Dramatisk musikk I'm Thank you. Good evening, welcome to our award ceremony of the 18th edition of Crossing Europe Film Festival Linz. of the 18th edition of Crossing Europe Film Festival Linz. Before I introduce you to our host tonight, I would like to take the opportunity to address some love letters to you. We had a really splendid week, despite all the obstacles we had to take, either to travel to Linz from other countries from Europe or to get certificates to enter cinemas and all the other circumstances. After so many months of, let's say, darkness or loneliness on our sofas, it was really a joy to celebrate together a festival. I mean, we and me and the entire team, we are really exhausted, but we are really happy that we made it and all of you contributed, either film guests, audience, donors, sponsors, collaborators, so many people who really contributed to this festival and I would like to thank you all for helping us to make this possible and especially of course our dear film guests who most of them told us it was the first time they could attend the festival and the film was screened in front of an audience, which is really and the film was screened in front of an audience, which is really, yeah, it's amazing. And I'm also, it was also a burden for us because so many world premieres we celebrated and luckily, more or less, everything went well. And if not, you will excuse us, but we did really our best. And in context with this, I really would like to give a huge big hug to the amazing Crossing Europe team, which did an excellent job so far. The festival is not over. Tomorrow we have plenty of films. Please join us. It will rain, so perfect weather to attend a screening. And also the weather was fantastic. Summer also came by surprise. It was not expected that we could really all gather outside. Nevertheless, the audience attendance was amazing. And I would like also to thank the audience from Linz in Upper Austria and all guests from Austria who came to attend. So but now please really a huge applause for the entire Crossing Europe team please. Actually, this award ceremony is a live stream, but it will be also accessible on our website later on, so I will show the team your clapping because of course not everybody is here. So thanks for hugging the team and it was really very stressful this year and it was really amazing how they managed to deal with all the circumstances. So this is the team and I also would like, of course, to thank all the directors to bring their films. And we are the happy few who could celebrate together and watch films together and celebrate the festival. And some of you will be even happier because they will get an award. Not all, of course, which I feel sorry, but this is the game, this is part of a festival, this is part of a competition, but I would like to let you know that we really are very proud that you are here, we really appreciate what you have done and everybody who is in film business knows how hard it is to make a film, to bring it to the world, to distribute it, and so on and so on, and really huge respect for your work. So I would also be very happy if you could also applaud to all the filmmakers who are present tonight from all over Europe. Many countries are represented. Yeah. And I forgot to thank Dorf TV, it's in English Village TV, which is a community-based TV station who is broadcasting the ceremony and who is also broadcasting the ceremony and who is also broadcasting some talks and events during the festival. You can all watch it later on. And as well, I would like to recommend you our Flickr photo gallery with all the impressions from the week. I would like to thank the wonderful juries. You did a great job. Thanks for your Dedicating your precious time spending almost a week in Linz I'm really grateful and I know how hard it is to make decisions Thank you so much what you've done for us and Some of them are filmmakers as well. They know what it means to get an award or be in a competition so thanks for that thanks to the jurors in general so what else actually this is my last let's say official mission on this stage after 18 years running this festival. But I would like to express that I'm really, really convinced, more than convinced, I'm sure, the festival has a bright future and whoever will continue this work will do a great job and everything is settled more or less. The city is very welcoming there are a lot of european films produced wonderful talents also a lot of newcomers we always present at this festival and also the regional filmmakers or filmmakers with connection to upper austria was supported by upper aust funds. Did a great job. Thank you all the local artists for being part of this festival. It's very important and I think it's also a good sign for all the funding institutions to encourage them to give more money for filmmaking in Austria and Europe and in general. for filmmaking in Austria and Europe and in general. So I think I said everything except I have to introduce to you now our host, which is Karin Schmidt, but I need my glasses, sorry. So Karin is a Linz-based actress for film and theatre. She is currently working on her new project, Verwandlung, in collaboration with the British theatre maker Sam Chittenden from Different Theatre. During the course of last year, she became a yoga coach, which is very handy also for the Crossing Europe team, I have to say, and helps people be more centered and balanced in life. What a wonderful job. Please welcome Karin Schmidt. Thank you, Christina. Thank you. And just for the procedure, after talking. Yes, show us how it's done, Christina. Exit always here. Perfect. Perfect, Christina. Ladies