The Ecumenical Jury, appointed by SIGNIS and INTERFILM, awarded its prizes to three films at the 75th Berlin International Film Festival, which took place from February 13 to 23, 2025.
In the International Competition, the Ecumenical Prize went to Brazilian director Gabriel Mascaro’s dystopian fable “O Último Azul” (2025). The film chronicles the journey of an unlikely hero—a 77-year-old woman who escapes from a future predetermined by an authoritarian state. Set against the magnificent backdrop of the Amazon River, her adventure combines challenges with unexpected friendships and humor. The jury praised the film for warning about “the dangers of exclusion in our modern societies” while fostering “the hope of finding a way out.”
South African director Imran Hamdulay’s “The Heart is a Muscle” (2025) received the Panorama section prize, which includes an endowment of €2,500 from the Catholic German Bishops’ Conference. The film follows a young father from a violent family background who, after assaulting a man, discovers his victim also has a son. Through this experience, he learns that “forgiveness cannot be bought but only dwell from mutual understanding.” The jury commended the film’s beautiful cinematography and use of Afrikaans rap music to portray the little-known culture of Cape Town’s outskirts, where “violence and poverty rub shoulders with friendship, loyalty, and love.”
In the Forum section, the €2,500 prize endowed by the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) went to American director Brandon Kramer’s documentary “Holding Liat” (2025). The film documents the plight of an Israeli woman abducted by Hamas on October 7, 2023, presenting a “respectful and focused chronicle of a family in anguish.” The jury highlighted how the documentary exemplifies “what our time so desperately needs: the willingness to have differentiated conversations and to endure complexities and controversies without breaking off the discussion.”
The six-member international jury, which included representatives from Switzerland, Germany, France, and Mexico, was presided over by Italy’s Peter Ciaccio.