22-02-2011

Slovak Matchmaking Mayor Wins German Prize

By FNE Staff

    The Matchmaking Mayor, a Czech/Slovak documentary about the efforts of a Slovak village mayor to encourage marriages among the local residents, won the Reader's Prize of the Berlin-based national daily Der Tagesspiegel. The award for the best film in the Berlinale Forum section comes with a 3,000 Euro cash prize.

    The ten-member jury, consisting of the Berlin newspaper's readers, chose the Czech-Slovak documentary from 31 films.

    In a statement, the jury said, "The prize goes this year to Erika Hníková for her film Matchmaking Mayor, which made us laugh and think and provoked lively discussion. A film capable of polarizing without ever having set out to do so. Its affectionate blend of discretion and intimacy in observing the eccentricities of the post-socialist era creates a complex portrait of single people uninterested in reproduction. A type of passive resistance; whether you laugh at it or with it is left up to you."

    The 72-minute film was produced by Jiří Konečný of Endorfilm (www.endorfilm.cz) with financial support of the Slovak Ministry of Culture and the Czech State Fund for Cinematography.