LICHTER comes to a festive end - two prizes go to the Hanau documentary “Das deutsche Volk”
Marcin Wierzchowski receives the main prize of the LICHTER Filmfest, the Regional Feature Film Award, for “Das deutsche Volk”. The documentary tells the story of the survivors of the racist attack in Hanau in 2020 in impressive black and white images. The jury prize of the Evangelische Filmarbeit also goes to the Frankfurter director Wierzchowski. An honorable mention goes to the feature film “Im Haus meiner Eltern” by Offenbacher director Tim Ellrich.
Argentinian director Luis Ortega was awarded the LICHTER Audience Award for his film “Kill The Jockey”.
The documentary “Monika” by Geeske Janßen, which portrays a man's intimate relationship with a love doll, was awarded the prize for best regional short film. The short film “Diana's Poem” by Dani Rose Cortés, which deals with everyday violence against women, receives the Filmhaus Frankfurt's newcomer award.
Stefano Conca Bonizzoni receives the 9th Virtual Storytelling Award from the audience of the VR screenings for “Sweet End of the World!”.
Suse Itzel wins the festival's video art prize, the 15th LICHTER Art Award, with “Ich hätte lieber einen anderen Film gemacht”.
The festival's leading duo, Gregor Maria Schubert and Johanna Süß, summarize: “Cinema need not be afraid of its future”, alluding not only to the annual theme of this year's festival edition but also to the great popularity: a third more tickets were sold compared to the previous year and the festival attracted a total of 14,000 visitors.
The regional competition
Out of twelve entries in the regional feature film competition, “Das Deutsche Volk” by Marcin Wierzchowski was honored with the LICHTER-Bembel and prize money of 3,000 euros. After an acclaimed Berlinale premiere, the documentary, co-produced by the Frankfurt production companies milk and water and Strandfilm and supported by Hessen Film und Medien, celebrated its Hessen premiere at LICHTER. It is the director's second cinematic examination of the racist attack in Hanau in 2020.
“Marcin Wierzchowski's documentary tears open the wound of Hanau - in relentless black and white, he shows the unquenchable pain of the relatives, their exhausting struggle for complete clarification and remembrance. [...] His camera shows no conciliatory conclusion, almost stoically he goes back to these images again and again in his scenes, just as the pain of the bereaved and survivors of February 19, 2020 begins anew every day and begs to be heard.”
This is how the jury, consisting of Laura Klippel (film producer), Cem Kaya (film director) and Volker Beller (director of Randfilmfest Kassel), explained their decision.
They gave an honorable mention to the family drama “Im Haus meiner Eltern” by director Tim Ellrich because it presents cinematic art that is very rarely seen in German-language cinema.
In the regional short film competition, the jury consisting of Dascha Petuchow (producer), Brigitte Maria Bertele (director) and Jakob Zapf (director and producer) awarded “Monika” by Geeske Janßen the LICHTER-Bembel and prize money of 1,000 euros.
The film tells the story of a man's relationship with his sex doll - a love that makes closeness possible where it would otherwise remain unattainable. The film shows the positive effects of this bond, but also addresses loneliness and social stigmatization. How deep can a bond go when the object of love has a name but is not alive?
Commenting on the decision, the jury said: “In twelve condensed minutes, the filmmaker manages to fan out the ethical complexity of the topic of sex dolls [...]. By means of the art of omission and a sensual-haptic camera work, Geeske Janßen creates a deep echo chamber for the dialectic of the use of an inanimate sexual object of satisfaction and the longing for touch, connection and comfort in the interaction with a non-judgmental companion.”
The LICHTER Audience Award
As in previous years, the audience once again chose their favorites: After each screening, visitors awarded school grades from 1 (great) to 5 (not at all). The choice fell on “Kill the Jockey” - a gripping feature film set in the excessive world of the Argentinian horse racing mafia.
Luis Ortega tells a story that shifts effortlessly between gangster film and the exploration of gender and identity. Accompanied by a rousing soundtrack, Ortega once again confirms his reputation as one of the most exciting voices in contemporary world cinema. He can now look forward to the LICHTER-Bembel and prize money of 1,000 euros.
The 15th LICHTER Art Award
The five nominated works for the LICHTER Art Award were exhibited at Massif Arts for a week. Suse Itzel received the LICHTER-Bembel and prize money of 1,000 euros for her video work “Ich hätte lieber einen anderen Film gemacht”. In her experimental documentary essay film, the Cologne-based artist deals impressively with painful memories of her own past.
The jury – consisting of Sarnt Utamachote (Southeast Asian, non-binary filmmaker and curator from Berlin), Jakob Sturm (artist, spatial activist and author) and Saul Judd (curator
of the LICHTER Art Award) – recognized Suse Itzel's special approach of combining time-based media, texts and reconstructed and alienated set pieces from her family environment. These elements, which act as a backdrop to her childhood, impressively characterize the atmosphere of her cinematic work.
The 9th VR Storytelling Award
The VR Storytelling Award of the LICHTER Filmfest has once again been
presented as an audience award. After four days of immersive screenings
in the festival center, the audience chose “SWEET END OF THE WORLD!” by Stefano Conca Bonizzoni.
The film tells the story of a mother who tells her child a fairy tale
of human greed and lost innocence - powerfully staged with impressive VR
images. Bonizzoni was awarded the LICHTER Bembel and prize money of
1,000 euros.
Filmhaus Frankfurt's newcomer award Diana's Poem
For the fourth time, the Filmhaus Frankfurt is awarding a newcomer prize at the LICHTER Filmfest to promote exceptional talent. The “Filmhaus-Gerippte” and 500 euros as a seminar and technical voucher at Filmhaus Frankfurt go to the regional short film “Diana's Poem” by Dani Rose Cortés. The Darmstadt film student documents everyday violence against women - on buses, trains, at school and in her own home. At a school performance, she confronts her tormentor and her unsuspecting mother.
Jury Prize of the Evangelical Film Work
The jury of the Evangelische Filmarbeit awards the Lila LICHTER-Bembel to a regional or international feature film from the festival program. This year's prize, endowed with 500 euros, also went to “Das Deutsche Volk” by Marcin Wierzchowski.
