After numerous sold out screenings and many rewarding encounters between film students from around the world, the 27th Munich filmschoolfest came to a close. Young, emerging filmmakers from twenty-eight film schools in 20 countries presented 39 films to enthusiastic Munich audiences. The distinguished, five-member jury was presided over by internationally acclaimed director of photography Michael Ballhaus.


THE 2007 AWARDS & THEIR WINNERS

BEST FILM - VFF YOUNG TALENT AWARD (€ 7500) Donated by: VFF Verwertungsgesellschaft der Film- und Fernsehproduzenten mbH NOW EVERYBODY SEEMS TO BE HAPPY by Gonzalo Tobal (Universidad del Cine, Buenos Aires, Argentina) NOW EVERBODY SEEMS TO BE HAPPY deserves the VFF Young Talent Award, because of its most subtle and most sensitive way of telling a very complex story. The director made a daring choice for picking a 13-year-old girl to play the lead and an excellent actor for the male part. It has very little but delicate dialogue and it captures images that reflect the dangerous territory of human behaviour.

BEST DOCUMENTARY - ARRI AWARD (voucher for sales or rental equipment worth € 4000) Donated by: Arnold & Richter Cine Media SCARLET SUNRISE by Eduardo Grau and Edward Edwards (The National Film and Television School, Beaconsfield, United Kingdom) This documentary provides a melancholic view of a lonely Norwegian coalmining village. Through its carefully chosen and precisely composed images and bizarre, entertaining situations, it leaves a strong impression of a life deprived of many commodities, a life in stark contrast to our affluent society. The jury presents SCARLET SUNRISE this award for its striking combination of close social observation, outstanding artistic skill and good humour.

ARTE-SHORT-FILM PRIZE (acquisition of broadcast rights - € 6000) Donated by: arte PADAM…by JOSE MANUEL CARRASCO (Escuela de Cinematografia y del Audiovisual de la Comunidad de Madrid, Spain) In these strangers’ strange encounter, PADAM… successfully unites two people despite all prejudices and differences in age and nationality while emphasizing the similarities in their hearts in an entertaining way, giving people hope in these dark and complex times.

BEST SCREENPLAY - LUGGI-WALDLEITNER-AWARD (€ 3000) Donated by: The Waldleitner Family Matevz Luzar for ALMOST SIX FEET TOO DEEP (Akademija za gledalisce, radio, film in televizijo, Ljubljana, Slovenia) We are in the middle of the microcosm of a small Slovenian village west of Ljubljana: The events that are bound to happen here are so cleverly written, so wittily constructed and so originally funny, that we as a jury felt highly entertained in the most extraordinary way for the whole 19 minutes. The film deals with life’s most profound subjects: It’s about death; it’s about hate; it’s about envy, and it’s about oppression – but in this wonderfully life-affirming screenplay it’s all handled with some very nice tricks and twists.

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY - STUDENT CAMERA AWARD (€ 1000) Donated by: Film & TV Kameramann
+ € 2000 donated by the Jury President Michael Ballhaus
Nikita Rozhdestvenskiy for TANGO "CAMISA" by Saida Kurpesheva (Gosudarstvenji Universitet Kino i Televidenija, Sankt Petersburg, Russia) For an accurate and precise work of cinematography which delicately portrays realistic and truthful moments of fantasy, for creating movement and rhythm for the film in a very sensual way while breaking the rules of traditional tango and in turn creating an original and inspiring interpretation, we award TANGO CAMISA with the Student Camera Award for Best Cinematography.

SPECIAL AWARD OF THE JURY PRESIDENT
DEATH OF SHULA by Asaf Korman
(Minshar for Art School and Center, Tel Aviv, Israel) The loss of a family member such as the dog Shula affects everybody. The father – a fantastic actor by the way – tries to get his family to say good-bye to Shula. His attempt fails, because everybody is very sad but also very busy. An emotional journey that successfully shows the pain of the father.

