Aleksi Salmenperä from Finland won the prize for Best Director at the 12th Münster Film Festival in 2007. The prize worth EUR 10,000 was unanimously awarded to «Man’s Job» by a prestigious jury.
The thematic competition which this year focussed on the subject of «Work! Don’t Work!» and consisted of eight European feature films selected by the Festival’s Director Barbara Fischer-Rittmeyer, is unique in Germany’s film festival scene.
The marital drama about a Finnish man, who after losing his job resorts to working as a callboy to support his family, stands out by its uncompromising sense of humour and bleak atmosphere. The six-member jury was made up of legendary Dutch actor Rutger Hauer («Blade Runner», «Turkish Delight»), the actresses Nursel Köse («The Edge of Heaven» by Fatih Akin) and Franziska Weisz («Hotel» by Jessica Hausner), the Dutch cameraman René Begas, Sabina Zakelj, Head of the Slovenian Media Board as well as Jens Schneiderheinze, Managing Director of the Münster-based arthouse «Cinema & Kurbelkiste» repeatedly awarded for its outstanding programme.
The German contribution «Counterparts», directed by Jan Bonny, was given a «special mention» by the jury