10-10-2014

LET'S CEE Film Festival 2014: Two Oscars and one „Goldener Rathausmann“

    The successful producer and Holocaust survivor Branko Lustig was rewarded with the „Goldener Rathausmann“ by the Mayor of the City of Vienna on October 7th.

    Among the guests of this year’s editon of the LET’S CEE Film Festival are quite many great and well-known names such as the famous Croatian producer and Holocaust survivor Branko Lustig who was rewarded with the „Goldener Rathausmann“ by the Mayor of the City of Vienna on October 7th.

    Having met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs SEBASTIAN KURZ on Monday, the two-time Oscar winner BRANKO LUSTIG, who is currently visiting the international LET’S CEE Film Festival in Vienna, was invited to meet with the Mayor of the City of Vienna MICHAEL HÄUPL on Tuesday. Häupl personally presented the Holocaust survivor and producer of masterpieces such as Schindler’s List, Gladiator, Kingdom of Heaven and Black Hawk Down with the „Goldener Rathausmann“.

    After a grandiose career in Hollywood 82-year-old Lustig moved back to Zagreb a few years ago. As co-founder of the Shoah Foundation and the honorary president of the Festival of Tolerance he untiringly fights against the neglect of the horrors of the Holocaust. At the LET’S CEE Film Festival in Vienna he curated a series of anti-war films and held an Educational Morning in German for the very first time in front of Austrian students.

    Lustig is by far not the only admirable guest the youthful Film Festival, which is screening 91 productions from Central and Eastern Europe this year, had the honour to welcome to Vienna. The exceptional Bosnian director AIDA BEGIC as well as her numerously award-winning colleagues CRISTI PUIU from Romania and DAMJAN KOZOLE from Slovenia are among the most famous filmmakers from the CEE region. The German performance artist ULAY and the Polish soprano ELZBIETA TOWARNICKA belong to the best in their fields at an international level.

    Furthermore, the legendary Hungarian director ISTVAN SZABO was honoured with the „Stern der Urania“ for his life’s work at the festival’s opening ceremony. Szabo, who was nominated for an Academy Award four times and won one once, was delighted and realistic at the same time: „The founders of LET’S CEE do not only honour people of my generation, but many aspiring young filmmakers as well. And this is really important.“

    More press material (free of charge) can be found via the following link:

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