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DIAGONALE 2019 Awards

Chaos and The Remains – Nach der Odyssee prevail at the Diagonale

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- Sara Fattahi’s film won the Grand Prize for Best Feature, while Nathalie Borgers’ movie received the Grand Diagonale Prize for Best Documentary

Chaos and The Remains – Nach der Odyssee prevail at the Diagonale
The winners and organisers of the 2019 Diagonale

Seventeen awards were handed out during the closing ceremony of the 2019 edition of the Diagonale (19-24 March), which took place on Saturday night at the Orpheum Theatre in the city of Graz. The two main honours, the Grand Diagonale Prizes of the Province of Styria for Best Austrian Feature Film and Best Documentary, were endowed with €21,000 each. 

The international jury for fiction features, which brought together filmmaker Patric Chiha, film editor Gesa Jäger and Eva Sangiorgi, director of the Viennale, handed the Best Feature Film Award to Sara Fattahi's Chaos [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
, a film that tells the stories of three women from Damascus forced to cope with the repercussions of traumatic war experiences. “Memories seek to be given a voice, and they find it in a film that is simultaneously process and perception. This film shows its potential with an openness that moves us deeply, both in our emotions and in our understanding – and that allows Chaos to be experienced with all of our senses,” the jury said.

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Meanwhile, Nathalie Borgers’ The Remains – Nach der Odyssee was handed the Grand Diagonale Prize for Best Documentary by the jury comprising German filmmaker Philipp JedickeSeraina Rohrer, director of the Solothurn Film Festival, and curator and author Jurij Meden. “In an impressive and cinematographically persuasive manner, the film shows the pain of a family affected by one of the greatest humanitarian catastrophes of the present day. The director lets us get very close to a family of refugees and conveys their simply inconceivable pain,” the jury stated to justify its decision.

The Prize for Innovative Cinema from the City of Graz went to Wreckage takes a holiday by Jennifer Mattes. “One’s first impression of this unique film is that it is weird and humorous – weird in the sense that it pulls together unexpected elements in a truly surreal manner. […] The second impression one gets is that this is a genuinely experimental film – experimental in form, in materiality, in complexity of narrative, in the skilful editing and combination of found footage, in the performances and in the digital manipulation,” the jury said.

Furthermore, the Diagonale acting gongs went to Joy Alphonsus for her turn in Joy [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Sudabeh Mortezai
film profile
]
and to Simon Frühwirth for his performance in Nevrland [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
.   

Lastly, for the first time at the Diagonale, a prize was given out by Kodak. This year, the award (endowed with €1,500 worth of film stock) went to Leena Koppe, the cinematographer on The Ground beneath My Feet [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Marie Kreutzer
film profile
]
.

Here is the complete list of winners at the 2019 edition of the Diagonale: 

Grand Diagonale Prize for Best Feature Film
Chaos [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
 - Sara Fattahi (Syria/Austria/Qatar/Lebanon)

Grand Diagonale Prize for Best Documentary Film
The Remains – Nach der Odyssee – Nathalie Borgers (Austria)

Diagonale Prize for Best Innovative Film
Wreckage takes a holiday – Jennifer Mattes (Austria)

Best Short Fiction Film
Ene Mene – Raphaela Schmid (Austria)

Best Short Documentary Film
Remapping the Origins – Johannes Gierlinger (Austria)

Best Young Talent Film
Zufall & Notwendigkeit – Nicolas Pindeus (Austria)

Diagonale Prize for Feature Film Editing
Peter Schreiner - Garden [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
(Austria)

Diagonale Prize for Documentary Film Editing
Arthur Summereder - Die Tage wie das Jahr (Austria)

Diagonale Prize for Fiction Feature Cinematography
Klemens Hufnagl – Movements of a Nearby Mountain [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Sebastian Brameshuber
film profile
]
(Austria/France)

Diagonale Prize for Documentary Feature Cinematography
Christiana Perschon – Sie ist der andere Blick (Austria)

Diagonale Prize for Fiction Feature Sound Design
Pia Dumont – Angelo [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Markus Schleinzer
film profile
]
(Austria/Luxembourg)

Diagonale Prize for Documentary Feature Sound Design
Florian Kindlinger – Earth [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Nikolaus Geyrhalter
film profile
]
(Austria)

Diagonale Prize for Production Design
Andreas Sobotka and Martin Reiter – Angelo 

Diagonale Prize for Costume Design
Carola Pizzini – Joy [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Sudabeh Mortezai
film profile
]
(Austria)

Diagonale Prize for Best Actress
Joy Alphonsus – Joy

Diagonale Prize for Best Actor
Simon Frühwirth – Nevrland [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
(Austria) 

Prize for Outstanding Production Services (ex aequo)
Mona Film – What Have We Done to Deserve This? [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
(Austria)
Planet Watch Film and Video Productions – Manaslu – Berg der Seelen [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
(Austria/Italy)

Kodak Analogue Prize
Leena Koppe (cinematographer) – The Ground beneath My Feet [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Marie Kreutzer
film profile
]
 (Austria)

Franz Grabner Prize for Best Cinema Documentary
The Waldheim Waltz [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ruth Beckermann
film profile
]
- Ruth Beckermann (Austria)

Franz Grabner Prize for Best TV Documentary
Leben für den Tod – Menschen am Zentralfriedhof - Karin Berghammer and Krisztina Kerekes (Austria)

Carl Mayer Main Prize for Screenwriting
Jessica Lind - Der Tag, an dem der Regen kam (treatment – Austria)

Carl Mayer Funding Prize for Screenwriting
Ulrike Kofler – Full House (treatment – Austria)

Thomas Pluch Screenwriting Prize - Main Prize
Christian Frosch – Murer - Anatomy of a Trial [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
 (Austria/Luxembourg)

Thomas Pluch Screenwriting Prize – Special Jury Prize
Gregor Schmidinger - Nevrland

Thomas Pluch Screenwriting Prize - Short Film
Albert Meisl – Die Schwingen des Geistes (Austria)

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