Gravity triumphs at Max Ophüls fest
The 31st Max Ophüls Film Festival (January 18-24, 2010), headed by Gabriella Bandel and Philipp Bräuer, whose mandate has been extended for three years, announced its prize-winners on Saturday.
The event held in Saarbrücken, near the French border, continues to put its finger on the pulse of German film creation by honouring debut and second films, as well as hosting workshops, masterclasses and other activities aimed at giving young talents a chance to stand out.
This year, the winner of the Max Ophüls Prize (and the SR/ZDF Award for Best Screenplay, the Special Prize for Fabian Hinrichs’ performance and Best Female Newcomer for actress Nora von Waldstätten) was Maximilian Erlenwein’s debut film Gravity [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]. Combining drama and subversive comedy, the film centres on a bank worker who, after seeing a disappointed client commit suicide before his eyes, completely turns his back on his routine existence.
The jury (composed of Marco Kreuzpaintner, Simon Verhoeven and Austria’s Thomas Woschitz) drew parallels between Gravity and the Coen brothers’ work. They praised the film’s "masterful style", the "subtle" way the director mixes genres and uses absurd, black humour, whilst remaining warm-hearted and tender, and the brilliant performance by the cast (including Jürgen Vogel).
The film will be released on German screens by Farbfilm Verleih on March 25.
Oliver Kienle’s Bis auf's Blut – Brüder auf Bewährung and Andreas Arnstedt’s Die Entbehrlichen, both praised for their energy, humanity and message of hope, shared the Distribution Grant Award, worth €9,000. The former film also won the Audience Award and Franco-German Student Jury Prize.
The Saar Minister-President Award went to Philip Koch’s harsh and terrifying Picco.
Best Documentary was presented ex aequo to Silvana Santamaria’s Nirgendwo.Kosovo and Katharina von Schroeder’s My Globe is Broken in Rwanda, while the DEFA awarded a grant to Viennese director Jessica Hausner’s Lourdes [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jessica Hausner
film profile].
Finally, the Interfilm Award was handed to Olaf Saumer’s Suicide Club.
(Translated from French)
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