Audience and Jury Award

Award winners 2026

During the award ceremony of the 49. Grenzland-Filmtage International Film Festival 2026, the winners in the various categories will be announced. The winning films of the public vote will be shown again on Sunday, 12.04.2026 in separate screenings. The exact showtimes can be found in the program schedule.

• ZuKi Film Award Children's Film

  Yuri Far Far Away
  Mariia Konopatova | Russia, Kazakhstan 2025

  This award is donated by Zukunft Kinder e.V..

• Jury Film Award "Eastern European Film"

  The Odyssey of Joy
  Zgjim Terziqi | Kosovo, France 2025

  Jury statement:
  This significant and truly special film is a perfect fit for the Grenzland-Filmtage International Film Festival, whose primary aim from the very beginning has been to transcend political, cultural and linguistic boundaries and to build bridges between regions and countries.
  The story told by the film is set in the year 2000, following the Kosovo War, which was fought in 1998–99 over the independence of the former Yugoslav region. Eleven-year-old Lis lives with his family in cramped conditions in a flat, after they were evicted from their old home. His father has been missing since the war.
  When a French troupe of clowns arrives in town – travelling across the country with the aim of giving children a new lease of life – he joins them, initially without meaning to. This marks the start of a gripping road movie that not only explores the difficult conditions in a country scarred by war, but also the complex relationships between the clowns themselves.
  The jury was particularly impressed by the acting skills of the young lead actor, Diar Sadiku, in his combination of vulnerability, hurt and coolness. But the French clown performers Lucie Fagedet, Frédéric Radepont, Iñaki Lartigue and the other actors also impress with their authenticity and warmth. The film, a Kosovar-French co-production, is imbued with a profound humanity and poetry that at times recalls the finest moments of classic French cinema. Despite the gravity of the situation, the film conveys a certain lightness – the very essence of what clowns do. The young director Zgjim Terziqi has created a work – partly autofictional – that makes hope possible in our war-torn world.

  Honourable mention to "Fragmnts of Resistance "
  State violence and the recurring cycle of unease, dissent, uprising, struggle, resistance, repression, powerlessness, resignation, and renewed hope lie at the heart of this striking film. It portrays the demonstrations, unrest, and street clashes that took place in 2023/24 in Georgia and Serbia— in Georgia as a response to the government’s announcement to postpone EU accession talks and to label opposition groups as “foreign agents,” following the Russian model. The film’s particular strength unfolds through the exchange of emotional messages between two young people in Georgia and Serbia, Levan and Pavla, through which the political events gain a deeply personal dimension.
  The filmmakers succeed in making the impact of the political on the private immediately tangible. The seemingly incidental images feel direct and intimate, revealing an unvarnished reality that often disappears in the flow of daily news. In doing so, the film raises urgent questions of our time: What responsibility does the individual bear for society? Is protest worthwhile—or are we ultimately powerless? And how can one preserve personal dreams and hopes in times of apparent hopelessness?
  Without offering easy answers, the film opens a space for reflection while articulating a clear impulse: to stand up and take a stance when the world falls out of balance.

  This award is donated by Stadt Selb.

• Jury Film Award "Newcomer Film Award"

  Postcards Without Names
  Joona Ikonen | Finland 2025

  Jury statement:
  The jury awards Postcards Without Names as a film that tells a story of loss, memory, and unspoken conflicts with quiet intensity and remarkable narrative clarity. At its center is a young man returning from Helsinki to a place inseparably linked to his own past and that of his cousin. What follows is not a loud confrontation, but a carefully observed reconnecting between two people who have grown distant yet share a common history.
  
  The film impresses with a consistently strong and believable narrative structure, which manages to trace the emotional development of the characters carefully. There is great authenticity in all aspects of the filmmaking: cinematography, editing, production design, and sound interact precisely to create an atmosphere that feels both raw and poetic.
  
