70th International Film Festival Mannheim-Heidelberg

11.11.2021 to 21.11.2021
Mannheim and Heidelberg


The Ecumenical Jury in Mannheim 2021 awarded its €2,500 prize to the French-Belgian co-production "Ma nuit" (My Night) by Antoinette Boulat. Michelangelo Frammartino from Italy won the International Newcomer Award for Best Director for his film "Il buco" (The Hole).

On the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the Mannheim-Heidelberg Film Festival, which was founded in 1952 as the "Kultur- und Dokumentarfilmwoche" (Cultural and Documentary Film Week), the festival team under festival director Sascha Keilholz and programme director Frédéric Jaeger has put together a high-profile programme. The core of the festival is the competition section "On the Rise" with first to third works by international directors. The section "Pushing the Boundaries" is also dedicated to innovative works. The retrospective under the motto "Breaks and Turning Points", which presents restored works from the history of the festival, is also dedicated to the impulses of renewal from the perspective of film history.

The anniversary programme shows outstanding films of the year in its centrepiece "Film Experience 2021" and, under the title "Festival Spotlight", film recommendations from other, like-minded festivals, celebrates directors Andrea Arnold and Guillaume Nicloux with a "Grand IFFMH Award" and offers a forum for the "birthplace of cinema" (festival catalogue), short film, in the "Shorts" section.

Link: Festival website

Awards

My Night
Directed by:
2021

The affirmation of one's own life begins with saying no to the most diverse offers of externally determined life. The path that the protagonist Marion takes on the birthday of her sister Alice, who died five years ago, leads right into the dark. It is the darkness of her own grief that challenges her to take a different look at life, a look that does not allow itself any distraction from the seductive illusions of, for example, a casting offer or her peer group.

The breakthrough to a new beginning, however, also requires a leap of faith - in this case towards a coincidental companion who shows himself to be a soulmate. At the same time, this means allowing closeness and taking the risk of life. All of this breaks through in a leap into the Seine, which seems like an intimate baptismal experience that allows lightness and makes room for new beginnings. From the acceptance of one's own vulnerability, she finally reaches for the blue of the sky, thus transcending the boundaries of transience and overcoming grief.

Antoinette Boulat has succeeded in creating a magical cinematic moment with ›My Night‹, magnificently performed by an outstanding Lou Lampros. (Photo: © Cercamon)