The Devil’s Bath triumphs at the 34th Film Festival Cologne
by Olivia Popp
- The historical horror film direced by Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala bags yet another accolade to add to its long list of awards
The 34th edition of Film Festival Cologne, which unspooled from 17–24 October, wrapped with an award ceremony on its final day at the Filmpalast Köln, where Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala’s The Devil’s Bath [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Veronika Franz, Severin Fiala
film profile] was crowned the winner of the NRW Competition. This year’s action-packed weeklong programme included industry panels, episodic series presentations, artist talks and a presentation dedicated to the politics of film at the regional and national levels.
The filmmakers of the The Devil’s Bath were presented with €20,000 and the NRW Film Award, which honours the best film in the NRW Competition and is sponsored by the State of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW. As Film Festival Cologne’s flagship section, all films in the strand must be co-produced by a company based in the NRW. The Austrian filmmaking duo of Franz and Fiala also recently scooped the top prize at Sitges Film Festival and Best Feature Film at the Austrian Film Awards with The Devil’s Bath.
This year’s Cologne Film Award went to writer-director Raoul Peck for his film Ernest Cole, Lost and Found [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], about the eponymous South African photographer. The former Haiti minister of culture was presented with the award for his film, which screened in the festival’s Best of Cinema Documentary section. This prize is awarded each year to an outstanding director and comes with €25,000 from the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW and the City of Cologne.
The corresponding annual award for performers, the International Actors Award, went to German actor Udo Kier, who was born in Cologne and is celebrating his 80th birthday this year. The prize, sponsored by Network Movie and MMC Studios Cologne, includes a €10,000 award. Past winners include Nina Hoss, Lars Eidinger, Juliette Binoche, Isabelle Huppert, Sandra Hüller and Mads Mikkelsen.
The Hollywood Reporter Award, accompanied by €10,000, was presented to Mohammad Rasoulof for The Seed of the Sacred Fig [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Mohammad Rasoulof
film profile], which played in the Best of Cinema Fiction section. The prizewinner is selected yearly from the best fiction work from the Best of Cinema Fiction, Top Ten TV and Look strands of the festival.
The parallel documentary prize for €10,000, the phoenix Award, went to US director Michael Premo for his film Homegrown from the Best of Cinema Documentary section. Selected as the best documentary work from the Best of Cinema Documentary, Top Ten TV and Look strands, the film takes a deep and intimate dive into the lives of three supporters of Donald Trump.
Presented for the fifth time in the framework of Film Festival Cologne, three NRW Media Awards for Development Policy Engagement were also bestowed upon German campaigns dedicated to development policy cooperation that use the medium of the moving image in innovative ways. The campaigns were shown as part of the festival’s “Global Day. Stories for Change” workshop event.
Here is the full list of prize-winners from this edition of Film Festival Cologne:
NRW Film Award
The Devil’s Bath [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Veronika Franz, Severin Fiala
film profile] – Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala
Cologne Film Award
Raoul Peck – Ernest Cole, Lost and Found [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]
International Actors Award
Udo Kier
Hollywood Reporter Award
Mohammad Rasoulof – The Seed of the Sacred Fig [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Mohammad Rasoulof
film profile]
phoenix Award
Michael Premo – Homegrown
NRW Media Award for Development Policy Engagement
First prize: #UnsilenceTheViolence – Terre des Femmes
Second prize: #UseTheNews – Use The News gGmbH
Third prize: climate stories – Fairventures Worldwide gGmbh
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