10/10/2022 - A number of passionate pleas for freedom were made at the 30th-anniversary edition of the German gathering, which boasted 116 features from 58 countries

A moment during the premiere of Rheingold by Fatih Akin (© Martin Kunze/Filmfest Hamburg)

The 30th edition of Filmfest Hamburg was marked by public protests against the repression of women and imprisoned filmmakers in Iran as well as the war in Ukraine. “We have always been a political festival,” stated Albert Wiederspiel, director of Filmfest Hamburg. “I am very concerned about the situation for Iranian filmmakers.” Incarcerated directors Mohammad Rasoulof and Jafar Panahi, as well as Turkish producer Çiğdem Mater, were thrust into the spotlight at the opening ceremony. While Panahi is under arrest, his new film No Bears was presented at Filmfest Hamburg, whose line-up also included the Iranian films World War III and Beyond the Wall, as well as the Iranian-set Holy Spider [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ali Abbasi
interview: Ali Abbasi
interview: Zar Amir Ebrahimi
film profile] by Ali Abbasi.

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In total, Filmfest Hamburg presented 116 feature-length films from 58 countries, some of which formed part of the programme of the Molodist Kyiv International Film Festival (see the news). “I am delighted to welcome our Ukrainian guests,” said the festival director, “but what kind of times are we living in if a film festival has to be on the run?” The fight for freedom is a topic that served as a common thread running through various films. In the opening movie, We Are Next of Kin [+see also:
trailer
interview: Hans-Christian Schmid
film profile] by Hans-Christian Schmid (23, Distant Lights, Requiem [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Hans-Christian Schmid
interview: Hans-Christian Schmid
interview: Sandra Hueller
film profile]), the heir to a tobacco company is kidnapped, which plunges his family into an emotional state of emergency. Based on the autobiographical novel by Johann Reetsma, the intense-thriller drama is told from the perspective of the 13-year-old son, who fears for his father.

Fear was never an option for popular German rap singer Xatar, whose autobiographical novel German filmmaker Fatih Akin (In the Fade [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Fatih Akin
film profile], The Edge of Heaven [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Fatih Akin
interview: Klaus Maeck
film profile], Head On [+see also:
trailer
film profile]) has brought to the big screen in his new film, Rheingold. Raised in a prison in Iraq, the son of a Kurdish composer learns how to fight on the street when he comes to Germany, and becomes a drug dealer and gold thief. When he ends up in prison, he secretly records rap songs, which then top the charts. At the world premiere, Akin introduced the cast and crew as well as Xatar, who called his parents up on stage. His mother, a former resistance fighter in Kurdistan, made a passionate plea for the freedom of women in Iran: “I hope that the abuse, violence and stoning of women will stop – in Iran and all over the world,” she said.

The longing for freedom is universal. In the political satire Amerikatsi by Michael Goorjian, a young Armenian survived the genocide but has ended up in a Russian prison. His only connection to the outside world is a hole in the prison wall, which enables him to watch an Armenian couple. The powerful parable received the Audience Award at the gathering. Meanwhile, the donkey in the Polish Oscar entry EO [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Jerzy Skolimowski runs off whenever possible. Escape is not an option, though, for a young fashion model in the autobiographical German drama In a Land That No Longer Exists [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Alerun Goette, who grew up in the former GDR. The threat to freedom is a topic dealt with by two features about the terror attacks in Paris in 2015. While Cédric Jimenez’s gripping thriller Novembre [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] gives an insight into the police investigation, the drama You Will Not Have My Hate [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Kilian Riedhof
film profile] by Kilian Riedhof focuses on the emotional struggles of the victims of the attack.

