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AWARDS

Numerous prizes were awarded at this year’s FILMFEST HAMBURG. Producers, directors, German distributors and young filmmakers as well as personalities who have earned merit in the film and TV industry (Douglas Sirk Award) were honoured. The audience decided on the best film of this year’s festival edition.

Hamburg Producers Award for INTERNATIONAL Cinema Co-Productions

The Hamburg Producers Award for International Cinema Co-Productions is endowed with 25,000 euros provided by the Hamburg Ministry of Culture and Media and awarded to the German co-producer.

 

Winner 2023

Fabian Driehorst (Fabian&Fred) for Sultana’s Dream (Directo: Isabel Herguera)

 

Jury statement

 

»In the beginning, the young woman cannot dream. She finds a book and sets off on a journey. A poetic dream in which one is immersed and does not let go until the end. A visual power that carries us away. A poetic rush of images. A work of art. Up-to-date. Modern. The book “Sultana’s Dream” by Lady Land is still being dreamed. Director Isabel Herguera discovered the book “Sultana’s Dream” by chance in a gallery in 2012, and it took possession of her. The origin of each image is handmade. A humanistic decision. Isabel Herguera adheres to cinematic rules and at the same time explodes them. A special experience. More than a film.«

 

Previous winners

 

2022:Victim German co-producers: Michael Reuter, Saar Yogev, Naomi Levari; Special Mention: Holy Spider German Producer: Sol Bondy (One Two Films)

2021 Lingui German co-producer: Melanie Andernach (Made in Germany Filmproduktion) / Cinema grading: pilifilms, Paris

  • 2019 You Will Die at Twenty German co-producer: Michael Henrichs (Die Gesellschaft DGS) / Cinema grading: Andolfi, Paris
    2018 Sibel German co-producer: Michael Eckelt (Riva Film, Hamburg) / Cinema grading: Les Films du Tambour, Paris
    2017 Arrythmia German co-producer: Eva Blondiau (Color of May, Berlin/Hamburg) / Cinema grading: Mars Media Entertainment, Moscow
    2016 Scarred Hearts German co-producer: Janine Jackowski, Jonas Dornbach, Maren Ade (Komplizen Film, Berlin) / Cinema grading: Hi Film Productions, Bucharest
    2015 One Floor Below German co-producer: Christine Haupt, Alexander Ris (Neue Mediopolis Filmproduktion, Leipzig) / Cinema grading: Multi Media Est, Bucharest
    2014 Welcome to Karastan German co-producer: Daniel Zuta (Brandstorm Entertainment, Frankfurt a.M.) / Cinema grading: 20 Stept Production, Tbilisi

 

 

Hamburg Producers Award for German CINEMA Productions

  • The Hamburg Producers Award for German Cinema Productions is awarded as part of the section GROSSE FREIHEIT. The producer of the winning film will receive 25,000 euros. The prize money is provided by the Hamburg Ministry of Culture and Media.

 

Winner 2023

 

Katharina Huber (Ackerfilm) for A Good Place (Regie: Katharina Huber)

 

Jury statement:

 

“A Good Place is a film that requires us to engage with a reality entirely our own. We watch characters who have to find their way in a mysterious world where the certainties we know are dissolved. With a sure sense of casting, imagery, music and dialogue, the countdown to the launch of an ominous rocket is on. While some fantasise about colonising new galaxies, others wonder what remains of humanity as violence increases between them. The longer we accompany the characters in the question “to go or to stay”, it becomes clear: the earth is a good place.”

 

Previous winners

 

2022 Skin Deep Producers: Tobias Walker, Philipp Worm (Walker + Worm Film)

2021 No One’s With the Calves Producers: Jonas Weydemann, Jakob Weydemann (Weydemann Bros., Hamburg)

Hamburg Producers Award for German TV Productions

The Hamburg Producer Award for German Television Productions is awarded in the TV section TELEVISIONEN. The producer of the winning film receives 25,000 euros. Since 2014, the prize money has been donated by the VFF, Verwertungsgesellschaft der Film- und Fernsehproduzenten. In addition, since 2021 a special prize for serial formats has been awarded since 2021. The prize money of 10,000 euros is also provided by the VFF. 

