Silver Bear Jury Prize
THE EMPIRE by Bruno Dumont
Produced by Andrea Paris (ACE Italy)
Co-produced by Dorothe Beinemeier (ACE Germany), Olivier Dubois (ACE Belgium), Bertrand Faivre (ACE France), Fabrizio Mosca (ACE Italy)

Silver Bear for Best Screenplay
DYING by Matthias Glasner
Produced by Jan Krüger (ACE Germany)

Encounters Best Director
CIDADE; CAMPO by Juliana Rojas
Co-produced by Clement Dubois (ACE France) and Ingmar Trost (ACE Germany)

Grand Prix for Best Film in Generation 14plus
WHO BY FIRE by Philippe Lesage
Produced by Galilé Marion-Gauvin (ACE Canada)

Special Mention – Crystal Bear for Best Film
YOUNG HEARTS by Anthony Schatteman
Co-produced by Annabella Nezri (ACE Belgium) and Floor Onrust (ACE The Netherlands)

Second Prize – Panorama Audience Award
CROSSING by Levan Akin
Co-produced by Katja Adomeit (ACE Denmark)

Forum – Ecumenical Jury Prize
MARIA’S SILENCE by Dāvis Sīmanis
Produced by Inese Boka-Grube (ACE Latvia)

Teddy Jury Award
DYING by Matthias Glasner
Produced by Jan Krüger (ACE Germany)

Guild Film Prize
DYING by Matthias Glasner
Produced by Jan Krüger (ACE Germany)

Special Mention – AG-Kino Gilde Cinema Vision 14Plus
DISCO AFRIKA: A MALAGASY STORY by Luck Razanajaona
Co-produced by Nicole Gerhards (ACE Germany)

Berliner Morgenpost Readers’ Jury Award
DYING by Matthias Glasner
Produced by Jan Krüger (ACE Germany)

Eurimages Co-Production Development Award
SCREAMING GIRL by Antonio Lukich
Produced by Vladimir Yatsenko (ACE Ukraine)
Co-produced by Jessie Fisk (ACE Ireland)

Competition

DYING by Matthias Glasner
Produced by Jan Krüger (ACE Germany)

THE EMPIRE by Bruno Dumont
Produced by Andrea Paris (ACE Italy)
Co-produced by Dorothe Beinemeier (ACE Germany), Olivier Dubois (ACE Belgium), Bertrand Faivre (ACE France), Fabrizio Mosca (ACE Italy)

FROM HILDE, WITH LOVE by Andreas Dresen
Produced by Claudia Steffen (ACE Germany)

GLORIA! by Margherita Vicario
Produced by Carlo Cresto-Dina (ACE Italy)

LANGUE ÉTRANGÈRE by Claire Burger
Co-produced by Roman Paul (ACE Germany)

WHO DO I BELONG TO by Meryam Joobeur
Produced by Nadim Cheikhrouha (ACE France)

Encounters

ARCADIA by Yorgos Zois
Produced by Maria Drandaki (ACE Greece)

CIDADE; CAMPO by Juliana Rojas
Co-produced by Clement Dubois (ACE France) and Ingmar Trost (ACE Germany)

Panorama

CROSSING by Levan Akin
Co-produced by Katja Adomeit (ACE Denmark)

THE OUTRUN by Nora Fingscheidt
Co-produced by Jakob D. Weydemann (ACE Germany)

Panorama Dokumente

AFTERWAR by Birgitte Stærmose
Produced by Misha Jaari (ACE Finland)

Generation

ABOVE THE DUST by Wang Xiaoshuai
Co-produced by Leontine Petit (ACE The Netherlands) and Erik Glijnis (ACE The Netherlands)

DISCO AFRIKA: A MALAGASY STORY by Luck Razanajaona
Co-produced by Nicole Gerhards (ACE Germany)

MY SUMMER WITH IRENE by Carlo Sironi
Produced by Giovanni Pompili (ACE Italy)

THE GREAT PHUKET by Liu Yaonan
Produced by Cyriac Auriol (ACE France)

