Dear film lovers,
While these lines are going out to you, there is still a lot of hustle and bustle on the Bürgerbräu grounds. Just as there was hardly any peace and quiet here on this (film) festival that is now coming to an end. Already on Thursday, when ticket sales started at 2 pm in the Maschinenhaus, a crowd of people meandered in a disciplined manner out into the forecourt of the festival headquarters of the 50th Würzburg International Film Festival. From then on, the box offices and projectors hardly stood still for four days.
“The festival was a complete success,” summarizes Florian Hoffmann. The one third of the Filminitiative Würzburg board sees the reason for this not only in the large number of special anniversary events – after five decades of FiWo, looking back on the history was omnipresent. Even more, he emphasizes the core of the film festival: the program. “Both the selection of films and the 20 or so guests were more than worthy of this year’s setting.”
Program director Birgit Pelchmann keeps track of the large number of productions shown – around 60 this year. Over the weekend, she likes to listen to what FiWo visitors have to say about the films: “I’m very touched, I’ve received an incredible amount of praise for our selection!” Although this has hardly been any different in recent years, “we in the program group are still tense every time,” admits Pelchmann.
The movie guests were particularly well received. Whether it was the big names like Axel Prahl, who praised the organization and flair of the film festival again and again in discussions with visitors and the Filmini team. Marcus H. Rosenmüller also visibly enjoyed his weekend in Würzburg and appeared again and again in the festival center Maschinenhaus to have a relaxed chat. The same applied to the many other filmmakers from Albania, Turkey, Austria, Ireland and all over Germany. The fact that so many of the screenings were sold out was also dealt with positively by the visitors: “Most of them just spontaneously go in search of an alternative,” reports co-chairman Werner Schmitt.
Facts, figures and data
Just under 8,500 tickets out of a possible 10,000 went to men and women. This is significantly more than last year, firstly because there were more venues to choose from and secondly because capacity utilization was a tad higher in each case. A fifth of the tickets were sold via the online ticket sales, which were activated for the first time. This got off to a “great start”, explains Head of Technology Sebastian Goll. “I’m really satisfied!” Around half of the 98 performances were completely full.
And here are the winners of each category:
BEST FEATURE FILM
- Green Border by Agnieszka Holland (2,500 Euro from VR-Bank Würzburg)
- No Dogs or Italians Allowed by Alain Ughetto
- Ama Gloria by Marie Amachoukeli-Barsacq
BEST DOCUMENTARY
- Until The Sun Dies by Jonas Brander (1,500 Euro from Würzburger Hofbräu)
- Feminism WTF by Katharina Mückstein
- Bis hierhin und wie weiter? by Felix Maria Bühler
BEST SHORT FILM
- Pig by Jorn Leeuwerink (500 Euro from Sparkasse Mainfranken)
- Cooked Fellas by David Sick (500 Euro from Sparkasse Mainfranken)
THE SELF-MADE ONES
- Aurelia by Von-Pelkhoven-Schule St. Ludwig (150 Euro from Bezirk Unterfranken)
We are pleased to announce that we were able to secure three late show dates for the matinée on Sunday, February 4, at Central im Bürgerbräu. This means that at least some of those who missed out in this year’s rush will be able to get another taste of the festival atmosphere. The audience favorites Àma Gloria (3rd place, feature films), the documentary winner Until The Sun Dies and the best-of short films will be screened.
The winner of the feature film award Green Border can be seen in the regular Central program from 2 February.