Award
Director Pilar Palomero wins the Dortmund Feature Film Award
The Spanish director Pilar Palomero won the feature film prize at the International Women’s Film Festival IFFF in Dortmund with her film “Motherhood”. photo
© International Women’s Film Festival/dpa
The feature film competition for female directors at the International Women’s Film Festival in Dortmund marked the end of the event. The Spaniard Palomero is used to it.
With her film “Motherhood (La Maternal)” the Spanish director Pilar Palomero won the feature film award of the International Women’s Film Festival IFFF in Dortmund, which is endowed with 15,000 euros. The film tells the story of a pregnant 14-year-old who finds new friends at a center for teenage mothers. “The film stirred and inspired us. It artfully combines documentary elements with powerful cinematic images as well as the play of amateurs with that of professional actresses,” said the jury, which this year consisted of filmmaker Helke Sander and the actresses Sara Fazilat and Maria Furtwangler was occupied.
Palomero is the tenth director to receive the IFFF award. The 42-year-old recently published the drama “Las Niñas”, for which she was awarded Best New Director at the Goya Awards 2021.
The international feature film competition for women directors marked the end of the six-day festival, at which around 130 films from 34 countries were shown. It was the first full festival edition since the beginning of the corona pandemic. “The overwhelming rush shows that women’s films have their finger on the pulse of the times,” said festival director Maxa Zoller on Sunday. Numerous performances were sold out.
The IFFF takes place in Cologne and Dortmund. According to the organizers, it is the largest and oldest women’s film festival in the German-speaking world and is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year.