The award ceremony was held as part of Berlinale Talents, an event for up-and-coming filmmakers, during the 67th edition of the Berlin International Film Festival.
The Robert Bosch Stiftung foundation presented German-Arab teams of filmmakers with the Co-Production Prize for international collaboration for the fifth time. The award ceremony was held as part of Berlinale Talents, an event for up-and-coming filmmakers, during the 67th Berlin International Film Festival.
With prize money of up to 60,000 each, the three teams can now pursue their film projects. Winners were awarded in three film categories: short film, animation and documentary. The Trap, which won the short fiction film category is a German-Egyptian film telling the story of young Aya at a run-down Egyptian spa resort, who has to stand up to her increasingly dominant boyfriend. The film is directed by Nada Riyadh from Egypt and produced by Eva Schellenbeck from Germany and Ayman El Amir from Egypt.
Winning in the animation category, Night portrays a mother who has suffered from insomnia for years and who meets a storyteller who is able to heal insomniacs with his words. Ahmad Saleh from Jordan directed the project.
Behind Closed Doors won in the documentary category. Made by Moroccan and German filmmakers, this project about the cultivation of cannabis is staged in a small, remote village in a rural region. The films theme is the day-to-day struggle for stability in a small community whose livelihood is based on the risky, illegal cultivation of cannabis. The film was directed by Yakout Elhababi from Morocco and produced by Karoline Henkel from Germany and Hind Saih of Morocco and France.