and gentlemen, guests, sponsors, donors, members, team members of the festival, welcome to the 18th Crossing Europe Award Ceremony. I'm super excited to be here tonight, not only because it's my first time on stage in over a year, but also because I cannot wait to find out who tonight's winners are going to be. I'm honored to be your host this evening and I'll be navigating through the next hour of celebrating European cinema. So the language tonight will be English and I hope this way everyone will be able to follow the proceedings. I also need to say a few things because we are living in a time of a pandemic. So tonight we're trying to keep the numbers of people on stage to a minimum. There are spots on stage to help you keep the distance to one another. If you enter the stage, that's great, but do it on this side. I'm not going to say left or right because it changes the second you're on stage. So this side is the entrance. Come up here. And then if you leave, do it on this side. This side. So just to give you an orientation, we're trying to avoid any mix-ups between the audience members. And so when you come up on stage, go to the microphone, remove your mask when you get to the microphone. And when you're done speaking, please put it back on. Just exactly the way Christina just demonstrated so beautifully for us. Christine just demonstrated so beautifully for us. I also need to say, in the end of the ceremony, there will be single photos taken. So everyone who's been on stage today, please don't run off after the ceremony. Please stay so we can take that opportunity to get a picture with you. And about me, I am going to be behind the microphone all evening so I'm not going to be wearing a mask but I am going to keep my distance because I'm gonna be on the furthest to the side spot all evening and I'm tested as everyone else in this room so I hope everyone will feel safe and comfortable tonight. We start this evening with the Golden Bag Window Display Contest, and a special thank you goes to the partners Europack and the Managing Director Manfred Zaumbauer, as well as the Oberösterreichischen Nachrichten and Linzer City Ring. And let me announce the winners for you right away. You will be able to read along on the screen right behind me. The first prize goes to Zerum. The second prize goes to Haut und Seele. And the third prize goes to Durchreise. Maybe an applause now would be okay. Thank you. Congratulations to the winners. And I thank all the shops that participated. And you can find them on the Crossing Europe homepage. www.crossingeurope.at And now it begins. This year, the festival is showing 123 films from 40 different countries and invited four different juries who will award their favorite films tonight. And despite the situation, we're happy that so many people came to see the films and voted for their favorite one for the Audience Award. We will first turn to the awards of the Local Artist section and will then move on to the European Awards. Let's start with the Crossing Europe Local Artist Awards, comprising short and feature-length films from Upper Austria. Sure. Awards comprising short and feature-length films from Upper Austria. Sure! More than 50 films and videos were presented this year in this showcase of Upper Austrian filmmaking fiction, experimental short film and feature length documentaries with a wide variety of topics. Let me introduce to you the jury of the Local Artists Crossing Europe Award. Please stand up and present yourself to the audience. Laurin Bachmann. Dinko Draganovic. Alenka Mali. Thank you so much. And before I ask the spokesperson of the jury to join me on stage, I will introduce the awards of this category. So what is to win? This award is actually split in three. First, there's a prize money of 1,000 euros sponsored by the production company Fora Film in Linz. Secondly, there's a voucher sponsored by the Austrian post-production company The the Grand Post, worth 2,000 Euro. And last, but definitely not least, a prize money of 5,000 Euro, powered by the Cultural Department of the Federal Province of Upper Austria, in other words, Land Ober Österreich. So, first, please welcome with me on stage the Managing Director of Vorher Fil Film, Sinisa Vidovic. He has won the Crossing Europe Local Artist Award in 2016 and returns now to this stage as a sponsor, which is really special. And I also ask the spokesperson of the jury, Dinko Draganovic, to join me on stage. Please, Sinisa, here is your microphone. And would you please wait for a moment? So, Sinisa, tell me a little bit about Fora Film, please. Okay. Fora Film is a small film production company that was founded 13 years ago here in Linz. We are a group of filmmakers and creatives who are producing a different kind of video content and films and yeah with the new award we would like to give a little support to the local artists. It's a small amount but at least because filmmaking is really hard work they can make a nice holiday trip with the money. That's awesome. And I think no amount is small. Everything makes a difference. Thank you so much for being here. And I'm going to ask Tsuri to announce the winner today. So hello hello everybody. With its calm approach, this film gives insight into special realities. We were especially impressed by the precise form of storytelling and the remarkable performance by the actors. The Local Artist Award for Best Directing, powered by Vodafone, goes to Ankommen by Mohamed Reza Rasouli. Please join us on stage. before the film goes to Ankommen by Mohamed Reza Rasouli. Congratulations. Please join us on stage. Yes, please. If you would like to say some words, use the microphone of the