For the eighth time in its fifteen-year history, an award will be presented as part of the Jüdisches Filmfestival Berlin & Potsdam. The award is dedicated to Gerhard Klein, the Berlin ‘cinema legend’ who died in 1999, aged 79. He set up the ‘Capitol’ cinema in Dahlem (Thielallee 36) in 1956; it became a popular meeting place and an institution. Klein, who came from a middle-class family, was a child actor in both film and theatre but in 1933, he was banned from working by the Nazis. In 1939, he fled with his brother to Palestine, where he worked on a kibbutz and co-founded the avant-garde ‘Teatron Kameri’ in Tel-Aviv; the company continues to this day. He never saw his parents again. In 1952, he returned to Germany.
Klein received many awards for his ambitious programmes at the Capitol cinema, including the Federal Cross of Merit (Bundesverdienstkreuz). The Gerhard Klein Audience Award is endowed with 2000 Euro, donated by the Gerhard Klein family.
All visitors to the Jüdisches Filmfestival Berlin & Potsdam are invited to help select the winner of this prize by voting for their favourite film. Simply fill in a postcard (available at the box office when purchasing tickets) and post it in the box provided.
Previous winners:
2002: TWO STATES OF MIND von Shira Richter (Israel 2001)
2003: THE HEBREW HAMMER von Jonathan Kesselman (USA 2003)
2004: MY ARCHITECT von Nathaniel Kahn (USA 2003)
2005: KEEP NOT SILENT von Ilil Alexander (Israel 2004)
2006: THE FIRST TIME I WAS TWENTY von Lorraine Levy, Frankreich
2007: THE GALILEE ESKIMOS von Jonathan Paz, Israel 2006
2008: THE HEBREW LESSON, von David Ofek und Ron Rotem, Israel 2006
As always, a large number of the films at this year’s Jüdisches Filmfestival Berlin & Potsdam originate from Israel. This should draw attention to the outstanding and diverse film productions emerging from the country. The festival organisers, along with the Klein family (who donated the prize of 3000 Euro), will select the winning film.
Previous winners:
2005: WATERMARKS von Yaron Zilberman (Israel/Frankreich/USA 2004)
2006: USHPIZIN von Gidi Dar, Israel 2004
2007: FIVE DAYS von Yoav Shamir, Israel 2005
2008: MY FATHER, MY LORD, von David Volach, Israel 2007
Winner 2009: MENSCHLICHES VERSAGEN, Michael Verhoeven, Germany 2008
(award of the prize 14. Mai, 20.00 h at Kino Arsenal)
This prize is also with 2000 Euro donated by the Klein family.