Andreas Driessen thought about this topic for twelve years. At first there was Murat Kurnaz’s biographical report “5 Years of My Life” about his imprisonment in Guantanamo, and then the director decided to shoot a film about his mother. Now Andreas Driessen has been honored with the “German Film Peace Prize – Bridge” for the drama “Kurnaz Spring vs. George W. Bush”. This was announced by the Bernard Wiki Memorial Fund in Munich. The award for the national category, amounting to 7,500 euros, is due to be handed over to Dersen on June 21 in the Bavarian state capital in the run-up to the Munich Film Festival. The Peace Prize honors outstanding artwork every year since 2002.

Repressive and touching drama

Driessen tells the story of Guantanamo prisoner Murat Kurnaz from the perspective of his mother in Germany, who confronts the most powerful man in the world, the US President. The jury commended the filmmaker for “giving this drama a flavor with its humble sense of humour”. Oppressive and poignant, he describes the never-ending struggle for truth and justice on the one hand and the study of an entertaining environment in the German-Turkish mix on the other.

Even if Dresen does not really want to win any art awards, but prefers to enlighten and shake things up. The director succeeds above all thanks to his wonderful acting leadership. This was already the case in the first films such as “Silent Country”, “The Policeman” or “Half the Staircase” – and now I also liked “Spring Kornaz vs. George W. Bush”. The tragic mother’s drama completes Murat Kurnaz’s 2012 biopic Five Years of My Life, in which director Stefan Schaller tells the story of solitary confinement at Guantanamo.

More prizes

This year’s international award was given to French director Catherine Corsini for her film “In the Best Hands”. In it, the director tackles hot topics such as the lack of nursing and the division in society. Corsini “created a masterpiece that managed to be comedic despite all the serious elements,” the jury justified its choice. A special prize of €3,000 will be given this year to Ukrainian director Marina I. Gorbach for her work Klondike. The family drama takes place in 2014 during the fighting in eastern Ukraine.

Since 2002, films of artistic value with a human, social and political dimension have been honored with the iconic pillar. The award is primarily sponsored by the Free State of Bavaria. The 21st Peace Prize for German Film – The Bridge will take place on Tuesday, June 21, 2022 at the Kovelis Theater in Munich and will also be shown as a group on BR Fernsehen and 3Sat.