The feature film debut by the singer, composer and music producer convinced the jury with its presentation of "a strong woman trying everyday to make ends meet in an unjust and cruel world. A beautifully told story of courage and fighting spirit. "
The Special Prize for Best Director, worth €7,500 and donated by Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg RBB, went to Leszek Dawid for his portrayal of the legendary Polish hip-hop band Paktofonika, in YOU ARE GOD (Poland). Director Leszek Dawid was able to build on his success last year in Cottbus where he showed his award winning debut film MY NAME IS KI. The Special Price for an Outstanding Actress, worth 5,000 Euros and donated by the city of Cottbus goes this year to the two actresses Anna Mikhalkova and Yana Troyanova in KOKOKO (Avdotja Smirnova, Russia). The reserved curator Lisa and the vivacious Vika make an unlikely pair of friends, oscillating between fascination and repulsion. For his forceful portrayal of Sushenya in Sergei Loznitsa's film IN THE FOG (Germany, Russia, Latvia, Netherlands, Belarus) Vladimir Svirski wins the Special Prize for an Outstanding Actor, worth 5,000 Euros and donated by the Sparkasse Spree-Neisse. Svirski convincingly portrayed an innocent family man caught between two war fronts. IN THE Fog also won this year's prize awarded by the Ecumenical Jury. The International Jury awarded a commendation to HALIMA'S PATH (Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia) by Arsen Anton Ostojic, which addresses the difficulties of survival after the horrors of war centered on the Muslim Halima. The moving story also impressed festival audiences and also received the Audience Award worth € 3,000, awarded by the Lausitzer Rundschau. All of the contributions in the Feature Film Competition shown in Cottbus were international or German premieres.
The Prize for the Best Youth Film in the U-18 German-Polish Youth Film Competition, donated by the Chamber of Crafts Cottbus and worth 1,500 Euro, goes to the German movie SHIFTING THE BLAME by Lars-Gunnar Lotz. Gripping and realistic, the director portrays the attempt at a new beginning by the young offender, Ben. A Special Commendation was awarded by school student jurors from Cottbus and Zielona Góra to Katarzyna Figura for her role as Halinka in the Polish-Czech co-production YUMA by Piotr Mularuk.
The Main Prize in the Short Feature Competition worth 2,500 Euro, donated by Druckzone, went to the Polish production of ALL SOUL’S DAY by Aleksandra Terpińska. First performed in Germany, the competition entry features the young Lena, who has her birthday on All Soul’s Day. Endowed with 1,000 Euros the Special Price awarded by the planning group ABV GmbH Aninstitut of the Lausitz University, goes to HOME (Russia [Chechnya]) by Ruslan Magomadov. It is the story of the everyday life of a man who lives on the outskirts of war-torn Grozny.
A total of 15 prizes were awarded at the 22nd Cottbus Film Festival and personally received by the filmmakers and / or lead actors. Other winners include the Serbian director Miroslav Terzić who won the €3,000 Best Debut Film Award - sponsored by the BTU, Lausitz University and the "Konrad Wolf" film school in Potsdam-Babelsberg for his thriller REDEMPTION STREET (Serbia, Slovenia). The FIPRESCI prize goes this year to the tragicomedy KOLKA COOL (Latvia), which deals with the
monotony prevailing in the Latvian province. The 3,000 Euro DIALOGUE Prize for mutual cultural understanding donated by the Foreign Office, goes to the Israeli-Polish co-production MY AUSTRALIA by Ami Drozd, which deals with two brothers and their mother who emigrate from Poland to Israel in the 1960's.
The 22nd FilmFestival Cottbus ends on Sunday with almost 19,500 visitors (a new record). Not only can the winners celebrate: over 150 films from 36 countries were presented at the six days of the festival - a retrospective by Helke Misselwitz played to full houses, the >FocusglobalEast transpored the festival audience to Spain and Latin America. The 23rd FilmFestival Cottbus takes place from 5 -10 November 2013.
More information about the award winners as well as a complete overview can be found below and on our website under Press Releases. For further information please contact Diana Kluge and Cornelia Reichel, at +49 (355) 494 42 498 or by email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.