Berlinale - 61st Berlin International Film Festival
February 10 - 20, 2011
Berlin / Germany
Forum - The 41st International Forum of New Cinema – or Forum – is the most daring section of the Berlinale programme. Avant-garde, experimental, essays, lengthy observations, political reportages and yet-to-be-discovered cinematographers: in the Forum everything new or unconventional comes together and finds an audience known for its enthusiasm and discerning cinematic eye. The Forum places emphasis on young filmmakers and works that push the limits of the medium and perception itself. Appropriately, all formats are welcome. Documentaries and feature films are treated equally.
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The 3,000€ Tagesspiegel Readers' Prize went to Nesvatbov (Matchmaking Mayor) by Erika Hníková. The film will be shown again on the last day of the festival.
Members of the jury: Benedikt Model, Markus Müller, Eleonore Wnendt, Olaf Mamczek, Slava Platikanova, Steffen Glaubitz, Silvia Oberhack, Dorothy Siegl and Carolin Zantner.
Statement of the jury: The prize goes this year to Erika Hníková for her film “Nesvatbov” which made us laugh and think and provoked lively discussion. A film capable of polarising without ever having set out to do so.Its affectionate blend of discretion and intimacy in observing the eccentricities of the post-socialist era creates a complex portrait of single people uninterested in reproduction. A type of passive resistance; whether you laugh at it or with it is left up to you.
"I am very happy that Matchmaking Mayor was screened at Berlinale and was awarded the Tagesspiegel Readers' Prize. What also helped us was the nomination for best documentary at East Silver, where Anna Hoffmann from Berlinale’s Forum was one of the jury members. It’s really great that Matchmaking Mayor has such good reviews abroad. We have already three other festival releases confirmed via the East Silver Caravan.“ says the film director Erika Hníková.
Matchmaking Mayor is included in the East Silver Caravan.
Matchmaking Mayor
Nesvatbov , Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, 2010, 72 min, Digi Beta, HD, Creative, Society
A situational documentary film about a village mayor trying to match local people in their thirties who are still single. Slowly but surely, the Slovak village Zemplínské Hámre is dying out. Its mayor, a retired general, doesn't want to give up though. Fighting the thirty-year-olds' loneliness, he has used various means such as offering a financial reward for each newborn child or encouraging people to make children in the local public address system. None of it has worked. However, the mayor has a new plan. He decides to organize a dating party for singles from all the neighbouring villages...
Doc Launch 2010 / Catalogue of Upcoming Czech Documentary Films 2010 / East Silver 2010 / East Silver Caravan 2010
For more details, please visit www.nesvatbov.cz.
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