jury, please. Hello, everyone. Thank you for having me here. I had a lot to say, but almost I forgot. So just I wanted to say thank you to especially to my team, my actors, my crew, my producers. And thank you a lot to Crossing Group because after this Corona time, it was so interesting. Especially for me, I can have it so deep in my mind because since two years I live in Austria, and I tried my best to see the culture, to learn from society and people. And about your sentence, I would like to say we were a young team, and our budget was less than 1 euro for this movie so this money actually I would like to think about my new project so congratulations again thank you so much please find the exit on this side congratulations Please find the exit on this side. Congratulations. And now please welcome with me the managing director of the audio and image post-production company The Grand Post in Vienna, Marco Zinz, as well as the spokesperson of the jury, Laurin Bachmann. Hello Marco. Please can you... Hello. So can you tell me what the award filmmaker get from the grant post with that voucher that you're giving away? We are post production house. We do audio post-production, like sound mixing, sound design, foley recording, but also picture post-production, like color grading, visual effects, and other stuff. And with this voucher, you can either come to our renowned site in Kaiserstraße in the 7th district, or our second site, which is opening on Monday, actually, inside in Gasse to do either picture or audio post-production. Awesome. So new things are happening. Great. Thank you. Time to celebrate. Thank you for being here. So may I ask the jury to announce the winner? The two protagonists tell a moving family history both in front of and behind the camera and also deeply impressed us not only by their performance. The Local Artist Award powered by the Grand Post goes to Schweben by Julia Windisch-Bauer and Elena Wolf. Congratulations! Unfortunately, they cannot be here with us tonight. So the award goes back to the festival director Christina Dollhofer who will definitely make sure that the winners will receive the prize director, Christina Dollhofer, who will definitely make sure that the winners will receive the prize. And Christina runs and receives everything in their place. Also from Matt. And please. We will send it to her. No worries. Yes, we believe you, Christina. Please find your exit on this side. Thank you so much. And we will watch a video message Wir werden es ihr schicken, keine Sorge. Ja, wir glauben an dich, Christine. Bitte finden Sie Ihren Ausflug an dieser Seite. Vielen Dank. Wir werden eine Videomessage schauen, weil Julia und Elena uns eine für heute gesendet haben. Ich weiß nicht, was ich sagen soll. Cross-The-Gear-Team, ich habe gerade erfahren, dass wir den Preis kriegen, den wunderbaren Post-Production-Preis von der Grand Post-Production in Wien und I don't know what to say, was geht ab? Ich glaube es gerade überhaupt noch nicht und wie man merkt, ich freue mich total und ich bin der Elena so dankbar, dass wir das machen haben können und ich bin eigentlich so dankbar, dass unser Film da gelaufen ist, Schweben ist unser Baby und wir planen oder sind gerade in der Vorproduktion für unseren nächsten Film, den wir jetzt im Sommer drehen, im Juli und da spielt uns das natürlich mehr als gut in die Karten mit dieser Auszeichnung oder wie wir das jetzt benennen, wie weiß ich jetzt auch nicht. Ich bin total dankbar, ich kann jetzt leider heute nicht da sein, weil ich in Berlin lebe, das ist mein Wohnzimmer und das ist doch ein bisschen ein Bratsstück nach Linz, jetzt zum Abifahren, so spontan. Aber genau, ich wünsche euch ein schönes Feiern und bin total happy, dass das so stattfinden hat, genau in das Festival. Ich habe alles über Instagram verfolgt, was es noch geht. Das ist ja so super, dass es sowas mittlerweile gibt. Genau, ich wünsche euch jetzt einen wunderschönen Start in den Sommer und freue mich, wenn man sich wie auch immer wieder sieht. Macht es gut, bis bald, Pfiat euch, ciao! Hallo, liebes Crossing Europe Team und liebe Jury, ich wollte mich ganz, ganz herzlich für die Auszeichnung bedanken. Ich bin unfassbar froh und ja, es ist ein schönes Gefühl zu merken, dass man was machen kann ohne Budget, mit ganz viel Herzblut und dass sich das irgendwo überträgt auf die Zusehenden. Und ja, mal schauen, was man jetzt mit ganz viel Herzblut und ein bisschen mehr Budget machen kann. Ich bin auf jeden Fall sehr zuversichtlich. Ja, und mit Julia habe ich so den besten Partner in Crime auf der Seite, den man sich vorstellen kann. Ja, ich bin immer glücklich. Ich stoße aus der Ferne an und ich kann gar nicht mehr Worte fassen, wie dankbar ich bin. Es ist jetzt mein Vergnügen, den Repräsentanten für den Gouverneur der föderalen Provinz der Upper Austria, den Hauptverband des Direktorate for Culture and Society, Margot Nazal, here on stage, and also the third spokesperson of the jury, Alenka Mali. Please join me. Hello, Frau Nazal. From your professional point of view, what do you appreciate about the Crossing Europe Film Festival the most? Literally the running team. Christina is running, the team is running, and this is only possible because everybody is behind it. And we have international guests here, we have local guests, we have the region represented. And all of this together, most of all with the running team and everybody who is participating makes this festival unique we have newcomers we have several genres of european film that's represented here and that makes it exciting and i'm excited to see who is the winner of this award awesome yes so please i'll i'll take your word and pass it on could you