Saturday evening, at the awards ceremony of the 23rd NEISSE NYSA NISA FILM FESTIVAL in the Czech city of Varnsdorf, the Neisse Fish – the festival's award sculptures – were awarded to the winners in the three competitions and to the audience favorite. Here are all the award winners at a glance:

Neisse Fish: Best Feature Fiction Film

“Sechswochenamt”
Six Weeks On
(Director: Jacqueline Jansen)

Laudatio of the jury: The film touches every viewer because it tells of a deeply human situation that can affect anyone: What happens when we lose the person we love most and are left alone with our grief – with the bureaucracy, the tasks, and the emotional burden that remain after the loss of a loved one? With great acting prowess and impressive imagery, the film makes feelings visible for which there are often no words. We were particularly impressed by the strong stage direction, the visual language, and the honesty with which this outstanding film makes such moments tangible.

Award sponsored by Sächsisches Staatsministerium für Wissenschaft, Kultur 
und Tourismus (with 10.000€)

Neisse Fish: Best Performance

Đoàn Hoàng Anh for “Letní škola, 2001”
Summer School, 2001
(Director: Dužan Duong)

Laudatio of the jury: We award the prize for the Best Acting performance for the emotionally intense portrayal of a complex character that evoked anger, understanding, and compassion in us and continued to resonate long after the end of the film. The prize goes to Hoàng Anh Đoàn for his portrayal of the father in the film “Summer School, 2001”.

Award sponsored by the city of Zittau 
(with 1.000€)

Honorable Mention: Magdalena Laubisch for "Sechswochenamt" / Six Weeks On 
(Director: Jacqueline Jansen)

Neisse Fish: Best Production Design

Seth Turner for “Der Heimatlose”
Trial of Hein
(Director: Kai Stänicke)

Laudatio of the jury: The production design of this film is a powerful narrative tool. Through set design, spatial arrangement, and artistic scenic execution, an impressive sense of transformation arises – between belonging and non-belonging, between being a stranger and being at home. The spaces are deliberately made to appear incomplete, thus becoming a strong metaphor for fragmented memory and an existence between different places and identities. 

Award sponsored by the city of Görlitz (with 3.000€)

Neisse Fish: Best Screenplay

Emi Buchwald and Karol Marczak for “Nie ma duchów w mieszkaniu na Dobrej”
No Ghosts on Good Street
(Director: Emi Buchwald)

Laudatio of the jury: The Neisse Fish Award for Best Screenplay goes to Emi Buchwald and Karol Marczak for the screenplay of the film “Nie duchów w mieszkaniu na Dobrej”. This story is a challenge: Four completely different characters are brought together by a single love. With ease and humor, it reminds us – amidst all the dramatic stories – that the world is on our side and that adulthood is a bluff!

Award sponsored by Liberecky kray (with 1.000€)

Neisse Fish: Best Documentary Film

“Eine Krankheit wie ein Gedicht”
An Illness Like a Poem
(Director: Jelena Ilić)

Laudatio of the jury: This deeply personal film shows how shared creative work can bring people back together, even if their relationship had been severely strained. Unanimously and almost without hesitation, we decided to award the main prize to a film that deals with mental illness, addiction, and the stresses that can shape and challenge our lives in an empathetic way. The jury was also impressed by the director's diverse cinematic and form-language. 

Award sponsored by Sächsischen Staatskanzlei (with 5.000€)

Honorable Mention: “Habibi Hussein” (Director: Alex Bakri)

Neisse Fish: Best Short Film

“Niech Zostanie Bez Tytułu”
Let's Leave It Untitled
(Director: Mieszko Chomka)

Laudatio of the jury: Insights into the life of a lost street boy reveal his sensitivity, which emerges from the seemingly chaotic material in the form of a very compact and skillfully assembled film. The film itself therefore appears much more mature than the director, who is still at the beginning of his maturity, and is a testament to his cinematic talent, which we are convinced will only continue to flourish in the future. 

