Berlin: ‘In The Aisles’, ‘Theatre Of War’, ‘Profile’ Scoop Early Prizes

As the Berlin Film Festival draws to a close, prizes are rolling out across the vast array of sections and titles. The main Golden and Silver Bears will come this evening, but in the meantime the Panorama section and the independent juries have set their winners (see running lists below). Notable among Competition and Forum pics that are scoring with the indie juries are Thomas Stuber’s In The Aisles and Lola Arias’ Theatre of War, respectively.

In The Aisles is a love story set in a provincial German wholesale supermarket where the everyday is transformed into a world of magical realism. Toni Erdmann’s Sandra Huller co-stars. Music Box Films acquired for the U.S. during the fest.

Theatre Of War is a documentary that invites veterans from both sides of the Falklands War to look back. Together, the British and Argentinians face each other as former enemies, but also form an ensemble.

In Panorama, the Audience Award has gone to Russian filmmaker Timur Bekmambetov’s Profile while the section’s Styx from Wolfgang Fischer, picked up nods from the Ecumenical and Europa Cinemas boards.

Wanted and Night Watch director Bekmambetov’s thriller Profile takes places entirely within the computer screens of the lead characters through Skype, Facebook and other social media platforms. Based on In The Skin Of The Jihadist by French journalist Anna Erelle, it tells the story of a young female journalist who falls in love with an ISIS member after creating a fake Facebook profile as part of an investigation into the terror group’s online recruitment techniques. Endeavor Content is selling worldwide rights.

Winning in Panorama’s Documentary strand is The Silence Of Others, exec produced by brothers Pedro and Agustín Almodóvar. Directors Almudena Carracedo and Robert Bahar spent six years interviewing victims, relatives and human rights lawyers about their long-standing struggle to obtain admissions of guilt and the abolition of a 1977 amnesty law that prohibited the prosecution of the Franco regime’s perpetrators. The film describes how a movement that began in someone’s kitchen eventually succeeded in gaining sufficient awareness for suppressed injustice that an international trial was held and warrants issued. Cinephil has world sales.

See below for a running list of winners; the main competition will be reported separately later today

PANORAMA AUDIENCE AWARDS
Fiction Film
Profile, dir: Timur Bekmambetov
U.S./UK/Cyprus/Russia

2nd place
Styx, dir: Wolfgang Fischer
Germany/Austria

3rd place
L’Animale, dir: Katharina Mueckstein
Austria

Documentary
The Silence Of Others, dirs: Almudena Carracedo, Robert Bahar
U.S./Spain

2nd place
Partisan, dirs: Lutz Pehnert, Matthias Ehlert, Adama Ulrich
Germany

3rd place
O Processo, dir: Maria Augusta Ramos
Brazil/Germany/Netherlands

ECUMENICAL JURY PRIZES
Competition
In The Aisles, dir: Thomas Stuber
Germany

Special Mention
July 22, dir: Erik Poppe
Norway

Panorama
Styx, dir: Wolfgang Fischer
Germany/Austria

Forum
Theatre Of War, dir: Lola Arias
Argentina/Spain

FIPRESCI JURY PRIZES
Competition
The Heiresses, dir: Marcelo Martinessi
Paraguay/Uruguay/Germany/Brazil/Norway/France

Panorama
River’s Edge, dir: Isao Yukisada
Japan

Forum
An Elephant Sitting Still, dir: Hu Bo
China

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL FILM PRIZE
Central Airport THF, dir: Karim Aïnouz
Germany/France/Brazil

Special Mention
Eldorado, dir: Markus Imhoof
Switzerland/Germany

GUILD FILM PRIZE
Competition
In the Aisles, dir: Thomas Stuber
Germany

CICAE ART CINEMA AWARD
Panorama
Hard Paint, dirs: Marcio Reolon and Filipe Matzembacher
Brazil

Forum
Theatre Of War, dir: Lola Arias
Argentina/Spain

LABEL EUROPA CINEMAS
Styx, dir: Wolfgang Fischer
Germany/Austria

GENERATION 14PLUS
Crystal Bear for Best Film
Fortuna, dir: Germinal Roaux
Switzerland/Belgium

Special Mention
Retablo, dir: Álvaro Delgado-Aparicio L
Peru/Germany/Norway

Crystal Bear for Best Short Film
Kiem Holijanda, dir: Sarah Veltmeyer
Netherlands

Special Mention
Je Fais Où Tu Me Dis, dir: Marie de Maricourt
Switzerland

Grand Prix for Best Film
Fortuna, dir: Germinal Roaux
Switzerland/Belgium

Special Mention
Dressage, dir: Pooya Badkoobeh
Iran

Special Prize for Best Short Film
Juck, dirs: Olivia Kastebring, Julia Gumpert, Ulrika Bandeira
Sweden

Special Mention
Na Zdrowie!, dir: Paulina Ziolkowska
Poland

Compass-Perspektive-Award for Best Film in Perspektive Deutsches Kino
Uberall Wo Wir Sind, dir: Veronika Kaserer
Germany

Prize of the International Short Film Jury
Burkina Brandenburg Komplex, dir: Ulu Braun
Germany