Grand Prize

Rock 'n' Roll and Tractors

Director Branko Djuric

Slovenia | 2007 | 105min | 35mm | color | Comedy

In the 1960s, during the rise of rock 'n' roll, a small rural village in Prekmurje. A dwarf named Duflin enters the village, pushing through a beautiful flower garden. He soon meets a farmer named Breza, who lives with his fortune-teller mother, and stays with him. The country farmer Breza, who is passionate about rock 'n' roll, plays rock 'n' roll at a local festival with his electric guitar, but the audience's response is lukewarm compared to the traditional Gypsy music played by the local band. However, Breza successfully captures the heart of Sylvia, the village beauty. She is the daughter of a successful Swiss immigrant family, and her father sent her back to her hometown to find a suitable husband with a healthy lineage.

Rock 'n' Roll and Tractors is based on the novel Vankosˇ tanc by Perry Linesk, and uses symbols and metaphors such as Gypsy music, rock 'n' roll, and tractors to discuss tradition and modernity. This is the second film directed by Branko Djuric, the actor from the 2002 Academy Award-winning film No Man's Land. Djuric, who is also a musician in the Sarajevo-based rock band Bombaj Sˇ tampa, plays the role of the protagonist Breza in the film. With beautiful cinematography and unique characters, this film explores how rock 'n' roll came to be embraced in a rural Slovenian village in the 1960s. (Jeong Woo-jeong)

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  • Branko Djuric
  • Born in 1962 in Sarajevo, Branko Djuric has appeared in films by directors such as Emir Kusturica, Goran Gajic, and Ademir Kenovic. He has lived in Ljubljana for 15 years, mainly working as a theater director and TV series screenwriter. He is best known for his role in the Academy Award-winning No Man's Land (2001), which earned him a nomination for Best Actor at the European Film Awards. His feature film debut was Cheese and Jam (2003), and Rock 'n' Roll and Tractors is his second feature film.

Special Jury Award

Father's Music

Director Igor Heitzmann

Germany | 2007 | 105min | 35mm | color/b&w | Documentary

This film is both a journey through the music of a world-renowned conductor and a story of a man who built two families across the Berlin Wall. Otto Klemperer, a conductor born in Innsbruck in 1922, was active as the leading conductor of East Germany from 1960 for 30 years. At the peak of his musical career, at the age of 68, he retired due to Alzheimer's disease. The director, Igor Heitzmann, who is also his son, realizes the precious little time he has left with his father. Through rare archival footage and letters, the director rediscovers his father's life, filled with music and love. His wish is to see his father conduct once again, and for his father, Klemperer plays his favorite Mozart symphony for his son. Klemperer's legendary performances of Brahms, Strauss, Beethoven, Schubert, and others fill the entire film, but the father and son’s journey through Innsbruck, Klemperer’s hometown, brings an emotional reflection on 'family.' (Jeon Jin-su)

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  • Igor Heitzmann
  • Born in 1971 in Rentersbruck, Igor Heitzmann currently resides in Berlin. He was the assistant director for the film Orson Welles: One Man Band directed by Vasily Shilovik. He has worked as a screenwriter, editor, and production designer. As the son of conductor Otto Klemperer, Heitzmann began this project in 2002 when he realized the need for a special project to understand and bid farewell to his father, who was 80 years old at that time.
  • International Competition Section 'The Flow of World Music Films'
  • The newly established International Competition Section 'The Flow of World Music Films' introduces various contemporary global music films, including feature films, documentaries, and animations, that focus on music. The five-member jury selects two films from the 10 competition films to receive the Grand Prize and Special Jury Award.
  • Award Details
  • Grand Prize | USD 10,000
  • Special Jury Award | USD 5,000