05/10/2012 - The Cologne Conference is to end today with the Cologne Film Award being presented to the French director

The Cologne Conference – International Film and Television Festival (September 30 - October 5) is to draw to a close today with French director François Ozon receiving the Cologne Film Award, an award from regional fund NRW and the Town of Cologne for directors, producers, screenwriters, cinematographers, and composers who have made a remarkable contribution to the development of audiovisual forms. The award comes with €25,000 prize money.

The festival's programme featured a retrospective of Ozon’s work including his new film, In the House, that won the FIPRESCI Prize in Toronto and has just triumphed at the San Sebastian Film Festival (read more). He gave a masterclass in which he evoked his love of theatre, the fine line between art et stylistic effects, as well as his collaborations with several great French actresses.

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Previous winners of the Cologne Film Award include David Lynch, Roman Polanski, Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, as well as Paul Haggis.

(Translated from French)