WHO BY FIRE by Philippe Lesage
Produced by Galilé Marion-Gauvin (ACE Canada)

YOUNG HEARTS by Anthony Schatteman
Co-produced by Annabella Nezri (ACE Belgium) and Floor Onrust (ACE The Netherlands)

Forum

IN THE BELLY OF A TIGER by Siddartha Jatla
Produced by Patrice Nezan (ACE France)

MARIA’S SILENCE by Dāvis Sīmanis
Produced by Inese Boka-Grube (ACE Latvia)

THE NIGHTS STILL SMELL OF GUNPOWDER by Inadelso Cossa
Co-produced by Frank Hoeve (ACE The Netherlands)

OASIS OF NOW by Chee Sum Chia
Produced by Fran Borgia (ACE Singapore)

REAS by Lola Arias
Produced by Ingmar Trost (ACE Germany)

Berlinale Specials

AT AVERROES & ROSA PARKS by Nicolas Philibert
Produced by Milena Poylo (ACE France)

CUCKOO by Tilman Singer
Produced by Markus Halberschmidt (ACE Germany)

EXERGUE – ON DOCUMENTA 14 by Dimitris Athiridis
Co-produced by Yorgos Tsourgiannis (ACE Greece)

TREASURE by Julia von Heinz
Produced by Fabian Gasmia (ACE Germany)

DAVOS 1917 by Jan-Eric Mack, Anca Miruna Lăzărescu and Christian Theede will premiere at Zurich Film Festival 2023. The project was developed during the ACE Series Special 2 by Ivan Madeo, and produced with his colleague and business partner Stefan Eichenberger (ACE Switzerland)

As World War I ravages Europe, the noble resort town of Davos seems like an oasis of peace. Behind the scenes, however, a relentless battle between secret agents of the world powers is raging in neutral Switzerland. The young nurse Johanna Gabathuler unexpectedly gets caught between the fronts of the spies. To save her illegitimate daughter, she becomes embroiled in a deadly game with the German secret service. Set against the breathtaking mountain panorama of the Grisons, the spy thriller DAVOS 1917 unfolds a politically explosive chapter in European history.

How did the ACE Series Special benefit you as a producer, and your ACE project?
The Series Special 2 Programme was a great benefit for DAVOS 1917 both on the development level and on the project presentation level with our series bible. I will never forget the valuable dramaturgical exchange with Emmanuel Oberg. He was a tremendous blessing that I was happy to share with our head writer Adrian Illien. With my fellow producers, I was able to discuss a variety of financing scenarios even before we knew how the final financial setup for our high-budget series would come together. Another extremely valuable aspect was the exchange with colleagues from the programme about the production challenges we face day by day, not only on a legal, financial and negotiation level but also on a psychological and emotional level. Because our profession is truly extraordinary and affects our personal lives profoundly.

What was the most challenging in getting this series from script to screen?
The first difficulty for us and our writers’ room was to tell a story that is set in a small village in the middle of the Alps but is still as internationally relevant as possible – and in a way that never feels constructed. I think we succeeded quite well thanks to numerous research on the true events during World War I as well as the cross-national cooperation of dedicated writers, producers, and commissioning editors from Swiss Television SRF and German Television ARD Degeto. The second major difficulty was the endless script revisions that were necessary due to the constant inflation, be it because of Covid, be it because of the Ukraine war. We finished financing and writing our series DAVOS 1917 half a dozen times before we had to tap additional sources of funding and face simplifications and cost reductions at the script level.

