This Christian jury, which awards prizes at several festivals, is the result of the initiative of two Catholic and Protestant organizations, Signis and InterFilm. The eye of the jurors seeks works with artistic, human and spiritual values that convey hope, such as justice, human dignity, peace or solidarity.
An “ecumenical” director
The one who received around fifteen awards – including Christian prizes – during his career testifies: “I left the (Catholic) Church in 1968, when I was a student of socialist ideology.” He adds: “In the 1990s, I returned to the Church, not through the Catholic door, but through the Protestant door. Today, I am a convinced ecumenical Christian.”
He directed “Wings of Desire”, a work that tells the story of an angel who renounces his status as a celestial being for love in a German capital where the Berlin Wall stands. It is one of his biggest box-office successes. Wim Wenders is also the director of the documentary “Buena Vista Social Club”, released in 1999.
A political refugee put in the spotlight
The 2024 Prize was awarded to the film “Seeds of the Wild Fig Tree” by Iranian Mohammad Rasoulof, an activist against the oppression of his country’s political regime. The work depicts an investigating judge of the Revolutionary Court of Tehran facing a national protest movement. His two daughters have joined the movement, while his wife tries to avoid tensions.
The film is part of the protest movement in Iran since the death of Mahsa Amini, a student killed in 2022 for having improperly adjusted her veil. “I would like to salute and thank (…) all these young women who, through their boundless courage and audacity, were the inspiration for this film,” said Mohammad Rasoulof. “The jury was sensitive to the symbolic richness [du film]to its generous outcome and its note of hope,” indicated the president of the Ecumenical Jury Julienne Munyaneza.
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