15/12/2014 - Marc Bauder's film about the cynical world of finance reigned over the non-fiction category at the 27th EFA; three other German co-productions were also awarded

Marc Bauder's Master of the Universe [+see also:
trailer
film profile], an Austrian/German title (co-produced by the German outfit bauderfilm), was named Best European Documentary 2014 at the 27th European Film Awards (EFA) ceremony, which took place in Riga this Saturday (13 December).

Master of the Universe celebrated its world premiere at the 2013 edition of the Locarno Film Festival, where it won the main prize of the Critics' Week, after which it toured the international festival circuit (it was recently presented at the IDFA in Amsterdam). This documentary is a tell-all featuring a true international finance industry insider who was once one of Germany’s leading investment bankers. In the film, Rainer Voss – who, in his heyday, could easily handle millions – gives his personal insight into how the glittering financial world really operates, unveiling its dark abysses, the lack of scruples it rests on, and its semi-religious rules. Master of the Universe can currently be seen in France, Italy, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Poland.

Una Gunjak's The Chicken (co-produced by Zak Film Production with Hungarian partners) was elected Best European Short Film.

In addition, The Dark Valley [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Austria's Andreas Prochaska (co-produced in Germany by X Filme Creative Pool) earned Natascha Curtius-Noss the EFA for Best European Costume Designer and Claus-Rudolf Amler the EFA for Best European Production Designer.