Caged Birds
For sure a notorious criminal, but also a Robin Hood-like figure, and a Swiss counter-culture icon: Walter Stürm. The man was the king of prison-breaks in the country, managing no less than 8 times to flee Swiss prison between 1974 and 1995, while - strangely enough - maintaining a sense of anarchic humour throughout. One time, fleeing the prison around Easter in 1981, he left a note saying: „Searching for easter eggs, Stürm".
The prize he paid for his not-to-typical-swiss catch-me-if-you-can-personality were years of solitaire confinement, drawing the attention of the left-wing political scene in Switzerland and Germany. An idealistic lawyer, Barbara Hug, sees her chance to use his popularity to reform a Swiss penal system. In their common fate this drama finds its core.
The film will be screened at PÖFF Official Selection Competition.
Christoph Gröner
Jury Prize for The Best Actress – Marie Leuenberger
Oliver Rihs (b. 1971) is a Swiss director with a wide artistic spectrum and a fable for comedy. He lives in Germany and mainly works in Germany and Switzerland.
Up to 1997, Rihs worked as a documentary film maker for the Swiss TV-station SRF. In 1998, he realized his first short film, "Lilien", that was awarded as “Best Short Film” at the Locarno film festival that year. His first feature debut followed with "Brombeerchen" in 2001. Since then he realized several feature films, such as the Berlin-cult-movie "Black Sheep" (2006) and "Achtung, Fertig, WK!", the most successful Swiss film of 2014.
Brombeerchen (Blackberry, 2002), Schwarze Schafe (Black Sheep, 2006), Dating Lanzelot (2011), Achtung, fertig, WK! (Ready, Steady, Ommm!, 2013), Affenkönig (Monkey King, 2016), Bis wir tot sind oder frei (Caged Birds, 2020)
Programme presented by
Grand Prix for The Best Film, grant of 20 000 euros from the city of Tallinn, Award for Best Director, grant of 5000€ from Alexela
