The Berlinale has been even more committed to supporting the next generation of film makers since 2006, when it introduced the Best First Feature Award. The award is endowed with 50,000 Euros, donated by the GWFF (Gesellschaft zur Wahrnehmung von Film- und Fernsehrecht), a society dedicated to safeguarding film and television rights. The prize money is to be split between the producer and the director of the winning film. Additionally, the director will be awarded with a high-quality viewfinder as both a useful instrument and memorable trophy.
Debut feature films from the sections Competition, Panorama, Forum, Generation or Perspektive Deutsches Kino will compete for the award in 2013. The winners will be announced at the official award ceremony in the Berlinale Palast on February 16.
A three-person jury will decide on the Best First Feature:
Oren Moverman (Israel/USA)
Complex, human characters are Israeli/American screenwriter and director Oren Moverman's favourite subject. He gained recognition for his script work on Ira Sachs's Married Life and the Bob Dylan biopic I'm Not There. His directorial debut The Messenger was awarded the Silver Bear at the 2009 Berlinale, and his drama Rampart was released in 2012. Oren Moverman is currently working on Love & Mercy, a film about Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys.
Taika Waititi (New Zealand)
New Zealander Taika Waititi celebrated numerous successes as an entertainer and comedian before moving into directing in 2005. His first short film Two Cars, One Night was nominated for an Academy Award that year. Two feature films followed, Eagle vs. Shark (2007), which became an export hit, and Boy, which received the Grand Prix of the Deutsches Kinderhilfswerk at the Berlinale 2010.
Lucy Walker (Great Britain)
British documentary filmmaker Lucy Walker looks for little stories holding big questions; she combines the biographical with the global and the ordinary with grand ideas. She has won over 50 awards with just five documentaries, has been nominated twice for an Academy Award (Waste Land, The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom), and her films Blindsight (2007) and Waste Land (2010) each won the Berlinale PanoramaPublikumsPreis.
The following 27 films have qualified for the Best First Feature Award:
Competition (1)
Uroki Garmonii (Harmony lessons) – Kazakhstan/Germany
By Emir Baigazin
With Timur Aidarbekov, Aslan Anarbayev, Mukhtar Anadassov
Panorama (6)
Chemi sabnis naketsi (A Fold in My Blanket) - Georgia
By Zaza Rusadze
With Tornike Bziava, Tornike Gogrichiani, Zura Kipshidze, Avtand
Deshora (Belated) – Argentina/Colombia/Norway
By Barbara Sarasola-Day
With Luís Ziembrowski, Alejandro Buitrago, María Ucedo
Habi, la extranjera (Habi, the Foreigner) – Argentina/Brazil
By María Florencia Alvarez
With Martina Juncadella, Martín Slipak, María Luisa Mendonça
Tanta Agua (So Much Water) – Uruguay/Mexico/Netherlands/Germany
By Ana Guevara Pose, Leticia Jorge Romero
With Malú Chouza, Néstor Guzzini, Joaquín Castiglioni
Workers - Mexiko/Germany
By José Luis Valle
With Susana Salazar, Jesús Padilla
Youth - Israel/Germany
By Tom Shoval
With Eitan Cunio, David Cunio, Moshe Ivgy, Gita Amely
Forum (8)
A batalha de Tabatô (The Battle of Tabatô) - Guinea-Bissau/Portugal
By João Viana
With Imutar Djebaté, Fatu Djebaté, Mamadu Baio
Das merkwürdige Kätzchen (The Strange Little Cat) - Germany
By Ramon Zürcher
With Jenny Schily, Anjorka Strechel, Mia Kasalo, Luk Pfaff
Grzeli nateli dgeebi (In Bloom) - Georgia/Germany
By Nana Ekvtimishvili and Simon Groß
With Lika Babluani, Mariam Bokeria
I aionia epistrofi tou Antoni Paraskeua (The Eternal Return of Antonis Paraskevas) - Greece
By Elina Psykou
With Christos Stergioglou, Syllas Tzoumerkas, Theodora Tzimou
La Plaga (The Plague) - Spain
By Neus Ballús
With Raül Molist, Maria Ros, Rosemarie Abella, Iurie Timbur, Maribel Martí
Mo Sheng (Forgetting to Know You) – People’s Republic of China
By Quan Ling
With Hong Tao, Xiaodong Guo
The Weight of Elephants – New Zealand/Denmark
By Daniel Joseph Borgman
With Demos Murphy, Angelina Cottrell, Matthew Sunderland
Sieniawka – Germany/Poland
By Marcin Malaszczak
With Stefan Szyzszka, Stanislaw Cheminski, Jerzy Szlosar
Perspektive Deutsches Kino (5)
DeAD - Germany
By Sven Halfar
With Tilman Strauß, Thomas Schendel, Judith Rosmair, Niklas Kohrt
Endzeit (End of Time) - Germany
By Sebastian Fritzsch
With Anne von Keller, Alexander Merbeth, Sebastian Ganzert
Freier Fall (Free Fall) - Germany
By Stephan Lacant
With Hanno Koffler, Max Riemelt, Katharina Schüttler, Maren Kroymann
Silvi (Silvi – Maybe Love) - Germany
By Nico Sommer
With Lina Wendel, Thorsten Merten, Sylke Pergold, Harald Polzin
Zwei Mütter (Two Mothers) - Germany
By Anne Zohra Berrached
With Karina Plachetka, Sabine Wolf
Generation (7)
AninA - Uruguay/Colombia
By Alfredo Sordeguit
With Federica Lacanio, Guillermina Pardo, Lucía Parrilla
Cita - Citaku Setinggi Tanah (Stepping on the Flying Grass) - Indonesia
By Eugene Panji
With M. Syihab Imam Mutaqin, Rizqullah Maulana Daffa, Iqbal Zuhd
Hide Your Smiling Faces - USA
By Daniel Patrick Carbone
With Ryan Jones, Nathan Varnson, Colm O'Leary
MARUSSIA - Russian Federation
By Eva Pervolovici
With Dinara Drukarova, Marie-Isabelle Shteynman, Dounia Sichov
Princesas Rojas (Red Princesses) - Costa Rica/Venezuela
By Laura Astorga Carrera
With Valeria Conejo, Aura Dinarte, Fernando Bolaños, Carol Sanab
The Rocket - Australia
By Kim Mordaunt
With Sitthiphon Disamoe, Loungnam Kaosainam, Thep Phongam
Um Fim do Mundo (The End of the World) - Portugal
By Pedro Pinho
With Eva Santos, Iara Teixeira, Indalécio Gomes, Manuel Gomes
Press Office
January 23, 2013
