We are delighted that today, we have been able to award three prizes at the 55th Hof International Film Festival: the GRANIT-HOF DOCUMENTARY FILM PRIZE, the BILD-KUNST AWARD and the HOF CRITICS AWARD.
The GRANIT - HOF DOCUMENTARY FILM PRIZE, donated by the Hermann and Bertl Müller Foundation, is awarded to the best documentary film and endowed with a sum of 7,500€. The jury members this year were Marcus Richardt, Cordula Kablitz-Post and Douglas Wolfsperger.
This year the prize goes to
LUCHADORAS by PATRICK JASIM and PAOLA CALVO
LUCHADROS addresses what is arguably one of the most harrowing and extreme crimes of our time: the mass femicides on the Mexican-American border in Ciudad Juarez. Filmed in haunting, sometimes essayistic and also aesthetic images, PATRICK JASIM and PAOLA CALVO tell the story of three Mexican lucha libre wrestlers who have experienced violence first-hand or are fighting for a better life and improved image of women. LUCHADORAS is a courageous film and a powerful sign of awakening for women in Mexican society.
In addition, a special commendation is given to the film
SEASIDE SPECIAL by JENS MEURER
The jury of the BILD-KUNST AWARD this year are: costume designer Susanne Roggendorf (VSK), production designers Josefine Lindner (VSK) and Josina von Minckwitz, and production design students Luisa Niederschuh (ifs) and Nele Seifert (Ludwigsburg). Since 2004, the prize has consisted of one award for the best costume design and one for the best production design. Both prizes are endowed with €2,500 each. The shortlist included 15 German feature film productions that celebrated their German premiere at Hof Film Festival.
The BILD-KUNST AWARD for the best costume design in 2021 goes to
HANNAH EBENAU and SARBINE KRÄMER for TRÜMMERMÄDCHEN
and the BILD-KUNST AWARD for the best production design in 2021 to
YYONNE LEUZE for her work on TRÜMMERMÄDCHEN
SABRINA KRÄMER and HANNAH EBENAU are being recognized for their well-researched and realized costumes of the 1940s: The overall concept of the film allows for detours into other periods, which were very sensitively and artfully inserted into the film's era without imposing themselves. The two costume designers successfully spanned an artistic spectrum of colors, patterns and jewelry, and used these creative means to depict a convincing development of the individual characters. YVONNE LEUZE's powerful vision draws the black and white world of a ruined, misogynistic society, which appears fragmentarily in the infinity of an abstract dark space. Sophisticated constructions give rise to mountains of rubble and streetscapes that explore the tightrope walk between reality and scenic reduction. In contrast, there are the elaborate and lovingly decorated sets of the "Proto" theater: a place of painful confrontation and liberating self-empowerment. From lustful to horrific, the visuality of TRÜMMERMÄDCHEN sears into the retina.
The HOF CRITICS AWARD 2021 is sponsored by the Swiss Critics Association SVFJ and the Professional Association of German Media Journalists and is being awarded for the first time at Hof Film Festival. The jury consists of journalists Ingrid Beerbaum (Berlin), Rolf Breiner (Switzerland) and Katharina Dockhorn (Berlin).
This year the prize is being divided and goes to two films:
for best direction to THE SAINT OF THE IMPOSSIBLE by MARC WILKINS and
to DAS SCHWARZE QUADRAT for its production by FRISBEEFILMS GmbH & Co.KG
Constant fear of discovery and deportation characterizes the lives of Peruvian Raffaela and her sons in THE SAINT OF THE IMPOSSIBLE. They fled to New York hoping for a better life. Recounting the fate of this small family in the land of endless opportunities, Swiss director Marc Wilkins impressively illustrates the fate of millions of refugees and illegal migrants with immense authenticity and emotional understanding. He stays close to the reality of their everyday life in the shadow of the dazzling metropolis and also shows the reasons for fleeing their home country in unvarnished images.
In the brilliant comedy DAS SCHWARZE QUADRAT, an ambitious script by debutant director and self-taught filmmaker Peter Meister entered into a congenial liaison with the courage of a production company. Manuel and Alexander Bickenbach from Frisbeefilms GmbH & Co.KG underpinned the story about a nightmare cruise for two small-time crooks with the appropriate funding, so laying the foundation for a convincing and cinematically coherent realization.
Information on Hof Film Festival is available at www.hofer-filmtage.com.
Best regards
Ana Radica and the festival team