The Hof Critics Award will be awarded at the International Hof Film Festival to a feature film debut from Austria, Switzerland or Germany. The award recognizes a director and the production company that creatively explore innovative avenues and/or address socially relevant issues. The prize, which is awarded by the Swiss Association of Film Journalists and the Professional Association of German Media Journalists, is intended to deepen mutual knowledge of filmmaking, and help make the films present in German-speaking countries. The award is not endowed.
Jury statement: “Comets, cult and chaos. A desperate family that believes in a new life far away from earthly civilization and a girl caught between the fronts. How do you bring all this together? German director Benjamin Pfohl has turned his short film into his feature film debut. Empty promises of a higher existence are denounced, not with a raised index finger, but with empathic sensitivity for the characters. The subject matter is not so far-fetched in the post-corona era and remains approachable and grounded thanks to the coming-of-age story. Although the atmospheric science fiction sect apocalypse takes us into cosmic worlds, both visually and musically. Our director's prize goes to JUPITER.”
Jury statement: “How do you finance capitalism by criticizing capitalism? Christoph Schwarz dares to try it out for himself: he gives up money for a year for his own well-being and founds his own production company in favor of his art project. The boundaries between actionism and activism, fact and fiction become increasingly blurred. We observe the odyssey of a man who has to put his own egotism aside in order to recognize the seriousness of the situation. With a great deal of humor and self-irony, the film shows the difficulty of really being able to make a difference on the climate issue. Because, and the film understands this extremely well, global warming is anything but a joke. Our production prize goes to PIGGY BANK.“