announce the winner for us? A piece of art that tells us of a dehumanized world through remorseless visuals between nightmare and apocalypse. In the midst of utter desperation, it lets us hope for the profoundly human through the friendship of two individuals. The local artists powered by Land Oberösterreich Kultur goes to 255101 by Norbert Pfaffenbichler. Joining us on stage jury would you yes yes thanks a lot so I also have to say a few thanks. Thanks a lot to the great team I had for this film. Thanks a lot to my distributor, Sixpack Film. Thanks a lot, of course, to the festival, to Christine for inviting me. And last but not least, thanks for all the financial support I got and especially thanks a lot to Upper Austria. And of course, thanks a lot to the jury. Thank you. Congratulations again. Please exit over here. I'm gonna ask Alenka to stay for the next award also. Thank you so much. We close the local artist section with the Creative Region Music Video Award worth 1,500 Euro. Joining me on stage for the Creative Region will be Wolfgang Gumpelmeier-Mach. And I checked out the webpage and creativity is a mother of all innovation. It's a beautiful sentence. It's the first sentence I read when I visit the About Us section on the Creative Region. So Wolfgang, are you not here? Oh yes, you're waiting. I was trying to fill the time until you reached the microphone. So hello, please. Can you tell us a little bit about the prize that you're offering and why you're so excited about it? Yes, so as Creative Region Linz in Upper Austria, we are boosting, connecting and evolving the creative industries in Linz and the region in Upper Austria. So we are very honored to give this prize to music video artists and musicians, video producers from the region, from Linz, from Upper Austria. And it's 1,500 euros in cooperation also with the festival. And I'm very excited to see where or who gets the prize this year so let's see. Yeah let's see amazing thank you so much and Alenka would you please announce the winner? Yes both the video and the music impressed us with this political and the music impressed us with its political relevance. With strong images but also a reduced form of execution by the video takes a clear stance. The Creative Region Music Video Award goes to the director, Mark Gersthofer, and the musician, Daphina Sileimani, for the music video, Immigigrant by Desit Goblin. Again, unfortunately, they cannot be here with us tonight, but Christina is running again. I noticed she hasn't chosen the best seat for this. And she will receive the prize in their place and make sure they will receive it as soon as possible. Thank you so much. Please find the exit on this side of the stage. And we will be able to see actually not one, but two video messages now. The first from Daphina Silemani, the musician, and Mark Gersthofer as a director. Leimani, the musician, and Marc Gersthofer as a director. Hallo, liebes Crossing Europe Team, mein Name ist Gessit Goblin. Hallo, liebe Zuschauer. Vielen, vielen, vielen Dank für den Local Artist Award. Ich freue mich riesig, dass wir diesen Award gewonnen haben. Aus kurzfristigen Gründen und viel Arbeit kann ich heute leider nicht dabei sein, aber mit Liebe, mit Herzen und Seele bin ich bei euch. Ich wollte auch noch kurz erwähnen, wie dankbar ich bin, dass es so eine Plattform wie Crossing Europe gibt, dass es für mich ermöglicht, teilzuhaben und auch eine Stimme zu geben und dieses Mal zum Beispiel eine Award zu gewinnen. Danke, ganz viel Liebe, schöne Grüße nach Linz. Ich liebe euch und bis bald. Liebes Crossing Europe Festival, leider können mich und meine bezaubernde Kamerafrau Marie-Therese Zumtobel nicht bei der Preisverleihung dabei sein, weil wir gerade einen Kurzfilm drehen. Wir freuen uns aber voll und vielen lieben Dank! Let's take a little break and enjoy the awarded music video Immigrant Dacid Goblin I'm hoppin' up strong Got it all by my own Yeah, I feel in my zone Like the goddessice and thong I'm hot and I'm strong Got it all by my own Yeah, I feel in my zone I'm the bod's in doubt The body's in doubt Vienna, too quiet, gotta change the game My fellas like riot, we manage the fame You don't know nothing And I only know I see you laughing And fall like a ball You can see me rolling like a split, you want to see me falling but you wish Look I was born to preach on the mic, I follow Quran strong like a dike You don't know nothing and I praise Allah This is my story to turn hate into love I'm a child of war I know to survive all the pain Yah yah yah yah yah They can shut us down Tell us we did wrong but still we stand Yah yah yah yah yah yah They can shut us down, tell us we did wrong but still we stand This is who we are, the way was way too far to be failed I'm hot and I'm strong Got it all by my own Woo woo Yeah I feel in my zone Woo woo Like the bodies in dark The bodies in dark The bodies in dark I'm hoppin' I'm strong Woo woo Got it all by my own Woo woo Yeah I feel in my zone Got it over my head Yeah, I feel in my zone On the policy board The policy board We now come to the MIOP New Vision Award. The members of the festival network Moving Images Open Borders, short MIOP, award the prize worth €3,000 annually to an innovative European feature-length film. annually to an innovative European feature-length film. Please welcome with me on stage Dimitri Kluszewski from the European Film Forum Scanorama in Vilnius, Lithuania. And here he comes. Welcome on stage. Please, Dimitri, what is MIOP and what is its goal? Yeah hello everyone so first of all thanks so much for this beautiful festival I mean it's my first time here in Linz and to see this hugely talented and hard-working