Winners of the Österreichischer Filmpreis announced in Vienna

Big winner — «The Village Next to Paradise»

On June 12, the Austrian Film Awards ceremony took place in Vienna, marking the most important event of the year for the national film industry. The evening began with a minute of silence for the victims of the terrorist attack in Graz that occurred on Tuesday. In this way, Austrian filmmakers paid tribute to the victims, although the organizers decided not to cancel the event in order to support the cultural community in this difficult moment. However, the traditional afterparty was canceled.

The main triumph of the evening was the film «The Village Next to Paradise» by Sabine Moser and Oliver Neumann. It won the top prize in the category Best Feature Film and received four other awards.

Notably, Mo Harawe was honored for Best Director and Best Screenplay for the same film.

Another strong contender was Anja Salomonowitz’s film «Sleeping with a Tiger,» which also won five awards.

In the acting categories, Birgit Minichmayr («Sleeping with a Tiger») and Albrecht Schuch («Peacock — Am I Real?») were awarded for Best Leading Roles.

In the supporting role categories, Gerti Drassl was recognized for her role in «Gina» and Thomas Schubert for his performance in «Andrea Gets Divorced.»

Despite the tragic circumstances, the ceremony was conducted with dignity and became an important symbol of unity for the Austrian film community.

Here is the full list of winners:

• Best Feature Film – The Village Next to Paradise (Producers: Sabine Moser, Oliver Neumann)
• Best Documentary – Favoriten (Producer/Director: Ruth Beckermann)
• Best Short Film – Land der Berge (Director: Olga Kosanović)
• Best Leading Actress – Birgit Minichmayr (Sleeping with a Tiger”
• Best Leading Actor – Albrecht Schuch (Peacock – Am I Real?)
• Best Supporting Actress – Gerti Drassl (Gina)
• Best Supporting Actor – Thomas Schubert (Andrea Gets Divorced)
• Best Director – Mo Harawe (The Village Next to Paradise)
• Best Screenplay – Mo Harawe (The Village Next to Paradise)
• Best Casting – Mohamed Mohamud Jama (The Village Next to Paradise)
• Best Cinematography – Mostafa El Kashef (The Village Next to Paradise)
• Best Editing – Andrea Wagner (Dear Beautiful Beloved)
• Best Costume Design – Anaïs Horn, Marcus Karkhof (Veni Vidi Vici)
• Best Makeup – Sam Dopona, Verena Pellegrini (Sleeping with a Tiger)
• Best Production Design – Martin Reiter, Andreas Ertl (Sleeping with a Tiger)
• Best Music – Bernhard Fleischmann (Sleeping with a Tiger)
• Best Sound Design – Original sound: Hjalti Bager-Jonathansson, Johannes Baumann;
Sound design: Veronika Hlawatsch; Mixing: Tobias Fleig (Sleeping with a Tiger)
• Audience Award for Most Popular Film – 80 Plus (Producers: Ulrich Gehmacher, Gerald Podgornig, Thomas Hroch; Directors: Sabine Hiebler, Gerhard Ertl; Distributor: Michael Stejskal).

Photo: www.skyunlimited.at, Instagram @oesterreichischefilmakademie