Since 1992, the international film organisations of the Protestant and Catholic Churches - INTERFILM and SIGNIS - have been represented by the Ecumenical Jury. It consists of six members and awards its main prize to a film entered in the Competition. It also awards two other prizes, both worth 2,500 Euros, one to a film from the Panorama and one to a film in the Forum.
The prizes go to directors who have succeeded in portraying actions or human experiences that are in keeping with the Gospels, or in sensitising viewers to spiritual, human or social values.
PRIZE WINNER COMPETITION 2016
Fuocoammare
by Gianfranco Rosi
Fuocoammare interweaves the destinies of African refugees with the life of an Italian fishing family on the island of Lampedusa. Through poetically meaningful images, Rosi illuminates these separate worlds, connecting them through the character of a doctor, and through the motif of the sea, which nourishes some and kills others. A film that crafts a new perspective of the catastrophe, a film that refuses to allow the status quo to go unquestioned.
PRIZE WINNER PANORAMA 2016
Les premiers, les derniers (The First, the Last)
by Bouli Lanners
Two outcast lovers on the run. Two hitmen on their trail. Many gunshots. And it all oddly leads to a powerful plea for humanity. With gorgeously photographed lonely landscapes and endearingly hopeful characters, this playfully apocalyptic western paints a desolate road toward salvation, but the journey is worth the wait and the work because, as one character beautifully states, "There is more to life than breathing." Bouli Lanners' Les premiers, les derniers urges us to breathe and travel together.
PRIZE WINNER FORUM 2016
Barakah yoqabil Barakah (Barakah Meets Barakah) by Mahmoud Sabbagh
and
Les Sauteurs (Those Who Jump) by Abou Bakar Sidibé, Estephan Wagner and Moritz Siebert
Baraqah Meets Baraqah is a classic ‘boys meets girl’ story transposed to a refreshing and challenging context. It proposes a reflection on freedom and the role of the women in Saudi society, on the expression of self in spite of cultural impositions. The film uses humour and charm to render its political message about youth seeking freedom accessible.
Les Sauteurs depicts the plight of African refugees from a bold new perspective. Entrusting the camera to their co-director Abou Bakar Sidibé, a young Malien hoping to enter Europe across the notorious fences of Melilla, directors Moritz Siebert and Estephan Wagner create an intimate portrait of a community in harsh conditions. The film encourages us to look beyond countless dots on a computer monitor to see individuals who suffer, hope and endure.
Members of the Jury 2016
Rev. Micah Bucey
Prof. Dr. phil. Hans-Joachim Neubauer
Prof. Aurore Renaut
Callum Ryan
Jacques Vercueil
Marisa Winter