Winner of the 29th JFBB

(Download of the photos by right click on the respective photo, copyright "JFBB/Foto Goethe)

The winners of the 29th Jewish Film Festival Berlin and Brandenburg were honored today at the official award ceremony at the Berlin cinema "Filmkunst 66".

The JFBB Feature Film Jury, consisting of Hannah Dannel, Cultural and Communication Officer at the Central Council of Jews in Germany, Italian director and screenwriter Alberto Caviglia and producer Ada Salomon from Romania, awarded SHTTL (UA/FR 2022) by Ady Walter with the Gershon Klein Feature Film Award. "A young and new voice in cinema. With a unique style and extraordinary visual language. We decided to award a film that takes us back to a world where young people move between tradition and individual freedom," said the jury's statement. SHTTL tells the story of Mendele in 1941, one day before the Nazi invasion of the USSR.

An honorable mention is given by the Feature Film Jury ffor the film MARCH '68 [Krzysztof Lang, PL 2022].

The Gershon Klein Documentary Award goes this year to KNOCK ON THE DOOR by Ohad Milstein and Aya Elia [IL 2023]. The prize is awarded by the Documentary Jury, consisting of Claims Conference film officer Abigail Prade, French screenwriter Geoffroy Grison and Russian documentary filmmaker Nikita Pavlov, who lives in Berlin. "A sensitive story about a life-changing experience in which one family's intimate tragedy becomes a universal film about grief," according to the jury's statement. In the film, officers of the Israel Defense Forces deliver the death news to the families of the soldiers who were killed.

The Gershon Klein Prizes are endowed with 3,000 euros each, donated by Gershon Klein's daughters Madeleine Budde and Jacqueline Hopp.

The Award for Intercultural Dialogue goes to TANTURA [Alon Schwarz, IL 2022], "a courageous research and documentary that brings to light a tragic event in the complex history of Israel and Palestine. An attempt at reconciliation through collective memory," reads the rationale of the documentary jury responsible for awarding this prize.

The prize for intercultural dialogue is endowed with 2,000 euros, donated by Potsdam entrepreneur Stephan Goericke.

The Award for the Promotion of Young Filmmakers, awarded by the program collective of the Jewish Film Festival Berlin and Brandenburg, goes to CLOSED CIRCUIT [IL 2022] by Tal Inbar.
In her film, six years after an assassination attempt in a popular café in Tel Aviv, the filmmaker meets the survivors, who remain traumatized to this day. Images from surveillance cameras are mounted in parallel, highlighting the shocking brutality of the attack.

The prize for the promotion of young filmmakers is endowed with 1,000 euros and also donated by Stephan Goericke.

"The award winners reflect the entire range of the program and bring different perspectives to the screen," says festival program director Bernd Buder, adding, "The films thus represent the plurality and complexity of Jewish cinema. The winning films of the Feature and Documentary Film Competition and the Intercultural Dialogue award winner will be screened at Kino Central on June 19, 20 and 21 at 9:30 p.m. each night.

With 64 films, it is the most extensive program so far in the festival's 29-year history in Berlin, Brandenburg's capital Potsdam and other cities in the state. In twelve venues and two open-air cinemas, the JFBB will present the diversity of Jewish life across all cinematic genres in 200 programs from 16 production countries until Sunday.

"The Jewcy Movies characterize the summer festival landscape in Berlin and in Potsdam. The multicolor and diversity already promised by our posters and our trailer run like a red thread this year through our film, educational and supporting program, our venues, which are very different in their nature, to our visitor groups of all ages, from diverse nations and with the most varied cultural backgrounds. All of this is also representative of the multifaceted nature of Jewish life and Jewish film," says JFBB Managing Director Andreas Stein and adds: "From our point of view, the 29th JFBB is a complete success. And an incentive for the future. It will also be varied next year, when we celebrate our 30th festival birthday in June 2024 and surprise with exciting film series."

The 30th Jewish Film Festival Berlin Brandenburg will take place from 18 to 23 June 2024