In How to Blow up a Pipeline, a group of climate activists sees no other way to fight climate change than by destroying a pipeline. The activist drama earned US director Daniel Goldhaber the Political Film Award, donated by the Friedrich-Ebert Foundation. The NDR Newcomer Award was given to the Belgian-French co-production Love According to Dalva [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Emmanuelle Nicot
interview: Emmanuelle Nicot, Julie Esp…
film profile] by Emmanuelle Nicot, who follows the emotional journey of a 12-year-old girl who has been abused. The Belgian coming-of-age drama Close [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Eden Dambrine
interview: Lukas Dhont
interview: Lukas Dhont
film profile] by Lukas Dhont received the Arthouse Cinema Award, through which the MOIN Filmförderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein supports Pandora Film with €5,000 for the theatrical release of the flick in Germany. The Critics’ Choice Award went to R.M.N. [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Cristian Mungiu
interview: Judith State
film profile] in which Cristian Mungiu portrays male violence and racism.

The jury of the Molodist Kyiv International Film Festival presented the Scythian Deer Award to Stop-Zemlia [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Kateryna Gornostai
film profile] by Kateryna Gornostai and bestowed a further award upon the short film Leopolis Night by Nikon Romanchenko. At the MICHEL Children’s and Youth Filmfest, hosted by Filmfest Hamburg, the winner was The Time of Secrets by Christophe Barratier.

Furthermore, German film and TV producers and production companies were rewarded in Hamburg. The International Cinema Co-Productions Award was handed to producers Michael Reuter, Saar Yogev and Naomi Levari for the Slovak-Czech-German co-production Victim [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Michal Blaško
film profile] by Michal Blaško. The Hamburg Producers Award for German Cinema Productions went to producers Tobias Walker and Philipp Worm (of Walker + Worm Film) for Skin Deep [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Alex Schaad
film profile] by Alex Schaad. The romantic sci-fi drama is one of 21 co-productions by German-French cultural channel ARTE, which celebrated its 30^th anniversary at Filmfest Hamburg. The German Television Productions Award was given to Christian Popp (of Producers at Work Film) for The Cape Town Miracle by Franziska Buch, about the first heart transplant. Finally, the Special Prize for Serial Formats went to producer Christian Beetz (of gebrüder beetz filmproduktion) for Reeperbahn Special Unit 65 by Georg Tschurtschenthaler (see the news).

Here is the complete list of award winners at the 30^th Filmfest Hamburg:

Political Film Award
How to Blow up a Pipeline - Daniel Goldhaber (USA)

Newcomer Award
Love According to Dalva [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Emmanuelle Nicot
interview: Emmanuelle Nicot, Julie Esp…
film profile] - Emmanuelle Nicot (Belgium/France)

Arthouse Cinema Award
Close [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Eden Dambrine
interview: Lukas Dhont
interview: Lukas Dhont
film profile] - Lukas Dhont (Belgium/France/Netherlands)

Critics’ Choice Award
R.M.N. [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Cristian Mungiu
interview: Judith State
film profile] - Cristian Mungiu (Romania/France)

Audience Award
Amerikatsi - Michael Goorjian (Armenia)

MICHEL Children’s and Youth Filmfest Award
The Time of Secrets - Christophe Barratier (France)

Scythian Deer Feature Film Award
Stop-Zemlia [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Kateryna Gornostai
film profile] - Kateryna Gornostai (Ukraine)

Scythian Deer Short Film Award
Leopolis Night - Nikon Romanchenko (Ukraine)

International Cinema Co-Productions Award
Michael Reuter, Saar Yogev and Naomi Levari (Electric Sheep) – Victim [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Michal Blaško
film profile] (Slovakia/Czech Republic/Germany)

Producers Award for German Cinema Productions
Tobias Walker and Philipp Worm (Walker + Worm Film) - Skin Deep [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Alex Schaad
film profile] (Germany)

Hamburg Producers Award for German TV Production
Christian Popp (Producers at Work Film) - The Cape Town Miracle (Germany)

Special Prize for Serial Formats
Christian Beetz (gebrüder beetz filmproduktion) - Reeperbahn Special Unit 65 (Germany)