GWFF Best First Feature Award Jury
Since 2006, when it introduced the GWFF Best First Feature Award, the Berlinale has been even more committed to supporting the next generation of film makers. The award is endowed with 50,000 euros, donated by the GWFF (Gesellschaft zur Wahrnehmung von Film- und Fernsehrechten), a society dedicated to safeguarding film and television rights. The prize money is to be split between the producer and the director of the winning film. Additionally, the director will be awarded with a high-quality viewfinder as both a useful instrument and memorable trophy.
Festival Director Dieter Kosslick and the heads of the Competition, Panorama, Forum, Generation and Perspektive Deutsches Kino sections have nominated a total of 18 directorial feature film debuts. The winners will be announced at the official Award Ceremony in the Berlinale Palast on February 24.
A three-person jury will decide on the GWFF Best First Feature Award:
Jonas Carpignano (Italy)
Jonas Carpignano, who was born in 1984, grew up in New York City and Rome. His directorial debut, Mediterranea, premiered in the Semaine de la Critique at the Cannes Film Festival in 2015. Not only was it nominated for three Independent Spirit Awards, but it also won the Gotham Award for breakthrough director and a prize from the National Board of Review. His next feature film was also a huge success: A Ciambra, which had its premiere in the Quinzaine des Réalisateurs in 2017, received the Europa Cinemas Label Award for best European film. It was also voted best Italian film of the year by the Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists (SNCCI), earned Carpignano a nomination for best director at the Independent spirit awards and was chosen to represent Italy at the Oscars. Carpignano, who was a Berlinale Talent in 2012, was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2016. He continues to live and work in Southern Italy.
Călin Peter Netzer (Romania)
Born in Romania in 1975, Călin Peter Netzer emigrated with his family to Germany when he was eight. After finishing school in Stuttgart, he studied directing in Bucharest, where he graduated in 1999. After many of his short films had won prizes at international festivals, Maria (2003), his first full-length feature, premiered at the Locarno Festival, where it took home several awards. Its leading actress was also nominated for the European Film Award. Netzers second feature film Medal of Honour (2009) was presented at more than 30 film festivals and received several awards. In 2013 Netzer won the Golden Bear at the Berlinale for his family drama Child’s Pose. The film went on to win eight national Romanian film awards and a nomination for the European Film Award. With Ana, mon amour, he returned to the Berlinale Competition in 2017. For its editing, the film received the Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution.
Noa Regev (Israel)
Noa Regev has been the executive director of the Jerusalem Cinematheque since 2013. This position also includes heading the Israel Film Archive as well as the Jerusalem Film Festival, which under her direction has grown in size and significance, both nationally and internationally. Regev completed her studies at the School of Film and Television at Tel Aviv University with a doctoral thesis on genre in cinema as exemplified by children's film. Since then she has lectured at many academic institutions all over Israel. Prior to taking up her duties in Jerusalem, she headed the Tel Aviv International Student Film Festival and the Holon Cinematheque.
The following 18 films are nominated for the GWFF Best First Feature Award:
Competition (2)
Las herederas (The Heiresses)
Paraguay / Germany / Uruguay / Norway / Brazil / France
By Marcelo Martinessi
With Ana Brun, Margarita Irún, Ana Ivanova
Touch Me Not
Romania / Germany / Czech Republic / Bulgaria / France
By Adina Pintilie
With Laura Benson, Tómas Lemarquis, Christian Bayerlein, Grit Uhlemann, Hanna Hofmann, Seani Love, Irmena Chichikova
Panorama (4)
Marilyn
Argentina / Chile
By Martín Rodríguez Redondo
With Walter Rodríguez, Catalina Saavedra, Germán de Silva, Ignacio Giménez, Rodolfo García Werner
La omisión (The Omission)
Argentina / Netherlands / Switzerland
By Sebastián Schjaer
With Sofía Brito, Lisandro Rodriguez, Malena Hernández Díaz, Victoria Raposo, Pablo Sigal
Rou quing shi (Girls Always Happy)
People’s Republic of China
By Yang Mingming
With Nai An, Yang Mingming, Zhang Xianmin, Li Qinqin, Huang Wei, Yuan Li
Xiao Mei
Taiwan
By Maren Hwang
With Chen Yi-Wen, Liu Kuan-Ting, Na Dow, Wu Chien-Ho, Yin Shin, Laurence Chiu, Chang Shao-Huai, Samantha Ko, Wu Kang-Jen, Jao Cincin
Forum (5)
La cama (The Bed)
Argentina / Germany / Netherlands / Brazil
By Mónica Lairana
With Sandra Sandrini, Alejo Mango
Drvo (The Tree)
Portugal
By André Gil Mata
With Petar Fradelić, Filip Živanović, Sanja Vrzić
An Elephant Sitting Still
People’s Republic of China
By Hu Bo
With Zhang Yu, Peng Yuchang, Wang Yuwen, Liu Congxi
Kaotični život Nade Kadić (The Chaotic Life of Nada Kadić)
Mexico / Bosnia and Herzegovina
By Marta Hernaiz
With Aida Hadžibegović, Hava Đombić
Notes on an Appearance
USA
By Ricky D’Ambrose
With Keith Poulson, Tallie Medel, Bingham Bryant, Madeleine James
Generation (5)
Blue Wind Blows
Japan
By Tetsuya Tomina
With Hizuki Tanaka, Tsubaki Tanaka, Yayako Uchida, Masato Hagiwara
El día que resistía (The Endless Day)
Argentina / France
By Alessia Chiesa
With Lara Rógora, Mateo Baldasso, Mila Marchisio
Dressage
Iran
By Pooya Badkoobeh
With Negar Moghaddam, Yasna Mirtahmasb, Baset Rezaei, Shabnam Moghaddami
Güvercin (The Pigeon)
Turkey
By Banu Sıvacı
With Kemal Burak Alper, Ruhi Sarı, Michal Elia Kamal, Demet Genç
Para Aduma (Red Cow)
Israel
By Tsivia Barkai Jacov
With Avigayil Koevary, Gal Toren, Moran Rosenblatt, Dana Sorin
Perspektive Deutsches Kino (2)
Luz
Germany
By Tilman Singer
With Luana Velis, Jan Bluthardt, Julia Riedler, Nadja Stübiger, Johannes Benecke
Whatever Happens Next
Germany / Poland
By Julian Pörksen
With Sebastian Rudolph, Lilith Stangenberg, Peter René Lüdicke, Christine Hoppe, Eike Weinreich
All nominated films will celebrate their world premiere at the Berlinale 2018.