PRIX INTERCULTUREL for Best Film fostering intercultural dialog (€ 5000) Donated by: Interfilm Academy Munich JOSE MANUEL CARRASCO for PADAM… (Escuela de Cinematografia y del Audiovisual de la Comunidad de Madrid, Spain).
Pilar and Stipe meet through a partner agency in Madrid. The lonely Spanish woman searches for a lasting relationship and the young Croatian is only interested in marriage for citizenship. The short meeting goes blow by blow: Through excellent dramatization, notably surprising character interaction and humorous dialogue, the audience experiences a fast-paced exchange of emotion between damaged pride and flirtation, prejudice, humiliation, frustration and hope. In his straightforward, wonderfully focused film, the director depicts how both protagonists despite their somewhat flawed characteristic and cultural differences, repeatedly come closer to each other and find a very special connection together.

BEST DIRECTOR OF A GERMAN FILM - PROSIEBEN PRIZE (€ 4000) Donated by: ProSieben MICHAELA KEZELE for MILAN (Hochschule für Fernsehen und Film Munich, Germany) This impressive story about two brothers who try to live a 'normal' life in the midst of a war makes for an unusual film with fascinating twists. Neither the bomb nor the electricity blackout - classic cases of collateral damage - endanger the life of Milan's brother. It is a plain old ordinary bus and an inattentive bus driver that put Milan's brother in harm's way as Milan makes friends with the so-called enemy. Seldom has a filmmaker succeeded in directing a child as well as Michaela Kezele. The empathy she evokes for the boy from the first moment as well as the danger that is always lurking in the background keeps the audience spellbound, making the film, and Milan, difficult to forget. Bravo!

BEST PRODUCTION OF A GERMAN FILM - PANTHER PRIZE (free use of dolly equipment for 4 weeks worth € 10,000) Donated by: Panther GmbH MILAN by Michaela Kezele (Hochschule für Fernsehen und Film Munich, Germany) MILAN deals with the story of two brothers set against the backdrop of the war in Yugoslavia. While the older brother dies in a hospital - a bombing raid has caused an electrical blackout - the younger brother, while playing hide and seek, finds a wounded American pilot and saves his life. Director Michaela Kezele shows the total absurdity of war and its consequences for innocent civilians in serene yet realistic images and in doing so asks fundamental questions about the efficacy of wars. The film's mood as well as its extraordinary examination of the nature of war both moved and convinced the jury in a matter of minutes.

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN AWARD 2007 (€ 1000) Donated by: Förderverein Medienarchitektur und Mediendesign des Studiengangs Szenografie der HFF München, HFF "Konrad Wolf" Potsdam-Babelsberg und der Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg Romke Faber for GÖDEL by Igor Kramer (Nederlandse Film en Televisie Academie, Amsterdam, Netherlands) Romke Fabers has been awarded the 1st Prize by the jury for his production design for the film GÖDEL. His production design constructs and reconstructs reality correspondingly to Gödel's mathematically logical conclusions. The real life situation of the important mathematician is convincingly characterized by the simple though effective means that Romke Faber makes the most of to show the metamorphoses involved.

KÖNIG LUDWIG TROPHY for the best Kaltenberg beer commercial (€ 10,000) Donated by: His Royal Highness Prince Luitpold of Bavaria ILEANA COSMOVICI & HARALD GEIL for NO LIQUIDS (Hochschule für Fernsehen und Film Munich, Germany) The idea behind this commercial is central to making the product the sole object of desire and it works wonderfully. The story is clear, understandable and entertaining without becoming banal. It makes viewers want the product - presumably the most important function of advertising. The excellent casting and acting is certainly a great help. The high quality of the filmmaking in NO LIQUIDS is the other factor that makes it so prizeworthy.

For filmsynopsis, all press releases and print quality photographs please visit our website: www.filmschoolfest-munich.de