What’s ahead for you and your company? What are you currently working on?
The variety of films we are currently working on at Contrast Film is as large as inspiring. In Locarno, we have just premiered OF LIVING WITHOUT ILLUSION by Katharina Lüdin, a first feature that is now touring the festivals. At the other end of the budget scale are two big productions that we will premiere at the Zurich Film Festival: our TV series DAVOS 1917 starring Dominique Devenport, Jeanette Hain and David Kross as well as the co-produced feature film STELLA. A LIFE by Kilian Riedhof, a multi-country co-production led by Letterbox Filmproduktion Hamburg and starring a mesmerising Paula Beer. Furthermore, we are in post-production of our historical feature THE TRAITOR by Michael Krummenacher with Luna Wedler, Fabian Hinrichs and the fascinating new talent Dimitri Krebs as well as in post-production of the documentary CAN LOVE BE SIN by Martin Witz, a Locarno veteran. We are also involved as a minority partner in STRAY BODIES, a film by Elina Psykou as a co-production between Greece, Switzerland, Italy, and Bulgaria. On top of that, several co-productions are in the pipeline and new series are in development. So, there is some work, but also excitement ahead for the company.

More information on the ACE Series Special can be found here.

LA BELLA ESTATE by Laura Luchetti will premiere at Locarno International Film Festival 2023 at the Piazza Grande. Producer Giovanni Pompili (ACE Italy) participated with the project in the ACE 30 Annual Programme.

1938. Young Ginia has just moved to Turin from the countryside. Looking for adventure she discovers the dazzling artists’ world and begins an affair with a painter. Amelia, the model who leads her into the bohemian quarters, is sensual, free, and different from anyone she has ever met. During her ‘beautiful summer’, Ginia yields to her first great love, celebrating the courage to be truly herself.

How did the ACE Annual Programme benefit you as a producer, and your ACE project?
Participating in the ACE Annual Programme definitely was a turning point for my education and career, as well as strengthening my industry knowledge and my international network. Meeting and sharing with my peers always brings different points of view on common topics and this is absolutely the greatest value the experience can bring. It helped me a lot to be able to look at myself from the right distance to my professional experience and to the company management.
And: The Annual Programme doesn’t finish with the workshop, but the ACE journey starts with it, being part of the association today is extremely important.

Unfortunately, we experienced it in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic and we were still not used to handling this kind of online engagement. I did the first session from a hotel room while we were in Sardinia on the set of a shooting (SILENT LAND, co-produced with Lava Films and I/O Post) with COVID alert and protocol to manage and it was difficult to stay 100% focused. However, the ACE team did a tremendous job of making it as interactive and inspiring as possible. The feedback from my script team was invaluable, it was really the confrontation I needed at that time.

What was the most challenging in getting this film from script to the screen?
Making a film based on a book is always a great challenge. If the book is written by Pavese, a master of Italian literature, the challenge is even greater. With Laura, we talked a lot and the only way to respect such an important author was to make him our own. So, the script itself was the first challenge. In the production build-up, we had another big challenge given the fact that the film was supposed to be a co-production with France but four months before shooting everything fell through.
Thanks to our associate partners Lucky Red, Tapeless and True Colours who are handling international sales, we’ve managed to get to the set without changing or reducing the shooting days.

What’s ahead for you and your company? What are you currently working on?
In San Sebastián we will premiere in competition with PUAN, directed by Maria Alche and Benjamin Naishtat, a film I’m super proud of! It is an Argentinian-Brasilian-Italian-French-German co-production, led by Pasto and Pucara Cine together with Infinity Hill – Pandora Filmproduktion (Germany) – Atelier de Production (France) – Bubbles Project (Brazil)

In post-production, we have currently two films, the second feature by Carlo Sironi starring the French actress Noee Abita and co-produced with Julie Billy at June film in France and a minority co-production with the Netherlands based on the book A Beautiful Imperfection by Arthur Japin. It is produced together with Maarten Swart at Kaap Holland Films and Eye-Works Belgium starring Dar Zuso and Jonah Hauer-King.

In October we will have the principal photography of POLVO SERAN, directed by Carlos Marques-Marcet in co-production with Lastor Media (Spain) and Alina Films (Switzerland).

We are developing more films, both majority and minority co-production, it is in our souls to work on stories regardless of the passport of the authors. But the biggest challenge is to structure the company so that it can be independent of me, that is, to train professionals who can one day carry on what I started ten years ago.