19/04/2013 - At the 13th goEast festival in Wiesbaden, the Robert Bosch Stiftung has awarded three Film Prizes for International Cooperation, each worth €70,000

At the 13^th goEast Festival of Central and Eastern European Film in Wiesbaden (April 10-16), the Robert Bosch Stiftung has, for the seventh time, awarded three Film Prizes for International Cooperation, each worth €70,000, to projects to be co-produced by German and Eastern European film-makers. After two days of pitching sessions, the prizes were given in three categories.

In the animated category, out of three nominated projects, the jury selected Geno, by Georgian director, writer and animator Dato Kiknavelidze and producer Lela Akiashvili, and German producer Anne Kathrin Lewerenz.

Another project from Georgia, The Station by Georgian writer-director Salome Jashi and German producer Urte Fink,  received the prize in the documentary section, in the competition of three other nominees.

Finally, in the short fiction film category, which included five projects, the jury chose The Chicken by Bosnian writer-director Una Gunjak, Croatian producer Ivana Simic, and German producer Jelena Goldbach.

“We have been hunting for funding for quite some time,” says Gunjak. “We tried a few schemes and funds, and pitched it exactly a year ago at NISI MASA’s European Short Pitch, where we won the best pitch award and €1,000. Apart from that money, we didn't have any budget in place before the Robert Bosch Film Prize, so this is a major stimulation for us, and will allow us to make the film.  It is an honour and privilege to receive such a generous support.”

The jury consisted of Doris Hepp, editor at ZDF/ARTE; Nikolaj Nikitin, the artistic director of filmplus; Stefan Kitanov, the head of the Sofia International Film Festival; German film expert Christine Kopf; Matthijs Wouter Knol, the programme manager of Berlinale’s Talent Campus; Mirsad Purivatra, the director of the Sarajevo Film Festival; Estonian film-maker Mait Laas; and Romanian producer Ada Solomon.