Editor

ÉCU- The European Independent Film Festival, Europe’s premier event for independent cinema, announces the festival’s award winners.
ÉCU 2011, in partnership with G-Technology, screened 77 films from 26 countries over the weekend of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd of April 2011 at cinema Sept Parnassiens and the Cinema Action Christine in Paris.

Twenty awards were given out at the ceremony. “The Best Director” 2011 was shared by Susanne Kellermann, Florian Hirschmann, Katja Benrath the directors of Puppenspiel (Austria). Antoinette Beumer’s The Happy Housewife (Netherlands) won “Best European Independent Dramatic Feature”, and Tornike Bziava’s April Chill (Georgia) scored “Best European Independent Dramatic Short”.

The prestigious title of “Europe’s Best Independent Film 2011” went to Fabien Lartigue and Gabriella Cserhati for the feature film 27m2 (France).

“I was honoured to project such a great slate of films over the weekend and to present the next generation of storytellers to our audiences. So many directors from so many different countries, all united through their shared independent spirit and creative determination” says Scott Hillier, ÉCU President and Academy Award honoured independent filmmaker.

Since its inception six years ago, ÉCU has proved to be a discovery point for many of Europe’s talented independent filmmakers who are driven by the passion to make great cinema, but don’t benefit from large production budgets.
For a full list of award winners at ÉCU 2011, please visit our website at www.ecufilmfestival.com.