  Particularly noteworthy is the acting, which portraits the inner tensions and vulnerabilities of the characters with great sensitivity and depth. Moments of honesty arise naturally, without unnecessary dramatization, leaving a lasting impression. This is supported by an emotional, finely tuned score that carries the story without ever imposing itself.
  
  Postcards Without Names is a coherent film that impresses through understatement and precision—and it is exactly in these qualities that it achieves profound emotional impact. A work that demonstrates the power of cinema when it has the courage to be quiet.

  Honourable mentions to "Baby It's Cold Outside":
  *Baby It’s Cold Outside* creates a dense, immersive atmosphere, with every single scene palpably driving the dynamic between the protagonists forward. Supported by nuanced performances, a relationship emerges that feels very authentic in its ambivalence. For the viewer, the characters constantly oscillate between sympathy and antipathy: they offer a high degree of relatability and seem approachable, even though one often doesn’t want to be close to them at all.
  It is precisely this contradiction that makes them so compelling. For the characters act in a thoroughly human way: they do not choose the morally correct path, but the more convenient one, and shirk responsibility for their behaviour. In doing so, they neither consider the consequences nor reflect on their actions. In this respect, the film acts as a mirror, holding up selfishness and double standards for the audience to see. It reminds us of those moments when we ourselves are unreliable and bend moral standards to suit the situation.
  This inevitably raises the question: are the characters – and ultimately we ourselves – really concerned with the issue at hand, or rather with satisfying their own moral self-image? This brings to mind the ‘smartphone generation’, whose fear of too much commitment leads them to back down in crucial situations.
  Fortunately, in the final shot, the protagonist does ask himself: Did we really do the right thing? Only the Golden Retriever can answer that question.

  This award is donated by Sparkasse Hochfranken.

• Film Award "Indie-Award"

  Postcards Without Names
  Joona Ikonen | Finland 2025

  Jury statement:
  The story of Felix, his dissatisfaction with life despite his professional success, is deeply moving. Almost everyone knows a memory from the past, a person who is missing, and realizes they did nothing to make up for that loss, until it may no longer be possible. Yet he is given the chance to prevent a second loss. However, the journey to that point is long and painful, one of self-discovery and realization.
  Director Joona Ikonen tells this story through very calm, sometimes long static shots, and yet it never becomes boring. Images of fantastic landscapes and well-chosen music guide us through Felix’s emotional world, a character you sometimes want to slap for his foolishness, only to then want to comfort and embrace him. As a viewer, you suffer along with him, rejoice at the happy ending and still leave the story with a touch of melancholy, at least if it awakens your own memories.

  This award is presented by the director Michael von Hohenberg and donated by PROBAU Massivhaus GmbH.

• Audience Film Awards

  Feature Film:

  Obhut
  Veronika Hafner | Germany 2025

  Midlength Feature Film:

  One Way Ticket to Tbilisi
  Paul Ploberger | Austria, Georgia, Germany 2025

  Short Film:

  Teresa, Station B
  Katharina Sporrer | Germany 2025

  Documentary:

  Eigentlich wollte ich nicht lange bleiben
  Andreas Grützner | Germany 2025

  This award is donated by designer Barbara Flügel.

Award Winners 2026 - Schedule 12.04.2026 (Cinema 4)

13.45 Uhr

• Yuri Far Far Away (Award Winner "ZuKi-Filmpreis")
• Obhut (Audience Award Winner "Feature Film")

16.00 Uhr

• Eigentlich wollte ich nicht lange bleiben (Audience Award Winner "Documentary Film")
• The Odyssey of Joy (Jury Award Winner "Eastern European Film")

18.15 Uhr

• Postcards Without Names (Jury Award Winner "Indie-Award" and Jury Award Winner "Newcomer Film")
• One Way Ticket to Tbilisi (Audience Award Winner "Midlength Feature Film")
• Teresa, Station B (Audience Award Winner "Short Film")