team pull this off during such a crazy couple of years. It's amazing. Thanks so much. And yeah, so MIOB. MIOB is obviously an acronym, and it stands for Moving Images, Open Borders. And this is, I guess, the shortest and most compact way that we came up with in order to say what is the goal and the vision that has brought together seven festivals from seven countries and the seven cities of these countries all over Europe and comprised a festival network. These cities are Linz in Austria, obviously, also Cottbus in Germany, Les Arc in France, Seville in Spain, Trieste in Italy, Palic in Serbia, and last but not least, Vilnius in Lithuania, which is the reason why I am honored to be standing here because I represent European Film Forum Skanorama, a long-standing friend of Crossing Europe, actually, and a film festival that takes place in Vilnius and screens stuff all over the country. And I'm actually not the only person representing Scalarama here today because of the still unfortunate but more manageable circumstances. I'm the only one that's allowed on the stage. But our beloved founder and director, Gretchen Arlitz-Kaite, is here with me today. So, yay. A short applause because maybe you want to stand up. Yeah, and you know, you don't see our logo here, but you can in the catalogs. And I have been told that if you take all of the particular locations of the cities of the festivals and you put those into a shape, it somewhat resembles a butterfly. I haven't really checked if that is true, but I really hope that it is. At least we feel like a butterfly, you know? So, and this award, the New Vision Award, is one of the actions that we collectively decided to take in order not only to complain about the state of the European film, but to actually make it better, to actually contribute to the health of the prosperity and the development of the European film and European film festivals. And this particular action is about, you know, putting a spotlight on one film that has already been screened at at least one of the member festivals and that we feel that brings something fresh and exciting to the European cinema and which is worthy of more attention and more exposure and more admissions than it has been able to enjoy up until now. And this is not to say that it's the only film that is worthy of all of these things, but it's an award and it's hard and it's not for everyone. And that's what makes it fun. So I'm honored here today to be able to present the award for the very first time. And it is presented to a film that I'm happy to say has already been screened in Lithuania. And the film which you all have the chance to see during this festival, and I hope that you did because it is worthy of your attention, as it is of everyone's attention. And it's a film driven by huge ambition, I think. And it's a film with a very, very big heart. And it's a beautiful one. And it's called Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time. And it is by Lili Horvath, which is here today with us. Thank you so much. Lili Horvath, please join us on stage. Congratulations. Thank you so much and I would like to thank the Crossing Europe Film Festival and to MIO and to all the festivals involved in this. And actually we have won quite a few awards with this film in the past couple of months, but this is the first one I can accept in person. So it makes it so special and it is wonderful that you have managed to make this a live event. And I guess we all share this joy of being together. And I would also like to thank one person who has been my closest ally in the making of this movie. She's sitting over there, my producer, Dora Ciannattoni. Congratulations and thank you so much. So we start the European section of our ceremony with the Yaz Youth Jury. Five youngsters, all of them between 17 and 18 years old, watched six films out of the festival program which feature young protagonists in their trials and tribulations. May I ask the Yaas Youth Jury to please stand up and present yourself to the audience. Berat Can. to the audience. Berat Can. Anna Maria Fischbauer. Anna Geisberg. Paul Simon Kapfer. And Laura Schmidt. They're all students at the Borg-Grieskirchen and wonderful young creative people. A big thank you to you all. This award worth 3,000 euros is powered by WDFS Verwertungsgesellschaft der Filmschaffenden and I ask the representative Thomas Vögel to please join me on stage as well as the spokesperson of the JAS Youth Jury, Berat Can. Welcome, Thomas, on stage. I'm just going to say Thomas. I hope that's okay. And I'm going to ask you the question. What is VDFS and what are its tasks? What does it help with? The VDFS is a collecting society for filmmakers. It takes care of copyrights and ancillary copyrights of a group of professional directors, cameramen, production designers, costume designers, film editors and actors. EFS also dedicates part of its income to cultural and social institutions and film related projects. So that's our company. That's amazing. Thank you so much. Thank you. And I'm going to ask the Tury to announce the winner of this category. To begin with, we want to congratulate all six films. Every one of them impressed us deeply in one form or another, but there can only be one winner. The film we wish to give the Yass Youth Yuri Award shows realistic situations that every person no matter their social standing or age can be confronted with at every time. Its gripping scenes make clear that there is no there is more than just victim and perpetrator but also those who stand and watch and also those who turn away. Despite the many scenes that are lined up very close together and show various different situations