The award winners of the 18th Oldenburg International Film Festival have been announced

„German Independence Award – Best German Film“ for „Dr. Ketel“ by Linus de Paoli. „Happy New Year“ by K. Lorrel Manning wins the audience award. „Der letzte Gast“ by Markus Engel is honored as “Best Short Film”, a special recommendation goes to „15 Summers Later“ by Pedro Collantes. The new award for “Outstanding Acting Performance“ goes to Maja Schöne of „The Fire“.
With more than 14500 international guests and visitors the 18th Oldenburg International Film Festival ends on a high note today with the award show for the German Independence Awards. The retrospective went to Canadian filmmaker Ted Kotcheff. Roger Fritz was honored with a tribute.
The winner of the “German Independence Award - Best German Film” is “Dr. Ketel” by Linus de Paoli. The 4000 EUR award was handed out by mayor Prof. Dr. Gerd Schwandner and the members of the international jury: Matthew Modine, Radley Metzger, Ildi Toth Davy, Soopum Sohn and Matteo Lovadina. Anna and Linus de Paoli and a score of members from their team came to Oldenburg and received the award together with actors Ketel Weber, Burak Yigit and Oldenburg born Franziska Rummel. From the jury: “There was one film that adventurously explored the techniques of filmmaking. Pushing the boundaries of storytelling to an area that is unique to film making.”
For the first time the jury introduced an award for “Outstanding Acting Performance” – it went to actress Maja Schöne (“The Fire”).
The audience voted for “Happy New Year” as the best independent film. Director K. Lorrel Manning and actors Michael Cuomo received the award from Peter Göttelmann, CEO marketing of EWE Oldenburg. Michael Cuomo’s acting in this moving story about an Afghanistan veteran reminds us, that war leaves the deepest marks on human souls. The award is sponsored by the EWE and worth 2000 EUR.

Director Markus Engel received the short film award for “Der letzte Gast”. The jury consisted of Arthur Brauss, Pia Marais and Frank Fokke. From the jury: “The film builds an atmosphere of authenticity drawing the audience into the story, which fascinating twists keep the suspense high.” The award is worth 500 EUR. A special recommendation went out to “15 Summers Later” by Pedro Collantes.

The 18th Oldenburg International Film Festival closed on Sunday with “Anduni – Fremde Heimat” presented by actor Florian Lukas.