This year’s jury includes actor and director Adriana Altaras, film editor Bettina Böhler and director Ann-Kristin Reyels. Böhler received the Femina Film Award last year for editing the feature film “Yella”, which won a Silver Bear.
The award carries €3,000. It is described as the only award in the German film sector not funded by a ministry, institution or industry organisation. The Association of Women Film Workers covers both the prize and organisational costs. The association was founded in Berlin in autumn 1979 as a national organisation representing the interests of women working in film.
Why is the Femina Film Award still important?
Bettina Böhler says: “A film award specifically for women is still justified in 2008 because women remain under-recognised in technical and creative fields. Men generally receive more respect and attention for the same achievements. They are also still assumed to be more capable where technical matters are concerned. Even in formerly specifically ‘female’ professions such as film editing and costume design, the same work is valued differently when it is undertaken by a man.”
