Directed by Maryna Er Gorbach and Mehmet Bahadır Er, the Ukrainian-Turkish coproduction “Klondike” received a special prize at the 21st German Film Award for Peace – The Bridge.
Organized by the Bernhard Wichi Memorial Fund and honoring distinguished filmmakers since 2002, the German Film Award for Peace – The Bridge stands for peace, understanding between nations and the inviolability of human dignity. The prize is awarded to German and international films that stand out both in terms of their artistic vision and the human and political dimension they convey.
The award ceremony of the 21st edition was held at the Cuvillies Theater in Munich on June 21 with the participation of the audience. A total of 60 symbolic awards were given to filmmakers selected from various countries of the world.
The festival jury presented the special award of the jury to "Klondike," which describes the effects of the war in its most humane form. The film is deemed worthy of the award for its sensitive handling of a family drama amid an inferno created by an oppressive and dominating machine of destruction and its directorial success with poetic imagery. The festival jury also underlined that Gorbach has created an extraordinary film with universal value and said, "The film takes us on the hopeless, sad and inevitable path to disaster, the brutality and desolation of war. It shows people while they are dehumanizing."
"Klondike," the first feature film of director Gorbach, won awards from important festivals in the world such as the Sundance Film Festival and Berlin Film Festival. The movie will continue to take part in various festivals, especially in Germany, in the upcoming months.
Co-produced by the Ukrainian State Film Agency, the General Directorate of Cinema of the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism and TRT 12 Punto, "Klondike" focuses on the story of a pregnant woman living on the Ukraine-Russia border who refuses to leave her home despite the siege of her village by separatist groups. It brings the downing of an airliner in Ukraine on July 17, 2014, to the big screen.