through its highly accomplished editing, you never get lost in the various stories. The film we wish to honor with the Crossing Europe Award, Yas Yuvshuri is Force of Habit. Force of Habit. Force of Habit. So, I am going to read who is in it. Oh, Christina is really running because unfortunately the winners cannot be here with us tonight, but I'm going to try to say their names. It's a challenge for me, I'm sorry for mispronouncing if that happens. Kirshika Shari, Eli Toivonimi, Anna Pavilenen, Ali Hapazalo, Reetta Alto, Jenny Toivonimi, and Mia Tervo. So thank you, Christina received the award in their stead, and we'll pass on the prize. Thank you so much. And we will see the video message that the director Mia Tervo has recorded for us. Hello you all. Greetings from Finland. And I will say thank you from all of us, we are seven directors. So thank you very much, especially we are very grateful because it was a teenager jury, so greetings to you all and stay safe everyone, bye. That's wonderful. A very young film star. That's what I saw. We continue with the Social Awareness Award Best Documentary. This year's competition program consists of 11 diverse documentary films. They deal with topics like war, religion, human adaptability and dignity to name but a few. First, let me introduce to you the international jury who had to decide on the European documentary with the most significant social or socio-political relevance for this award. Please stand up and receive your applause. Siegfried Ressel. Siegfried Ressel. I love the enthusiasm. Krista Audelitzky. And Varya Mocnik. Thank you so much. This award is sponsored by GfK bei Österreich, Gesellschaft für Kulturpolitik bei Österreich and is worth 5,000 Euro. Joining me on stage will be the managing director of GfK bei Österreich, Wiltrud Katharina Hackl. And I ask the spokesperson of the jury, Varya Mochnik, to join me on stage as well. Hello. So I am going to say the theme that GFK Österreich has chosen for 2021 is danach, afterwards, and ask the question about how to deal with the crisis. Can you tell me where you see the connection of the Social Awareness Award and the work of GFK bei Österreich. Thank you, Karin. As GFK we try to raise awareness for political, social, also cultural and artistic issues and subjects and so does this section. And if you consider the issues of the films that we've, 11 films that we've seen in this year, it's all about people fighting dictatorships, brave women, amazing brave women, holding together their communities, trying to make, yeah, create a decent life for the ones they care for. And yeah, since it's the last chance i would like to send a little love letter to christina thank you so much uh i know you curate the whole festival in such an esteeming way but especially this section i really i'm so honored to to can watch those movies because they deal with so current and necessary issues and you do it in such an intelligent and sensitive way. Thank you so much. Big applause to Christina. Thank you so much, Wilkrud. And I'm going to pass on the word to the jury. Thank you very much and good evening. I am speaking on behalf of actually very happy documentary program jury. And firstly, I would like to thank the dear Christine Dollehofer and her super team for letting us step into this program of super films, for also taking part of this very live and also very alive film festival. Thank you very much. We would also like to thank all the filmmakers that have their strong cinematic voices and that we could engage with them in our thoughts and our feelings. So now, the winner film. Drumroll. The award-winning film steps into the lives of the two protagonists and their adopted child very gently, but then with great power and thoroughness reveals intimacy in all its beauty and difficulties, and furthermore, fits this very particular life into the society we all take part in. In the film, the fleeting nuances of every day build a very strong picture of what freedom and the lack of it feels like. The film's liveliness engages the mind and the emotions of the viewer on several levels as the system homophobia in Hungary becomes a horrifically tangible part of our everyday existence. We award the Social Awareness Award Best Documentary to the film Her Mothers by Asia Adair and Sari Haragonix. Congratulations! Congratulations! Unfortunately, the filmmakers cannot be here with us tonight, but the protagonist of the film, Vera Kaufer, will receive the award in their place. Congratulations again. Would you like to say a few words? Thank you very much for this opportunity. This time, I would like to give the message from the lovely directors, our friends, Asia and Shari, who unfortunately cannot be here, but they sent a message and I would like to read it out, if that's okay. Of course. Dear all, we are extremely happy for this award. They don't know which award they get. Thank you so much. Crossing Europe was our first physical festival screening in the last year since our premiere last May. We felt home and loved in Linz. Thanks to all of the organizers and fellow filmmakers for this true moment. We are very sorry that we cannot be here, but the best person to take this award is one of the protagonists. Me. but the best person to take this award is one of the protagonists, me. We are very happy that she can celebrate with you tonight. Many thanks to the jury, and we congratulate all other filmmakers as well. And a huge thanks to the protagonists, again, us, who make it possible for us documentary filmmakers to bring all those beautiful stories to the world. Thank you very much. Thank you, congratulations. Don't forget your snow globe, exactly, thank