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Bosnia War Story Tops Berlin Film Fest
2006-02-18
A film about the struggles of a single mother and her 12-year-old daughter in the cruel aftermath of the Bosnian war won the top prize at the Berlin film festival Saturday. The movie, "Grbavica," a joint Austrian-Bosnian-German-Croatian production, beat out 18 rivals to secure the Golden Bear award for the best film, sustaining the festival's reputation as a backer of lesser-known moviemakers. Jasmil Zbanic's film tells of how the young girl forces her mother to confess that her father was not a hero who died fighting Serb guerrillas during Bosnia's ethnically charged civil war -- but rather a rapist at a Serb camp for prisoners-of-war. "I am dreaming this, so I will wake in five minutes in Sarajevo," Zbanic, 31, said after receiving her award in the German capital. She thanked the organizers for being "so liberal to invite small films from small countries with small budgets." The two runner-ups were "Offside," a comedy that uses soccer mania to highlight the struggle for women's rights in Iran, and Danish-Swedish production "En Soap" ("A Soap"). Britain's Michael Winterbottom and Mat Whitecross were chosen in the best director category for "The Road to Guantanamo," their semi-documentary recreating the experiences of three former captives at the U.S. detention facility. Winterbottom won the Golden Bear in 2003 for "In This World," a story of two young Afghans' grueling journey to England as refugees. This year's best actor and actress awards both went to Germany: Moritz Bleibtreu for his role in "Elementarteilchen" ("The Elementary Particles"); and Sandra Hueller, who starred in "Requiem." Other films running in the main competition at the festival, the first of the year's major European film festivals, were Robert Altman's "A Prairie Home Companion," Marc Evans' "Snow Cake" and Sidney Lumet's "Find Me Guilty." ___ On the Net: http://www.berlinale.de/en/HomePage.html
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