The winners of Mannheim-Heidelberg

28/11/2005

The 54th Mannheim-Heidelberg International Film Festival (17-26 November), an event complemented by the (one of four leading co-financing events in the world which now also features the Sales and distribution meetings, created in 2002), announced the names of the winners last Saturday night. The international jury, namely Claudia Bedogni (Italy), Miguel Pereira (Argentina), Veit Heiduschka (Austria), Micha Schiwow (Switzerland) and Alexander Bohr (Germany), chose from a selection of 'serious' films, for the selection committee wished to emphasize not comedies but deeper, more dramatic works the form or content of which represents a 'brave' contribution to the 7th art. The list of winners is largely dominated by European titles.

The main prize went to Tuning, in which Igor Sterk (Slovenia) makes a 'precise use of film language in the construction of a powerful visual narrative about the deconstruction of a middle class family,' says the jury. Ryna [+see also:
trailer
film profile], a Swiss-Romanian co-production which was granted, amongst other distinctions, the Fipresci in Geneva, won three awards: the directors, Ruxandra Zenide, got a Special Prize, as did the main actress, Dorotheea Petre, for the jury found this depiction of a girl's struggle for identity very 'mature'. It verdict was confirmed by the jury of exhibitors, for that matter. This parallel jury, a specificity of the festival, also elected a Canadian and a Mexican movie. The latter won, ex aequo with the Norwegian film Monsterthursday by Arild Østin Ommundsen, the Audience Award, while the Fipresci jury chose Toss Up, by Ugur Yücel (Turkey). The R.W. Fassbinder Prize went to the Irish director Perry Ogden for The Traveller Girl, a 'portrayal of an outcast family' also distinguished by the ecumenical jury. The main jury also gave two Special mentions, one to the director Ramin Bahrani, whose film Man Push Cart (Iran/United-States) started its European tour with the Venice Days, and one to Henna Ohranen, for her role in the Swedish movie Love and Happiness. In terms of short films, the winner is Glimpse of Darkness by Martin Barnewitz (Denmark), followed by The Debt, by Levan Koguashvili (Georgia), who got a Special mention.