you. Please find the exit on this side. Congratulations. Congratulations. So we move on to the Crossing Europe's competition for the Best Feature Film of Young European Directors. Here we present an Audience Award and a Jury Award. For announcing the Audience Award, the Best Fiction Film worth 5,000 Euro, powered by Landebau Österreich Kultur, I invite the head of the directorate for culture and society Margot Nasal on stage again and this is an audience award there's no jury and without further ado please let us know the winner of this category further ado please let us know the winner of this category. Without any delay I would like to congratulate Mila Appos, Christos Niko. Congratulations. Thank you. congratulations thank you so again we have a representative Marius Murkitscha from Filmladen of the Austrian distribution company of the film will receive the award in his place and here he is. I'm just a stand in, just a few words from our side as distributors. We are very, very happy that Mila won a prize tonightonnen hat. Wir freuen uns besonders, dass es die Auszeichnung für die Publikation ist. Ich denke, die Publikation ist eine Art täglicher Jury in den Kinos. Nach einem halben Jahr ohne Publikation ist das eine wirklich großartige Sache. Und jetzt nur ein Ankündigungsspiel mit den Deutschen. Marvelous Thing, and now just some announcement in German. Der Film kann natürlich morgen nochmal in Linz hier beim Crossing Europe gesehen werden. Falls jemand Lust hat, in Wien, kommenden Freitag am 11. Juni läuft er im Votivkino und sonst wird der Film natürlich im Herbst, im Laufe des Herbst österreichweit in die Kinos kommen. Nochmal danke ans Publikum für diesen Preis. Congratulations again. You can find the exit here on this side of the stage. And yeah, tomorrow at 7.30pm in the movie Mentus Cinema, that's when it's gonna be shown here again. Thank you so much. And we will have a video message from the director Christos Niku. and we will have a video message from the director Christos Nikou Hello, I'm Christos Nikou director and writer of Apples on behalf of the whole Apples team I would like to thank you for this award it's our big honor to receive it as this is an audience one and I also would like to thank Crossing Europe Film Festival and I hope that the Austrian audience will enjoy the film when it will be released in the theaters by Filmland. Thank you once again. Amazing. The 10 films in competition for best fiction Film invite you on a journey across Europe. Not always straightforward, sometimes unorthodox, but always passionate. Now it's time for our fourth and final jury, the Crossing Europe jury for Best Fiction Film. Please stand up and present yourself to the audience. Helen Christanel. Agnes Koksic. And Wieser Morina. Thank you so much. Please take your seats again. The Crossing Europe Award for Best Fiction Film is the last award of this evening and it comes with a prize money of 5,000 Euro, powered by the Department of Culture of the City of Linz, Linz Kultur. For the award sponsor, please welcome with me on stage, Herr Julius Stieber, on behalf of Klaus Luger, Mayor of the City of Linz, and Doris Lang-Meierhofer, City Council of Culture, Tourism, and Creative Industry. And I also ask the spokesperson of the jury to join me on stage. Welcome on stage, Herr Stieber. If you could see into the future, what would you predict or wish for the Crossing Europe Film Festival? Well, I think, first of all, it is important to develop the excellent festival chief or festival director, Ms. Dollhofer. She is so visionary and competent, so I hope this the festival is able to be... No, sorry. No, it's okay. What would you like to say? Maybe I can translate for you. I change in German. Sorry. Yes, a couple of words. I think... Sorry. That the festival has a political message. So that the... Political issue. dass das Festival eine politische Botschaft hat. So that the festival has a political message. A political message. Und es ist wichtig, dass die Kraft des Kinos, die Imagination, sich mit der Politik verbindet. So that there will be a connection between the strength of the cinema and the political views. Und diese Verbindung ist letztlich auch die Vision des Festivals für die nächsten Jahre. Das heißt, eine Situation schaffen, wo wir über die Probleme Europas reden können. So this is the vision for the festival for the future, to be able to talk about the topics, the problems that take place in Europe at the moment and in the future. Und auch über Probleme reden, die uns in Zukunft bewegen werden. That will face us in the future. Das heißt Klimawandel, Migration, soziale Probleme, etc. Ich glaube, das ist die Aufgabe von Crossing Europe. Vielen Dank. Das ist die Aufgabe von Crossing Europe. Vielen Dank, Stiba. Vielen Dank. Und auch vielen Dank, dass Sie die Aufgabe gemacht haben, es in Englisch zu versuchen. Es ist wirklich nicht so einfach. Vielen Dank. Und jetzt werde ich den Wunsch an die Jury anrufen. Bitte erneut den Gewinner. really not that easy, thank you so much. And now I'm going to pass on the word to the jury. Please announce the winner. So, good evening. On behalf of our jury, I'd like to thank, first of all, Christine and the whole festival team for this great experience that we had here and the possibility that we could watch films finally, again, in the cinema. that we could watch films finally again in the cinema. And we have decided to give the award to a film that vibrates and lets us experience real cinema. A film that invites to see and wonder so complex and multifaceted as life itself. We have chosen a punch of a film. So the Crossing Europe Award Best Fiction Film goes to, beginning, Dea