Dominik Moll’s Only the Animals won the ARRI/Osram Award in the CineMasters competition at the 38th Filmfest München (Munich International Film Festival), while the CineVision Award for best international film by an emerging director went to Philippe Lacôte for Night of the Kings, a co-production from Côte d’Ivoire, France, Canada, and Senegal. The FIPRESCI Prize for the best film in the New German Cinema section went to Monday um zehn by Mareille Klein; and the Audience Award went to Trans – I Got Life by Imogen Kimmel and Doris Metz.
ARRI/Osram Award
As the best international film (CineMasters competition), Only the Animals by Dominik Moll is being honored with the ARRI/Osram Award. “This film not only tells a deeply human story about loneliness and the search for love in a very sophisticated way; it also draws a connection between human transgressions and lies and major societal issues such as the consequences of colonialism. Only the Animals tells a gripping, suspenseful, and poignant story of how seemingly personal actions and interactions can lead to complex connections and dramatic consequences. In addition to this, the actors and actresses are excellently cast and without exception portray diverse, credible and immediately identifiable characters whose allure no one can escape,” the jury stated.
CineVision Award
The CineVision Award for best international film by an emerging director has gone to Night of the Kings by Philippe Lacôte. The jury explained its decision as follows: “Director Philippe Lacôte’s film explores the challenges of storytelling in a society ridden with violence. By coupling the beauty of pre-colonial Africa with harsh reality and the appropriation of its own history, the director advances an autonomous African narrative. Dancing, chants, and moments of tenderness fill the spaces of the prison for the duration of the story, which shifts away from its narrator and thus — possibly? — saves his life. An unbearable reality gives rise to a 21st-century fairy tale, a chamber play in a lawless space, a search for values in a world that turns people into both perpetrators and victims.”
The CineVision jury also gave an honorable mention to The Innocence by Lucía Alemany: “Lovingly and intimately, the camera follows the 15-year-old protagonist through a summer full of emotions, hopes, and disappointments in an impressive film by Lucía Alemany about the universal state of confinement and captivity in which many women — continue to — live.”
FIPRESCI-Preis
The FIPRESCI Prize, awarded by the Fédération Internationale de la Presse Cinématographique, the international association of film critics and journalists who cover film, went to Mareille Klein for Monday um zehn.
“Modern Europe is a multifaceted continent where people from various cultures are coming into ever closer contact. Such interaction creates a friction that can also be a source of openness. The film chosen by the FIPRESCI jury is about two very different people who share a common emotional state of loss and longing. This deceptively simple film, brilliantly acted, obliges us through its elegance and poetry to confront invisible, everyday discrimination and embrace love as the only medicine. It is our honor to give the international critics’ prize to Monday um Zehn, written and directed by Mareille Klein,” the jurors stated.
Audience Award
The Bayern 2 and SZ Audience Award went to the film Trans – I Got Life by Imogen Kimmel and Doris Metz.
German Cinema New Talent Award
On Friday, talented young individuals from Germany were honored with the coveted German Cinema New Talent Award. The award for best director went to Nikias Chryssos for his film A Pure Place; Franziska Stünkel received the award for best screenplay for The Last Execution; the award for best producer went to Miriam Düssel for My Son; and actor Martin Rohde was honored for his acting performance in Heikos Welt.
Bernd Burgemeister Fernsehpreis
The 2021 Bernd Burgemeister TV Movie Award was presented to producers Sibylle Stellbrink, Henning Kamm, and Michael Lehmann from Real Film Berlin along with Felix von Poser from Amalia Film for the historical drama 3 ½ HOURS (directed by Ed Herzog). The Bernd Burgemeister TV Movie Award is presented to the producers of the best TV movie from the New German TV Movies section.
