24th Sept - 1st Oct 2009
Filmfest Hamburg honours Atom Egoyan with Douglas-Sirk-Award
Hamburg, den 08.09.2008
Filmfest Hamburg presents the Douglas-Sirk-Award 2008 to the Canadian
director Atom Egoyan. The renowned prize is awarded annually to one
person for rendering outstanding services to film culture through their
work.
Festival Director Albert Wiederspiel explains the motivation behind choosing the author-director from Canada: “In honouring Atom Egoyan, we are honouring an unconventional director whose artistic approach influences filmmaking. Egoyan remains unperturbed in going his own way and never allows himself to be led astray from his cinematic vision. What I find particularly fascinating is that Egoyan often ignores classic narrative structures in favour of arranging his films according to the human way of thinking - i.e. freely associative. This unusual cinematic approach challenges the viewer to deepen his reflections in connecting to the core of the plot.”
Atom Egoyan was born in 1960 in Cairo to Armenian parents and grew up in Canada. After studying classical guitar and politics he made his debut as a feature film director in 1984 and in subsequent years he grew to become one of the most acclaimed author-directors from Canada. Atom Egoyan is esteemed an architect of peculiarly abstract and fragmentary imagery, standing in the tradition of David Lynch. He displays mental brilliance in his weaving of delicate nets between time levels, figures and relationships.
His canon of topics encompasses the search for identity, voyeurism, sexual obsessions and often comes to a close with family dramas, as exemplified by films such as “The Adjuster” (1991), “Exotica” (1994) and “The Sweet Hereafter” (1997, Oscar nomination for best director). Following “Felicia’s Journey” (1999), “Ararat” (2002) and “Where the Truth Lies” (2005), his new film “Adoration” (2008) foregrounds the alienation of man in a world shaped by digitalization and post-9/11 traumata.
The Douglas-Sirk-Award is presented on Saturday, 27th September 2008 at 7.45pm in the cinema CinemaxX Dammtor, prior to the German premiere of “Adoration”, in the presence of Atom Egoyan. The laudatory speech will be held by Wim Wenders, who dedicated the prize he was awarded for “Wings of Desire” at the 1987 Montreal Film Festival to the then young Canadian colleague.
The film is distributed by X Verleih. Interview requests or further information should be made through Mr. Wolfgang Werner and Mrs. Christiane Leithardt under [email protected] or by telephone under 089 - 38 38 67-0.
The 16th Filmfest Hamburg takes place from September 25 to October 2, 2008 in the cinemas CinemaxX Dammtor, Abaton and 3001.
Further information
Kati Baumgarten, Claus Friede
Press and Communications
Telephone: +49- (0)40 - 399 19 00-29 or -17
[email protected] / www.filmfesthamburg.de
Festival Director Albert Wiederspiel explains the motivation behind choosing the author-director from Canada: “In honouring Atom Egoyan, we are honouring an unconventional director whose artistic approach influences filmmaking. Egoyan remains unperturbed in going his own way and never allows himself to be led astray from his cinematic vision. What I find particularly fascinating is that Egoyan often ignores classic narrative structures in favour of arranging his films according to the human way of thinking - i.e. freely associative. This unusual cinematic approach challenges the viewer to deepen his reflections in connecting to the core of the plot.”
Atom Egoyan was born in 1960 in Cairo to Armenian parents and grew up in Canada. After studying classical guitar and politics he made his debut as a feature film director in 1984 and in subsequent years he grew to become one of the most acclaimed author-directors from Canada. Atom Egoyan is esteemed an architect of peculiarly abstract and fragmentary imagery, standing in the tradition of David Lynch. He displays mental brilliance in his weaving of delicate nets between time levels, figures and relationships.
His canon of topics encompasses the search for identity, voyeurism, sexual obsessions and often comes to a close with family dramas, as exemplified by films such as “The Adjuster” (1991), “Exotica” (1994) and “The Sweet Hereafter” (1997, Oscar nomination for best director). Following “Felicia’s Journey” (1999), “Ararat” (2002) and “Where the Truth Lies” (2005), his new film “Adoration” (2008) foregrounds the alienation of man in a world shaped by digitalization and post-9/11 traumata.
The Douglas-Sirk-Award is presented on Saturday, 27th September 2008 at 7.45pm in the cinema CinemaxX Dammtor, prior to the German premiere of “Adoration”, in the presence of Atom Egoyan. The laudatory speech will be held by Wim Wenders, who dedicated the prize he was awarded for “Wings of Desire” at the 1987 Montreal Film Festival to the then young Canadian colleague.
The film is distributed by X Verleih. Interview requests or further information should be made through Mr. Wolfgang Werner and Mrs. Christiane Leithardt under [email protected] or by telephone under 089 - 38 38 67-0.
The 16th Filmfest Hamburg takes place from September 25 to October 2, 2008 in the cinemas CinemaxX Dammtor, Abaton and 3001.
Further information
Kati Baumgarten, Claus Friede
Press and Communications
Telephone: +49- (0)40 - 399 19 00-29 or -17
[email protected] / www.filmfesthamburg.de