 

Winners 2023

 

TV FILM

 

Jakob Claussen, Uli Putz (Claussen + Putz) for Sörensen Catches Fire  (Director: Bjarne Mädel)

 

Special Mention

 

Kerstin Ramcke, Katinka Seidt, Wilfried Hauke (Nordfilm) for The Flood – Death On the Dike 

 

Jury statements

 

»Sörensen Catches Fire is a bold genre mix that combines the crime genre with comedic elements. The film takes a serious subject like abuse with unique linguistic wit and mixes it with dark accents. Finely crafted characters and a subtly hinted at love story are supported by an impressive visual language and unusual image composition. We as the jury were particularly impressed by the spot-on timing that highlights the perfectly staged comic moments in this yet dark world.«

 

»The Flood – Deat On the Dike  by Andreas Prochaska definitely deserves an honourable mention, but also a better title instead of “Death on the Dike”. With its coherent and densely told plot, a special ensemble and extremely powerful images, this film creates a captivating undertow that is impossible to escape.«

 

Previous winners

 

2022 The Capetown Miracle Producer: Christian Popp (Producers at Work Film)

2021 Sleepless in Portugal Producer: Jürgen Schuster (Fandango Film, Cologne)

  • 2018 Aufbruch in die Freiheit Producer: Heike Wiehle-Timm (Relevant Film GmbH Hamburg)
  • 2017 Meine fremde Freundin Director: Stefan Krohmer. Producers: Hubertus Meyer-Burckhardt and Christoph Bicker (Polyphon Film- und Fernsehgesellschaft Hamburg)           
  • 2016 Apropos Glück Director: Ulrike Grote. Producer: Heike Wiehle-Timm (Relevant Film GmbH Hamburg)
  • 2015 Frauen Director: Jan Ruzicka. Produzentin: Brit Possardt (Calypso Entertainment GmbH)
  • 2014 Polizeiruf 110: Familiensache Director: Eoin Moore. Producer: Iris Kiefer (filmpool fiction)
  • 2013 The TV Producers Award was not awarded
  • 2012 Mörderische Jagd Director: Markus Imboden. Producer: Claudia Schröder (Aspekt Telefilm-Produktion GmbH)
  • 2011 Tödlicher Rausch Director: Johannes Fabrick. Producer: Ulrich Aselmann (d.i.e. film GmbH)
  • 2010 Etwas Besseres als den Tod Director: Nicole Weegmann. Producers: Ralph Schwingel and Stefan Schubert (Wüste Film)
  • 2009 Mörder auf Amrum Director: Markus Imboden. Producer: Claudia Schröder (Bremedia Filmproduktion GmbH)
  • 2008 Machen wir’s auf Finnisch Director: Marco Petry. Producer: Astrid Kahmke (Bavaria Fernsehproduktion)
  • 2007 Kuckuckszeit Director: Johannes Fabrick. Producer: Babette Schröder (magnolia Filmproduktion)
  • 2006 Ich wollte nicht töten Director: Dagmar Hirtz (2006). Producers: Gloria Burkert and Andreas Bareiss (BurkertBareiss)

 

SERIAL FORMATS

 

Katrin Haase, Oliver Arnold (U5 Filmproduktion) for Füxe (Director: David Clay Diaz, Susan Gordanshekan)

 

Jury statement

 

»The Füxe series succeeds in dealing with complex issues such as social participation and classism without falling into clichés or simplifications. The impressive portrayal of the Corps milieu and the nuanced production help the series to leave a profound impression. The Füxe takes the jury into a completely new and hitherto unknown world that makes us long for more.«

 

Previous Award Winners Special Award for Serial Formats

 

2022 Reeperbahn Special Unit 65 Producer Christian Beetz (gebrüder beetz filmproduktion) 

2021 Waiting For the Bus Producers: Ulf Israel, Reik Möller (Senator Film, Berlin)

The Political Film of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung

The Friedrich Ebert Foundation has been awarding prizes to socially engaged cinema since 2013. Documentaries and feature films in the »Veto!« section compete for the prize money of 5,000 euros. The prize is awarded for the best directorial work.

