The Fritz Gerlich Prize was awarded for the twelfth time at the 41st Munich Film Festival on Wednesday, July 3, 2024. The film prize in memory of the Catholic journalist and Nazi opponent Fritz Gerlich (1883-1934) was awarded to the US-Georgian sports drama and conscience drama “Tatami”. The directing duo Guy Nattiv and Zar Amir tell the story of an Iranian judoka who, during a competition in Tbilisi, is put under pressure by officials in her country not to compete against an Israeli athlete. The jury’s reasoning verbatim.
„Tatami“ tells the story of two women who have to make decisions that fundamentally change more than just their own lives. Their struggle is thrillingly told in almost archaic black and white images. We experience how what was initially a pure sporting competition for the first possible gold medal in judo for Iran develops into an internal and external battle: the desire for self-development meets the increasingly harsh repression of a dictatorial regime. The Iranian athlete Leila Hosseini and her trainer Maryam are to be forced with all their might to give up in order to avoid a possible defeat for the country. In the end, no quarter is spared from persecution, imprisonment and torture of family members.
In the end, both women decide for freedom, for a self-determined path in life.
Arienne Mandi (l.), Zar Amir Ebrahimi in “Tatami” (Judo Production)
The film by an Israeli-Iranian directing duo tears open the social and political perception in personal despair. The film by the Israeli-Iranian directing duo Native Guy and Zar Amir Ebrahimi
But it also does not hide the costs of this decision: the exile for Leila and her trainer Maryam, the flight of the judoka’s husband and son from Iran, the uncertain fate of the athlete’s parents and the trainer’s mother.
The jury awarded “Tatami” the Fritz Gerlich Film Prize 2024 because it takes up central ideas from the life and work of Fritz Gerlich in a moving, always credible and rousing way: the resistance against dictatorial regimes, the inner struggle that leads to decisions that are associated with harsh consequences. Showing backbone, fighting for personal freedom, resisting violence and lies, the sacrifices that come with it – these motifs connect Fritz Gerlich and the film “Tatami” across time and culture in an impressive way. Weise.“
Members of the jury in 2024 were Alexander Bothe, Sandra Krump, Claudia Luzius, Cosima von Spreti, Matthias Thön
Further information on the Fritz Gerlich Prize can be found here.
2024-07-04 03:11:23
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