a complete line of Panther's state-of-the-art dolly equipment for a period of four weeks (worth € 10000))

VIKI FICKI directed by Natalie Spinell
Hochschule für Fernsehen und Film München
Produced by Christina Christ / HFF München

The jury: "Natalie Spinell's film illustrates the problems of a young girl. Viki has a very flashy mother who is the source of constant embarrassment to her at school - and, for that reason, Viki´s only girlfriend. VIKI FICKI is a rollercoaster ride about this relationship. The jury was impressed by the interesting story and coherent plot and found both Spinell's directing and the cinematography by Jenny Bräuer outstanding."

(The nominated films were: RUSH, SUCCESS, VIKI FICKI)

PRIX INTERCULTUREL for Best Film Fostering Intercultural Dialog
(€ 5000; Sponsor: Interfilm Academy Munich)

HASIMOT (BARRIERS) directed by Golan Rise
Ma'aleh School of Television, Film and the Arts (MSTFA), Jerusalem, Israel

The jury: "HASIMOT (BARRIERS) uses an incident at a checkpoint to demonstrate how complicated and extreme the hostility between Israel and Palestine is. It does so exemplary and dramatically. The excellent screenplay challenges the world to think more intensely about this conflict that has already been going on for decades and to finally find a just solution."

(The nominated films were: BARRIERS, SILENT RIVER, VENUS)

CLIMATE CLIPS AWARD
(€5000 ; Sponsor: Nagelschneider Foundation)

AM KURT GEHT'S GUAD (KURT'S FINE) directed by Uta Bodenstein
Hochschule für Fernsehen und Film München, Munich, Germany

The jury: "KURT'S FINE uses a good dose of humor and satire to show us that renewable energy can indeed be profitable. It handles complex content playfully and on various levels, but above all the film points the way to innovative solutions that improve the quality of our lives. The jury found it entertaining, persuasive and technically well-made."

(The nominated films were: KURT'S FINE, THE GLOBAL WARMERS, STOP BREATHING!)