Out of the 51 feature films and 15 documentaries eligible for the European Film Awards 2017 a committee consisting Fabian Gasmia (Producer / Germany), Juho Kuosmanen (Director / Finland), Elli Mastorou (Journalist / Belgium and Greece) and Dagmar Brunow (Film Scholar / Linnaeus University / Sweden) decided and announced a shortlist of five films nominated for the European University Film Award in early October at Filmfest Hamburg.
The Five Nominated films were:
- HEARTSTONE (HJARTASTEINN) by Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson. Iceland/Denmark 2016. Fiction
- HOME by Fien Troch. Belgium 2016. Fiction
- LOVELESS (НЕЛЮБОВЬ) by Andrey Zvyagintsev, Russian Federation/Belgium/ Germany/France 2017. Fiction.
- THE OTHER SIDE OF HOPE (TOIVON TUOLLA PUOLEN) by Aki Kaurismäki. Finland/Germany 2017. Fiction
- THE WAR SHOW by Andreas Dalsgaard and Obaidah Zytoon. Denmark/Syria/Arab Republic/Finland 2016. Documentary
One student representative for each of 19 universities came to Hamburg for a two-day deliberation meeting that took place 6/7 December.
The First Day was characterized by discussing and reflecting all five films, finding arguments and describing the qualities of each film. During a boat tour the results from the “national votes” – the Top 3 films (HEARTSTONE, LOVELESS and THE WAR SHOW) were announced and continued the journey with the students.
On the Second Day the students were developing criteria for the award. The discussion turned out to be very profound and enhancing reflecting aspects of all facets of the award: How do the films correspond to EUROPEAN, to UNIVERSITY and to FILM. The discourse was extremely rewarding and very touching for everybody.
The 2nd European University Film Award went to the Icelandic film HEARTSTONE (Hjartasteinn) by Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson. During a public presentation at the Körber-Stiftung on the same evening the winner was announced by the students and the film was shown. The award was presented to Guðmundsson by Filmfest Hamburg director Albert Wiederspiel as part of the 30th European Film Awards in Berlin, at the welcome reception hosted by the Creative Europe Desk on December 8, 2017.
The jury statement:
“HEARTSTONE i
s a story about exploration of identities and growing up within an isolated Icelandic community. It highlights the pressure placed on people to conform to particular gender conventions and social norms. The film offers an individual and unique perspective on the difficulty of experiencing and suppressing same-sex attraction in small, disconnected communities. As an up and coming talent, Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson delivers an immersive story visualized by overwhelming natural landscapes and beautiful performances. It stands out not only because it is a good film, but also because it explores relevant contemporary issues within today’s society.”
Thanks to our wonderful students for their passion for European Cinema !!!
The 2nd EUFA Edition 2017 was supported by the Körber Foundation and the Joachim Herz Stiftung and realised in co-operation with NECS–European Network for Cinema and Media Studies.