 

Winner 2023

 

In the Review, Director: Maciek Hamela

 

Jury statement

 

»All nominees are worthy of an award from the jury’s point of view. The films in the section are extremely diverse, sometimes formally strict, sometimes wildly sprawling, documentaries and feature films, topical and historical, sometimes deadly serious, sometimes comical. They are about surveillance and oppression, about exploitation and anti-feminism, but also about revolt, solidarity and resistance. Nevertheless, one film stood out from the selection. It was shot under the most difficult conditions, with a single camera, in a single, narrow room. Every now and then, the view through the window goes outside and shows images that we have all seen on television in a similar way, images of destruction. But now we see them from the perspective of those whose world has just come apart at the seams. We look into their faces and hear what they say, often seeming amazingly impassive, sometimes overtly traumatised, always succinct, always moving. Although the camera looks directly into their faces, as if in the rear-view mirror, it never seems voyeuristic. The people tell short and precise excerpts of their stories, as densely as a screenplay could hardly do. Often they unexpectedly turn from the seemingly banal to the horrific. In only 84 minutes, the audience gets to know dozens of people: Women, men, children, old people, locals and newcomers.In the car in which the whole film takes place, they are united by the same fate: they are on the flight. A man tells of his experience of torture, a little girl is silenced, another helps her to find speech again, a family leaves her father behind, a boy misses his grandmother, a life-threateningly injured woman tells of her plans for the future, a farmer’s wife wistfully remembers her omnivorous cow. The man at the wheel of the car is also the director of the film, sometimes asking cautious questions, sometimes suddenly having to change direction because there are mines on the road in the dark, or because a bridge no longer exists. The genre of anti-war film is dominated by films in which men wage war. This film is a real anti-war film because it is told entirely from the point of view of the victims. The film is a beacon against habituation, it makes visible those whose lives are directly shaken by this war against Ukraine. Thus, the people in this work tell vicariously and universally of war and flight, everywhere. This great film deserves a great audience.«

 

Previous winners

 

2022 How To Blow Up A Pipeline, Director: Daniel Goldhaber

2021 La Civil Directed by Teodora Ana Mihai

Arthouse Cinema Award

The Arthouse Cinema Award of the International C.I.C.A.E. is supported by MOIN Filmförderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein. Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein with 5,000 Euros for PR measures of the German distributor. Nominations are open to films that are brought to German cinemas by a distributor. 

 

Winner 2023

 

How To Have Sex Director: Molly Manning Walker, Distributor: capelight pictures

 

Jury statement 

 

»We decided to go for the film that overwhelmed us with its vivid, violent, chaotic and emotional story about escaping reality – even if only for a few sun-drenched days. It tackles an urgent and topical issue that affects not only young people, but society as a whole. Filled with doubts, betrayals and sincere friendship, it helps us understand that we can only hold on to the things that are closest to our hearts.«

 

Previous winners

 

2022 Close Director: Lukas Dhont, Distributor: Pandora Film

2021 Paris, 13th District Directed by Jacques Audiard, Distributor: Neue Visionen

NDR Young Talent Award

The NDR Young Talent Award Award is presented to directors who are showing their feature film debut or their second directorial directorial work. The prize is endowed with 5,000 euros and is and is provided by the Norddeutscher Rundfunk.

 

Winner 2023

 

Shayda, Director: Noora Niasari

 

Jury statement

 

»A film that makes general things clear with a precise and sure hand through a personal story. Shayda captivates with a rhythmic, grounded dramaturgy. The visual language comes close to a memory that is carried by human warmth despite the gravity of the narrative. Shayda communicates an honest appreciation and above all: hope.«

 

Previous winners

 

2022 Love according to Dalva, Director: Emmanuelle Nicot

2021 Hive Directed by Blerta Basholli 

Critics’ Choice Award

Film critics and cultural editors from of German daily newspapers, radio stations and online media give the award to a film from the programme that stands out which is distinguished by an original point of view. The award is not endowed and is presented in cooperation with the Verband der deutschen Filmkritik. 

 

Winner 2023

 

Do Not Too Much of the End Of The World  Director: Radu Jude

 

Jury statement

 

»An unconventional film that criticises the present from the present. The focus is on a female production driver who speeds along the streets of Romania on the verge of exhaustion. This story is intertwined with, among other things, a feature film about a female taxi driver in Bucharest in 1981, satirical social media material and appearances by Uwe Boll as Uwe Boll and Nina Hoss as an Austrian producer who knows nothing about her Western arrogance. 163 minutes of spectacle, cleverly mounted, light on its feet and full of wicked wit.«

 

The jury also gives a Special Mention to The Goldman Case by Cédric Kahn. »A courtroom drama that on the one hand follows genre logic with great precision and on the other hand opens our eyes to Jewish history and racist police violence.«

 

Previous winners

 

2022 R.M.N. Director: Cristian Mungiu; Special Mention: Dirty, Diffcult, Dangerous Director: Wissam Charaf

2021 Vortex Directed by Gaspar Noé

FILMFEST HAMBURG AUDIENCE AWARD

The audience decides on the best film of the festival by ballot. Exceptions are the films of the TV section and the MICHEL Film Festival as well as the opening and closing film. The prize of 5,000 euros is provided by the Hapag-Lloyd Foundation.