Kulunbegasvili. Congratulations. I would like to say that this film is part of this year's streaming offer, VOD, Video On Demand, and you can find it on Kino, VOD Club, and is representative for the winner. Christine Adolho is going to accept the award and make sure, I know she's like sportive tonight, working out massively. So yeah, she will make sure that the winners are going to receive the prize thank you so much and yes make them work for it thank you I just wanted to thank Dea. Dea is at the moment in San Sebastian. She has a scholarship, not a scholarship, she has a residency there because she won the main award even in San Sebastian last year. Beloved festival I'm also working for, which is great. a beloved festival I'm also working for, which is great. And I just wanted to add, so the crystal ball tells me there is really a bright future of Crossing Europe with the Pöstlingberg ahead. So I'm very optimistic. Thanks. Wonderful. Thank you, Christina. Thank you, Christina. And now, ladies and gentlemen, it is time to give tribute to a wonderful woman who was invited by Movimento Mastermind Wolfgang Steininger to Linz, where they created and founded the Crossing Europe Film Festival. Oh, thank you. I skipped a really important part. We have a video message from the winner, from Dea Kulumbigashvili. Hello, everyone. I would like to thank the festival for programming the film. And I would like to thank the jury for the award on behalf of myself and the entire team. We're delighted and happy and honored to receive the prize. And I'm sending my warmest regards from San Sebastian, where I'm at the moment. I wish I was there for the screening. Sebastian where I'm at the moment. I wish I was there for the screening and it would be a huge pleasure to be there with the audience. Thank you very much and I'm very honored. So now it's not a surprise anymore, but I'm going to say it again because it's beautiful to say it again. It is time to give tribute to a wonderful, wonderful woman. She was invited by Movimento Mastermind Wolfgang Steininger to Linz, where they created and founded the Crossing Europe Film Festival. She has been the heart of the festival for 18 years and made it all possible. Christina, the entire Crossing Europe team loves you so much and wishes you all the best. You will always be family. And ladies and gentlemen, please put your hands together for Christina Dollhofer. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. It's matching. Okay. Herzlichen Dank. Ich habe ein bisschen Angst. I'm a little bit scared. I was scared before because I knew. That's why I like to get on moving on the stage up and down. I said it in the beginning. Thank you so much for all our beloved guests, especially for, of course, the team. We worked so hard for the last 18 years thanks to Wolfgang, to Martin Sturm, who are the first really most important people who opened doors and windows so we could really build up a festival and of course all the donors and sponsors who helped us and mostly it was the audience in Linz and all these lovely people here who supported us. And of course the team. I said it in the beginning, I'm really very thankful. Actually I can't be sad at the moment because there was so much tension the entire week and in the weeks before and we just wanted to create a wonderful atmosphere during this week under very special circumstances and there is a lot of work ahead we have to do our new creative europe media application we have to to do all the financing afterwards, that at the end everything is okay, and we don't have to beg for extra money after the festival, so hopefully not. And anyway, there's so much to do. So my head is not yet away from Linz. I will always be in Linz and with the festival, and it was a wonderful journey für mich die letzten 18 Jahre. Und mit lieben Leuten wie Sabine, Gerald, Nini, Kathi, Michi, Claudia, Moana und wie sie alle heißen. Ich kann jetzt nicht alle aufzählen. Es war einfach traumhaft, mit euch zu arbeiten und noch zu arbeiten. Wir sind ja noch nicht fertig. Und ja, ich glaube, ich höre jetzt auf. Wir sehen uns ja dann draußen beim Feiern. I don't know. Okay, it's too long. I'm looking forward to the next edition in 2022. I can be a guest. Wonderful. I always dreamed and I always told my team I wish I once can be a guest of this festival. It must be fantastic. And so, in this case, whoever is doing this, it will be fine. Thank you. Thank you, Christina. Christina Dollhofer. So for me, there is only left to say, continue to enjoy the film screenings. You will also be able to see the awarded films tomorrow, Sunday. The festival continues. It's not over tonight. So until the 6th of July, you can enjoy 10 chosen movies on the streaming platform VOD, Video On Demand. Next year, the Crossing Europe Film Festival will be on the 27th of April until the 2nd of May 2022. And I hope you'll be joining us again. And I hope maybe this is going to be your chance to be a guest, Christina. And the music, the frames, the ceremony comes as a courtesy of Shash Records and can be found online on bandcamp.com. All the wonderful award winners, sponsors, jury members, please stay for the photos. Enjoy the takeaway buffet from Wanderkoch Christoph Hofinger and maybe, depending on the weather, we can get together on the Okaplatz after the ceremony. And last, but unfortunately not least, please be patient when you leave the room. Please let first the left side clear out, and then when everyone on the left side has left, then ask the right side to start moving and leave the room as well. So thank you so much for being with us tonight, making it a special night. Have a wonderful evening. Thank you very much.