Festivals

On November 16, the festival closed with the Award Ceremony. The Ecumenical Jury awarded its Prize to "Nabat by Elchin Musaoglu from Aserbaijan.

As opening film the 24th Festival of East European Cinema in Cottbus presented "Underdog" (Fehér isten) by Kornél Mundruczó. After the leave of Roland Rust the festival direction has changed to Bernd Buder. He choose twelve films for the competition.

A film from Iceland is the winner of the Nordic Film Days Luebeck 2014: "Life in a Fishbowl" by director Baldwin Z won the prestigious NDR Film Award. The Church Film Prize by the INTERFILM Jury went to "1001 Grams" by Bent Hamer from Norway.

The festival announces latest political films to the crises in Syria and the Ukraine. The opening film tells about another controversial political matter: Edward Snowden and the wiretap practices of the NSA which he made public.

In spite of the difficult situation in the Ukraine the International Film Festival Molodist in Kyiv will take place also this year. It opens on October 25 with „Trois cœur“ by Benoît Jacquot (out of competition).

A film from Estonia is the winner of the Ecumenical Film Prize: "In the Crosswind" (Risttuules), directed by Martti Helde. The jury labeled it a "cinematic requiem" for the victims of the Soviet oppression in Eastern Europe. The Warsaw Grand Prix was given to the Chinese competition entry "The Coffin in the Mountain" by director Xin Yukun.

In 2004 in Miskolc, an industrial city in northern Hungary, the Jameson Cinefest was organised for the first time. An Ecumenical Jury attends the festival since 2011. This year, the jury awarded its Prize to "Bande de filles" (Girlhood), a French film directed by Cécile Sciamma.

The 71st Mostra del Cinema under the direction of Alberto Barbera offered an artistically ambitious programme in both competition sections, Venezia 71 and Orizzonti. The INTERFILM Jury considers both of them and chose as winner of the INTERFILM Award for Promoting Interreligious Dialogue the French entry "Loin des hommes" (Far From Men), directed by David Oelhoffen.

After controversial information in the press about the financial situation of the festival and a delayed publication of its programme, it was held successfully and announced the winners on September 1st. The Ecumenical Jury awarded the Japanese entry "Cape Nostalgia", directed by Izuru Naroshima.

The film festival at the Lago Maggiore in Switzerland, since 2013 headed by artistic director Carlo Chatrian, cherishes especially aesthetic innovations. Consequently, the Golden Leopard went to "From What Is Before" by Lav Diaz from the Philippines. The Ecumenical Jury awarded "The Fool" by Russian director Yuri Bykov.

The Ecumenical Jury 2014 awarded two films, both from Caucasian countries. The Ecumenical Prize went to THE ABODE by Lusine Sargsyan from Armenia, and a Commendation to BLIND DATES by Levan Koguashvili from Georgia, which also won the Silver Apricot by the International Jury.

The Ecumenical Jury awarded with its Prize "Corn Island", which also won the "Crystal Globe", the Grand Prix of the festival. In addition, the Ecumenical Jury awarded a Commendation to "Rocks In My Pockets" which also won the Prize of the FIPRESCI jury.

The Ecumenical Jury at the 67th Festival de Cannes (May 14-25, 2014), appointed by INTERFILM and SIGNIS, has awarded its Prize to TIMBUKTU by Abderrahmane Sissako, France/Mauretania, 2014. In addition, the Jury awards two Commendations to THE SALT OF EARTH by Wim Wenders and Juliano Ribeiro Salgado, France 2014, and to HERMOSA JUVENTUD by Jaime Rosales, Spain/France 2014, both in the programme of Un Certain Regard. The winner of the Palm d'Or is the Turkish competition entry WINTER SLEEP by Nuri Bilge Ceylan.

This year, Oberhausen celebrated ist 60th anniversary. On this occasion, the Ecumenical Jury, on behalf of INTERFILM and SIGNIS, appreciated Festival director Lars Henrik Gass by an Honorary Award.

The festival was founded in 1969 by Moritz de Hadeln and his wife Erika and is dedicated to documentaries. Their successors Jean Perret and Gabriele Bussmann in 1995 renamed it "Visions du réel" to indicate the manyfold approach of documentaries to reality. Festival director since 2011 is Luciano Barisone.