“Das Fraulein“ wins Golden Leopard Prize
14.08.2006
With her feature film debut “Das Fraulein” (Production: Dschoint Ventschr, Zurich), the Swiss director Andrea Staka won the main prize at the 59th Locarno International Film Festival, which ended on August 12th, 2006. The award comes with a prize sum of 90,000 CHF. Last time a Swiss winner took home the prize was in 1985, when Fredi M. Murer received the award for his film “Höhenfeuer”, which has since become a movie classic. In the Swiss secttion of the “Pardi di domain/Leopards of Tomorrow”, diploma films by graduates of the School of Art and Design Zurich were triumphant. The Swiss documentary film “Zeit des Abschieds” by Mehdi Sahebi (Cineworx Filmproduction, Basel) received the SRG SSR idée suisse prize as part of the 2006 Critic’s Week, which came with a with a prize sum of 8,000 CHF.
“Das Fraulein” depicts the daily life of 50-year-old Ruza, who left her Serbian home 30 years ago, and is making a living as the manager of a staff cafeteria in Zurich, Switzerland. Her monotonous life as well as the one of her Croatian co-worker, who is dreaming of her return to the home she built in Croatia together with her husband, is upset when Ana, a high-spirited woman from Sarajevo, arrives on the scene. With the encounter of these three women, each from a different generation and geographical origin, the director, who herself grew up in Switzerland, deals with the memory of ones’ roots, hopes, and the lonely existence of female immigrants. In addition to the main prize, the film, which was co-produced with Germany, also received the 6,000 CHF award by the Youth Jury, along with the Don Quijote Prize bestowed by the International Film Club Association FICC.
In the “Leopards of Tomorrow” section, the film “Nachtflattern/Nightflottering” by Carmen Stadler, who is a graduate of the School of Art and Design Zurich (HGKZ), won the Golden Leopard with a prize sum of 6,000 CHF. The Silver Leopard, which comes with film production materials sponsored by Kodak worth 6,000 CHF, went to Markus Heiniger and Steve Walker for their film “Aschenbrüder/Ashbrothers”, also produced at the HGKZ. In addition, their film took home the Cinema e Gioventu prize bestowed by the Youth Jury, with a prize sum of 3,000 CHF. The Action Light Prize for the Best New Talent, with a prize sum of 33,000 CHF in the form of technical equipment, went to “La vérité vraie” by Tania Zambrano-Ovalle. An honorable mention was given to the film “Nouvel Ordre” by Gregory Bindschedler, Ausonio Tavares de Sousa, and Jean-Daniel Schneider.
The jury of the Critic’s Week stated in its laudation for the one-hour documentary film “Zeit des Abschieds” by Mehdi Sahebi: “ With sensitivity and bravery, the director is portraying the development of Giuseppe’s cancer illness. He captures the grotesque excesses of modern medicine as well as the irony with which the protagonist views his disease. The sick patient and the filmmaker appear to co-direct the movie, and boundaries between director and protagonist become blurry. The passing shown in real time becomes an elegy of life.
Locarno, August 12, 2006
In the “Leopards of Tomorrow” section, the film “Nachtflattern/Nightflottering” by Carmen Stadler, who is a graduate of the School of Art and Design Zurich (HGKZ), won the Golden Leopard with a prize sum of 6,000 CHF. The Silver Leopard, which comes with film production materials sponsored by Kodak worth 6,000 CHF, went to Markus Heiniger and Steve Walker for their film “Aschenbrüder/Ashbrothers”, also produced at the HGKZ. In addition, their film took home the Cinema e Gioventu prize bestowed by the Youth Jury, with a prize sum of 3,000 CHF. The Action Light Prize for the Best New Talent, with a prize sum of 33,000 CHF in the form of technical equipment, went to “La vérité vraie” by Tania Zambrano-Ovalle. An honorable mention was given to the film “Nouvel Ordre” by Gregory Bindschedler, Ausonio Tavares de Sousa, and Jean-Daniel Schneider.
The jury of the Critic’s Week stated in its laudation for the one-hour documentary film “Zeit des Abschieds” by Mehdi Sahebi: “ With sensitivity and bravery, the director is portraying the development of Giuseppe’s cancer illness. He captures the grotesque excesses of modern medicine as well as the irony with which the protagonist views his disease. The sick patient and the filmmaker appear to co-direct the movie, and boundaries between director and protagonist become blurry. The passing shown in real time becomes an elegy of life.
Locarno, August 12, 2006