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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 2024

Dorothe Beinemeier (Red Balloon Film, Hamburg) for Happy Holidays (Director: Scandar Copti)

 

Jury statement

 

“The winning film tells the story of the Palestine-Israel conflict, which has lasted for many generations, in a very sensitive and precise way. It only requires the time span of two holidays, two families and four perspectives. It exposes a patriarchal, militarized society in which women are deprived of the power to make decisions about their bodies. The film treats all its characters with great empathy and gives us an insight into a world in which everyone is trapped. The intensity and credibility of the amateur actresses contribute to the fact that the film never loses its narrative, characters and attitude.”

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Previous winners

2023 Sultana’s Dream German co-producer: Fabian Driehorst

2022Victim 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 2024

 

Dietmar GüntscheMartin Rohé and Svenja Vanhoefer (Neue Bioskop Film) for Vena (Director: Chiara Fleischhacker)

 

Jury statement:

 

“The production prize for German cinema productions goes to Vena. This film is the impressive debut of up-and-coming director Chiara Fleischhacker, who has achieved a great success. We would like to emphasize the performance of the producers, who recognized the young director’s talent early on and supported her throughout the entire production.

 

The student producers play a central role, especially in a debut production. We would therefore like to expressly encourage the two award-winning producers to give them a share of the prize money, just like the director – in recognition of their joint success. Vena is a precise study of a milieu that captivates its audience with its powerful images, sound and music. The film looks at where it hurts in our society and unfolds an emotional intensity that resonates for a long time. Together, the great leading actress Emma Nova and the director create a very well-researched and deeply ambivalent character who fights her way into the hearts of the audience with brute force – an impressive achievement that moved us deeply. We congratulate the director, the producers and the entire team on this extraordinary film and the well-deserved award! The honorable mention goes to the film Blindgänger by Kerstin Polte produced by Tamtam Film. We were impressed by this bold and original episodic film. Andrea and Dirk Decker from Hamburg Film have shown with their epic story about a bomb disposal that great stories can also be told with a limited budget – and with a visually stunning production and an impressive ensemble. You can see the heart and soul that everyone involved has put into the film.

 

Congratulations on this extraordinary film and the well-deserved honorable mention!”

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Previous winners

2023 A Good Place Producer: Katharina Huber (Ackerfilm)

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)

2019 Pelican Blood Producer: Verena Gräfe-Höft (Junafilm)

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 2024

 

TV FILM

 

Bernd von Fehrn, René Jamm (Warner Bros.), Roxana Richters and Alexander Wadouh (Chromosom Film) for Von uns wird es keiner sein (Director: Simon Ostermann)

 

Jury statements

 

“We were afraid of this movie. And we are glad that we had to watch it. This film approached the subject of suicide in an unprecedented way. A film about suicide and one of the few projects in this program that does without corpses. This film is a sign that thematic films can be powerful and yet prudent without being off-puttingly didactic. We wish the film as much marketing money as possible from the broadcaster so that it is actually seen. And we recommend that it be made available to schools, employers and other institutions before it is broadcast. Thank you for this important, moving work!”

Previous winners

2023 Sörensen Catches Fire Producers: Jakob Claussen, Uli Putz (Claussen + Putz) 

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

 

Martin DanischDavid Hadda (Turbokultur) for Deadlines (Director: Sonja Heiss)

 

Jury statement

 

“After the screening, two thirds of the jury were proud to be a woman. One third definitely wanted to be a woman. This series, or rather this season, is a feminist manifesto that is also the most entertaining format we’ve seen here in the last three days. Mega books, mega cast, mega direction. It just doesn’t happen by chance.

Many thanks for this great television to the two producers Martin and David.”

Previous Award Winners Special Award for Serial Formats

2023 Füxe Producers: Katrin Haase, Oliver Arnold (U5 Filmproduktion

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 2024

 

Sugarcane, Directors: Julian Brave Noisecat and Emily Kassie

 

Jury statement

 

“Father Ed Archie and son Julian travel through their Canadian homeland, the land of their indigenous ancestors, but they are not on vacation. It is a biographical search for clues, where the repressed meets the present. Because there is a gap in the father’s life that has not yet been filled. Torn open in one of the so-called “Indian schools” that existed throughout Canada. Under the umbrella of the Catholic Church, indigenous children were physically and sexually abused for decades. The rapists impregnated girls and made babies disappear, few perpetrators were ever charged. This angry and loving documentary tells the story in all its complexity and manages to gently approach the individual layers of pain and the arduous liberation. It is the victims themselves for whom the filmmakers create a space through their impressive directorial work in which everything has a place, but some things are also allowed to remain unresolved. What happens to wounds that can no longer heal because they have long since become scars? How can we continue to live after traumatic experiences? What does real reappraisal mean? Sugarcane tells this story with tenderness, without pathos, finds great, poetic images and opens our eyes to the complex view of historical, societal and social contexts. A personally motivated and uninhibitedly universal film about the dignity in small things that moves big things. A film about the inheritance of pain, the desire for healing and the risk of forgiveness. A film about building bridges between generations and rediscovering language after a long period of silence. And: a movie about listening. At last! The Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Prize for Political Film goes to: Sugarcane by Julian Brave Noisecat and Emily Kassie.”