Award sponsored by StudierendenRat der Hochschule Zittau/Görlitz (with 1.500€)

Honorable Mention: “My motherland is checkered” (Director: Polina Prokofeva) 
“*Padá město, něco si přej” / *Make a Wish as the City Falls (Director: Eliška Dobnerová)

Neisse Fish: Special Award

"Capo" 
(Director: Robert Kwilman)

Laudatio of the jury: The winning film tells the story of a group of Latin American people who have just arrived in Poland and, in search of financial security, fall into a system of forced labor. It is a parable about exploitation and identity theft, subtly raising the question of why these networks can emerge. The film refrains from overly artistic cinematic techniques in an almost documentary style, thereby remaining close to its characters at all times. The audience is drawn deeply into the situation through the consistent avoidance of sentimental social clichés. All throughout, the film is told from the perspective of its main protagonist, who is exploited himself as a kind of intermediary between the exploiters and the exploited. When he can no longer suppress his inner conflicts, a fateful chain of events is set in motion. 

Award sponsored by Filmverband Sachsen (with 1.000€)

Neisse Fish: Youth Jury Award – Feature Film

"Obhut" 
(Director: Veronika Hafner)

Laudatio of the jury: There was one film that stood out even among the many remarkable entries. During the festival, we watched many films. However, one of them moved us in a very special way: 'Obhut' by Veronica Hafner. This German film deals with an extremely sensitive topic and took us on an emotional rollercoaster. We were torn between disgust and compassion. It was not an easy experience, but that is exactly what made it so compelling. Even after the screening, our jury engaged in intense discussions: Where is the boundary between human and monster? And where do compassion and empathy reach their limits? For us, this film succeeds in achieving a remarkable balancing act. We were deeply impressed by how it approaches its subject with both sensitivity and uncompromising honesty. Excellent acting performances further enrich the film and give it an extraordinary authenticity. Anyone who has already seen the film will understand why it is not easy for us to make this statement. The fact that we struggle to find the right words is, for us, the greatest proof of the film's impact. It has succeeded in making something tangible that is incredibly difficult to put into words. That makes it a true work of art.

Award sponsored by Deutsch-Polnischen Jugendwerk (with 1.000€)

Honorable Mention: “Nie ma duchów w mieszkaniu na Dobrej” / No Ghosts on Good Street (Director: Emi Buchwald)

Neisse Fish: Youth Jury Award – Short Film

“Niech Zostanie Bez Tytułu”
Let's Leave It Untitled
(Director: Mieszko Chomka)

Laudatio of the jury: In this film we saw a reflection of our own reality: the life of a young person, shaped by insecurities, challenges, and questions about their own future. The film encourages not to "think everything through to the end," but to have the courage to embrace the unknown and to take new paths. This is not a typical coming-of-age film. It is raw, honest, and authentic. Mieszko Chomka vividly describes the fear of the unknown, the worry about what the next phase of life will bring, as well as the fear of losing friends and loved ones. It is precisely this honesty and closeness that convinced us. 

Award sponsored by Deutsch-Polnischen Jugendwerk (with 1.000€)

Honorable Mention: “Zatoulanec” / The Stray (Director: Mikoláš Fišer)

Audience Award Feature Fiction and Documentary

The opinion of the audience was also asked for: The audience awards for feature films from the program of the 23rd NEISSE NYSA NISA FILM FESTIVAL, endowed with 1,000 euros each and sponsored by the regional transport firm ZVON (Zweckverband Verkehrsverbund Oberlausitz-Niederschlesien), went to the feature film “Der Heimatlose” (Trial of Hein) by Kai Stänicke and the documentary “Einar Schleef – I Have Found No Germany” by Sandra Prechtel.

Audience Award Short Film

The most popular short film was the Polish entry “Martwe Tango” (Death Tango) by Jan Seraphim. This prize is sponsored by the city of Zgorzelec and is also endowed with 1,000 euros.