The film “Vena” by director Chiara Fleischhacker has won one of the most important young talent awards in the German film industry: the First Steps Award for the best full-length feature film. “Vena” was created at the Baden-Württemberg Film Academy. Fleischhacker tells the story of an expectant mother who has drug problems and goes to prison. In the First Steps competition, awards are given to final films from film schools in German-speaking countries – the prizes were awarded in the evening at the Theater des Westens in Berlin.
Characters don’t seem immediately likeable
The film is cinema from a strong voice “that combines trust and artistic vision in an extraordinary way,” it said. Fleischhacker, who was born in Kassel in 1993, tenderly guides her characters through a complex topic. “Characters who don’t seem likeable at first glance and whose actions are difficult to understand.” But that’s exactly what makes her so human.
You feel for them and hope, despite all the tension, that their journey ends heroically. «It doesn’t do that and we are confronted with an almost unbearable reality. A more than mature directorial decision that requires us to take a stance and this
“Makes the film something very special,” it said.
First Steps Awards in several categories
The First Steps Awards were awarded in several categories and are endowed with a total of 132,000 euros. The organizers include the German Film Academy, ARD and several companies.
The documentary “The Girls Who Ride Dragons” by Peyman Ghalambor also received an award. The Götz George Young Talent Award went to Julia Windischbauer for her performance in “Sonnenplatz” (director: Aaron Arens).
© dpa-infocom, dpa:240930-930-248216/1