Previous winners

2023 In the Review, Director: Maciek Hamela

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 2024

 

Universal Language Director: Matthew Rankin, Distributor: Rapid Eye Movie

 

Jury statement 

 

“Although the situations and plot of this movie have an absurd undertone, the director manages to captivate the audience from the very beginning with a brilliant atmosphere. This transforms the movie into an engaging work that takes viewers out of their everyday lives to unpredictable places while maintaining a coherent narrative rhythm. The audience encounters characters that are both intriguing and memorable. The staging of the film, especially the performance of the non-professional actors, adds a new and unique dimension to the

narrative a new and unique dimension. The jury was impressed by the film’s unusual but coherent structure, the creation of an imaginative cross-cultural world and the creative use of cinematic devices – especially the music. We believe that this film has great audience potential if supported by an appropriate promotional campaign and strategy. We have therefore decided to present the Arthouse Cinema Award to Matthew Rankin for Universal Language, distributed by Rapid Eye Movies.”

 

Previous winners

2023 How To Have Sex Director: Molly Manning Walker, Distributor: capelight pictures

2022 Close Director: Lukas Dhont, Distributor: Pandora Film

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

  • 2018 Woman at War Director: Benedikt Erlingsson. Distributor: Pandora

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 2024

 

Diciannove, Director: Giovanni Tortorici 

 

Jury statement

 

“As candid as his Google search of Justin Bieber’s Dick Pic, Giovanni Tortorici takes us on a courageous and honest journey of adolescent self-discovery and the search for his voice as a filmmaker. It is the characters and small moments that create the portrait of a European adolescence with a sense of humor that defies the infinity of teenage ideals. Somewhere between art, music and literature, the main character finds a foothold in his loneliness. And in the end, we see a smile brightened by the discovery of the possibility of change We would also like to take this opportunity to praise the work of Constance Tsang in her film Blue Sun Palace, which manages to tell a story with extraordinary closeness and sensitivity to its protagonists. It is with great pleasure that we award the NDR Young Talent Award to Giovanni Tortorici and his film Diciannove.”

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Previous winners

2023 Shayda, Director: Noora Niasari

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 2024

 

The Sparrow in the Chimney, Director: Ramon Zürcher

 

Jury statement

 

The sparrow in the chimney never ceases to amaze us. A new conflict breaks out in every scene. This family is engaged in a power struggle: everyone against everyone else. The dialog is as sharp as a knife. Ramon Zürcher has cleverly condensed this hell. The actors and actresses play with their sights wide open. Behind the aggression, hurt is palpable. This narrative consistency is disturbing and deeply impressive.”

Previous winners

2023 Do Not Too Much of the End Of The World  Director: Radu Jude

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 2024

 

Souls unshackled – Let us be in a hurry to be human, Director: Roxana Samadi

 

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Previous winners

2023 Heaven Can Wait Director: Sven Halfar

2022 Amerikatsi Director: Michael Goorjian

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

  • 2020 Gunda (Norway, USA) Director: Victor Kossakovsky
  • 2019 Psychobitch (Norway) Director: Martin Lund
    2018 Solsidan (Sweden) Directors: Felix Herngren, Måns Herngren
  • 2017 For Your Own Good (Spain) Director: Carlos Therón
  • 2016 The Day Will Come (Denmark) Director: Jesper W. Nielsen
  • 2015 Nice People (Sweden) Directors: Karin af Klintberg, Anders Helgeson

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 2024

 

Lars ist LOL, Director: Eirik Sæter Stordahl

 

Jury statement

 

“The Norwegian film Lars is LOL is set to win this year’s Maja Award. What we liked: This movie won from our point of view because it deals with a serious topic like bullying, which was presented in a realistic and child-friendly way. Through this movie we learned how people with Down syndrome live and are treated. We could also identify with the main actress, as she doesn’t do everything right like in other films, but also makes mistakes and learns from them. Many of us also liked the South Korean film It’s Okay! and that’s why we’d like to mention it. We could fully empathize with the main actress, as all the emotions were there. It was nice to see how people who were so different ended up living together and learning from each other. Both movies show that even if not everything in life goes perfectly, we can learn from challenges and make new friends.”

Previous winners

2023 Totem, Director: Sander Burger

2022 The Time of Secrets, Director: Christophe Barratier

2021 The Ape Star, Director: 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 2024

 

Stepne, Director: Maryna Vroda

 

Jury statement:

 

“This film captures the rural Ukraine of today and paints a detailed portrait of its reality. It is a testament to the director’s incredible attention to detail and the atmospheric storytelling made possible by the brilliant cinematography. Every shot is precisely chosen and gives the director’s work a special depth. This film is a poignant exploration of identities, memories and connections that touches the audience deeply. The Scythian Deer Award goes to Stepne by Maryna Vroda.

We would like to give a special mention to director Dmytro Moiseiev’s masterful adaptation Grey Bees of the novel of the same name by Ukrainian author Andriy Kurkov.”

Previous winners

2023 How is Katia? Director: Christina Tynkevych; Special Mention: Rock.Paper.Grenade Director: Iryna Tsilyk

2022 Stop-Zemlia, Director: Kateryna Gornostai; Special Mention: Pamfir, Director 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 2024

 

Dea Kulumbegaschwili (April)

 

Previous winners

 

Farhad Delaram (Achill)

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