Jury member Anne Fabini, Steffi Niederzoll (director Sieben Winter in Teheran), jury member Dela Dabulamanzi

The Compass-Perspektive-Award for best film in the programme is awarded to Steffi Niederzoll for the film Seven Winters in Tehran.

Jurors Dela Dabulamanzi, Anne Fabini and Jöns Jönsson presented the award, endowed with 5,000 euros, on closing night for Perspektive Deutsches Kino.
The director received a compass trophy, intended to symbolically help her navigate.

Jury statement on Seven Winters in Tehran:

How does one overcome the feeling of powerlessness and show resistance?
Spellbound, we follow the story of a young woman who defies institutionalised male violence. What also emerges is a sensitive portrait of a family torn apart by the battle against an unethical regime. Using a variety of documentary materials, the film follows a strict narrative arc.
This film is painful and unsettling. At the same time, encountering the young protagonist Reyhaneh is inspiring, leaving us with a spark of hope. The 2023 Compass-Perspektive-Award goes to Seven Winters in Tehran by Steffi Niederzoll.

Honorable Mention goes to El secuestro de la novia (The Kidnapping of the Bride) by Sophia Mocorrea.

Mareike Wegener (Perspektive Deutsches Kino 2022) and Anna Melikova (Berlinale Talents 2023, Script Station)

The Kompagnon Fellowships for Perspektive Deutsches Kino and Berlinale Talents are awarded to Mareike Wegener (Perspektive Deutsches Kino 2022) and Anna Melikova (Berlinale Talents 2023, Script Station participant).

The Kompagnon Fellowship has been awarded since 2017 to a new film project by an author and/or director from Berlinale Talents, and to a director from Perspektive Deutsches Kino, with the goal of sustainably supporting the work of directors and screenwriters living in Germany. The award comprises a 5,000 euro grant (2,500 euros for short films) as well as a mentoring programme with on-the-job training for strengthening one’s personal signature and networking within the industry. Jurors Dela Dabulamanzi, Anne Fabini and Jöns Jönsson presented the awards.

My Beloved Man’s Female Body by Anna Melikova — jury statement:

The story is an identity game that constantly takes new turns. And early on, it gets very serious, because of the war dominating life in Ukraine. Is it possibly too soon to make a fiction film on the first weeks of the war of aggression?
We think that’s exactly what lends the film its urgency and documentative immediacy. The author dares to touch on difficult subjects, but does so with lightness, capturing characters who are all in transitionary phases. A trans-man decides to leave the war zone to protect his life. But he’s stopped at the country’s border, since he’s obliged to defend his country as a man, despite his papers identifying him as a woman. His partner stays by his side and must also redefine herself, since after his transition, she’ll be considered heterosexual. The whole country, just like these two characters, is in transition, and when it’s over, nothing will be the same as it was before. We see great potential in Anna Melikova’s project My Beloved Man’s Female Body and hereby award it with a Kompagnon Fellowship 2023.

Paraphrase on the Finding of a Glove by Mareike Wegener — jury statement:

The film is about a woman seldom seen in the movies – lonely, but searching, she wanders between reality and fantasy. The forced isolation of the pandemic is a barely manageable challenge for Cloe. The young philologist has made a career out of summarizing her clients’ resumes for speeches – but soon, they’re all eulogies. When even her own mother declines to hug Cloe, and her dog nearly dies from an overdose of sleeping pills, a lost glove becomes a substitute for human interaction and opens up a world of fantastic adventures. With the certainty of a sleepwalker, the film becomes a magical-realism thriller. Mareike Wegener plays with the audience’s expectations - fortunately, since it creates ludicrous moments of confusion that arise from the deep psychological pain of loneliness. Paraphrase on the Finding of a Glove is awarded with the Kompagnon Fellowship 2023. Congratulations!