 

Winner 2023

 

Heaven Can Wait Director: Sven Halfar

 

Previous winners

 

2022 Amerikatsi Director: Michael Goorjian

2021 Little Palestine, Diary of a Siege Directed by Abdallah Al-Khatib

MAJA

MAJA will be awarded for the first time this year. Endowed with 10,000 euros, the new MICHEL award is donated by Hamburg cinema operator Hans-Peter Jansen. A jury of children and teenagers chooses their favourite from all films in the MICHEL programme.

 

Winner 2023

 

Totem Director: Sander Burger

 

Jury statement

 

“The main character, Ama, is a brave girl who is suddenly left on her own but still doesn’t give up and grows beyond her limits. What we liked about the film is that it talks about how a passport does not tell you who you are. We think it is important that people with a migrant background and POCs can recognise themselves. It has many important messages: no matter where you come from or what you believe in, you are important and unique. The story is about children who want to take control of their own lives and stand up for their rights. The film also tells of a great friendship: because if you stick together, you can achieve a lot more. The film is thought-provoking and everyone can learn something from it!”

 

“Scrapper is the winner of our ‘Award of Hearts’. We want to give him a special mention because the story touched us very much and the film was shot in a very special way.”

 

Previous winners

 

2022 The Time of Secrets, Director: Christophe Barratier

2021 The Ape Star Directed by Linda Hambäck

SCYTHIAN DEER NATIONAL COMPETITION

The Molodist Kyiv International Film Festival is organising its national competition with nominated Ukrainian feature films as part of FILMFEST HAMBURG. The best  feature film (2,000 USD & Scythian Deer Statuette) of the programme will be awarded.

 

Winners 2023

 

How is Katia? Director: Christina Tynkevych

 

Jury statement:

 

“The director takes us to a journey that hurts. Very consequent and bold. In a tempo that we can follow. Calmly the director allows the characters to fill up the space without pressure. All departmends are allied to one strong vision. Technically and dramaturgically one can not resist but feel the main character who tries to solve biggest conflicts a mother could have. Stated in current ukrainian society with all the ambivalenz, the tension stays until the end. We don‘t want to loose hope, as the character takes the responsibility to reflect and act.”

 

Special mentions:

 

Luxembourg, Louxembourg Director: Antonio Lukich

 

Jury statement:

 

“Our Special mention goes out to Luxembourg, Louxembourg, a movie that touched our hearts, made us laugh and surprised us throughout the whole film with original ideas. Not only that. Those two brothers, and all the other characters in this movie, struck us with their brilliant acting and dialogues, while NEVER becoming a flat cliché. This often happens, especially in the comedy genre. But not in this film.Antonio Lukich together with Amil & Ramil Nasirov and Lyudmyla Sachenko: You are a dreamteam of comedy film making. Congratulations on such a wonderful film.”

 

Rock.Paper.Grenade Director: Iryna Tsilyk

 

Jury statement:

 

“We would like to mention the great artistic spirit of , Vladislav Baliukin Rock. Paper. Grenade who enlightened this poetical tradegy and made the story of a boy and an old broken man so touching.”

 

Previous winners:

 

2022 Stop-Zemlia, directed by Kateryna Gornostai; Special Mention: Pamfir, directed by Dmytro Sukholytkiy-Sobchuk (long feature film)

2022 Leopolis Night, Director: Nikon Romanchenko; Special Mention: Dima, Dmitry, Dmytro Glory to the Heroes, Director: Clemens Poole (short film)

Albert Wiederspiel Award

On the occasion of the last festival edition headed by Albert Wiederspiel, the Hapag-Lloyd Foundation awards the Albert Wiederspiel Award for International Directing, endowed with 10,000 euros, from 2023 onwards.

 

By offering and naming the prize, the foundation wishes to “honour a committed festival maker and film enthusiast”. In this context, the political aspirations of Filmfest Hamburg as well as Albert Wiederspiel’s personal commitment and work as a mediator between cultures and worlds should be particularly emphasised. (Michael Behrendt, CEO of Hapag-Lloyd)

 

Winner 2023

 

Farhad Delaram (Achill)

 

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