OTHER AWARDS PRESENTED AT FILMFEST MÜNCHEN
Margot Hielscher Award
Since 2019, the Margot Hielscher Award has been presented at Filmfest München to an outstanding national or international artistic personality who has distinguished him- or herself at a young age through versatility and achievements in various cultural disciplines. This year, actress and director Franka Potente was honored with this award. The prize money of 10,000 euros is donated by media publishing executive Peter Graf von Schall-Riaucour, the nephew of actress and singer Margot Hielscher, who passed away in 2017.
One Future Prize
The One Future Prize went to the German film The Last Execution by Franziska Stünkel. The jury gave honorable mention to The Pink Cloud by luli Gerbase (Brazil) and to the children’s film Mission Ulja Funk by Barbara Kronenberg (D, L, PL).
The 2021 One Future Special Award was presented to film producer Rob Houwer.
Fritz Gerlich Film Prize
The 9th Fritz Gerlich Prize ceremony at Filmfest München honored Topside by Celine Held and Logan George. This is the story of a mother and daughter on an involuntary odyssey through a hostile New York — spectacularly directed and given a haunting performance, particularly by eight-year-old Zhaila Farmer.
Unified Filmmakers Awards
Jury awards in the category “Short films of up to 5 minutes”: Run Girl Run, directed by Anna Roller (Germany); Phosphoros, directed by Susana Serrano (El Salvador); and The Stay-At-Home Heroes, directed by Todor Nikolov (Bulgaria).
Jury awards in the category “Short films of 5 to 20 minutes”: Sometimes I Wish I Was On a Desert Island, directed by Eli Jean Tahchi (Canada); Ok, Karen, directed by Hugo L. V. e Oliveira (Brazil); The Shack, directed by Tebogo Chologi (South Africa); and Bonaparte, directed by Jesper Quistgaard (Denmark).
Audience awards in the category “Short films of up to 5 minutes”: Hot Water, directed by Sam Batour (Poland); Being, directed by Malak El Araby (Egypt); and Ciaran, directed by Ruairi Bradley (Ireland).
Audience awards in the category “Short films of 5 to 20 minutes”: The Pitch, directed by Ken Kwek (Singapore); Meeting Farewell, directed by Harashta (Indonesia); and The Mission, directed by Marianna Ölmez (Germany).
Starter Film Awards by the City of Munich
The 2021 award-winners are: Linda-Schiwa Klinkhammer for Mamanam, Josef Fink for Dorfjugend, Verena Wagner for Schichteln, and Denise Riedmayr (director), Lillian Malan and Philipp Link (production) for An Anna.
Cinema Awards by the City of Munich
The Cinema Awards by the City of Munich honor movie theaters that are playing a noteworthy part in maintaining Munich’s diverse cinema culture.
The award-winners are:
Thomas Kuchenreuther for the ABC Kino
Fritz Pressmar and Christoph Pressmar for Filmtheater Sendlinger Tor
Thomas Wilhelm for the Neues Rex Filmtheater
Daniel Kuonen and Kerstin Schmidt for the Rio Filmpalast
Marlies Kirchner for Theatiner Filmkunst
Wolfgang Bihlmeir, Bernd Brehmer, Doris Kuhn, and Erich Wagner for the Werkstattkino
The Special Awards for Cinema Culture have gone to:
Markus Eisele and Christian Pfeil for the Arena Filmtheater
Hans-Joachim Flebbe for the Astor Film Lounge im ARRI
Jonathan Rosenwanger for the Cadillac and Veranda
Klaus Ungerer for the Cinema
Bruno Börger and Heinrich-Georg Kloster for the City/Atelier theaters
François Duplat and Georg Kloster for Kino Solln
Thomas Kuchenreuther for the Leopold Kinos
Markus Eisele and Christian Pfeil for the Monopol Kino
Mathias H. Wild and Matthias Stolz for the Museum Lichtspiele
Anne Harder for the Neues Maxim
Thomas Wilhelm for the Neues Rottmann
Louis Anschütz and Hermine Bek for the Studio Isabella
Children’s Media Prize “The White Elephant”
Romy Lou Janinhoff received the award for best performance by a newcomer for her role in Mission Ulja Funk.