On the first sight a dull and slow movie - as the life of the protagonist must have been. It is a story of a trash collector, a man of great inner strength, generosity and capacity for suffering, friendship and love. From his poverty, Edi responds to the loneliness in the lives of the people with whom he shares daily life, giving all he has, including his own physical well-being.
Awards of the Ecumenical Jury
2002
The film shows the life of an Israeli family whose members have to cope after the death of the father with grief, identity and communication problems. On the one hand, the director explores the tense dynamic between the different ages within the family. On the other hand, he shows in an indirect way the dramatic psychological impact of the political conflicts in the Near East on the everyday family life.
2002
Through the journey of two Afghanistani refugees, this gritty quasi-documentary film bears witness to an ongoing global human tragedy: the plight of refugees and displaced persons who will do anything to survive and improve their lives through `illegal` immigration from east to west. This moving relevant film gives viewers a visceral experience of what it means to be without a home and a country.
More about the festival
Robin Gurney reports on the 2nd International Content Summit at the 2003 Berlin Film Festival focussing on the topic "Film, Values, and Society".
Festival films
Jury
Since 1992 the World Catholic Association for Communication SIGNIS (former OCIC) and the International Interchurch Film Organizations INTERFILM have been represented by an Ecumenical Jury. At the Berlin Film Festival the jury has since 2003 six members (formerly ten) and awards the main prize to a film of the Competition. It gives two other prizes of 2’500 Euro each to a film from the “Panorama” and the International Forum of New Cinema. The jury awards its prizes to films of directors who have shown genuine artistic talent and succeeded in expressing action or human experiences that comply with the Gospel, or in sensitizing viewers to spiritual, human or social questions and values.
President