Earlier this week in Paris Iranian filmmaker Shohreh Jandaghian (Cinema Without Borders German Cinema Editor) was honored with the Best Spiritual Film Award–the top prize of the festival– at the 2008 European Spiritual Film Festival for her film “Der Lachende Hund”. The plot of the film is described as a “world where adults make wars and destroy each other, a little girl is thinking of nice peace [sic] dreams.”
In its first year of existence, the European Spiritual Film Festival dedicates itself to showcasing films that focus on themes of spirituality from around the world. The festival took place from March 21st to April 26th, making all of the official selections of the festival available to download through its website.
The Best European Spiritual Film award went to French filmmaker Caroline Puig-Grenetier for “L’homme entre Science et Religion”, a
film that explores the complex dialogue between science and religion. “Beyond Fear”, an American documentary by Michael Perlman about a Buddhist nun and monk who endure torture at the hands of the Chinese, but over time learn to forgive their torturers.
The Peoples Choice Award was given to American filmmaker Jeffery Jon Smith for “The Miracle”, an exploration into the life of Tekki Lominicki, a little person with twisted legs who uncovers stories of her painful childhood. The festival’s prize for the best animated film went to “Das Floss” from Jan Thuering.
“Der Lachende Hund”, and all of the other films selected in the 2008 European Spiritual Film Festival, can be viewed through the website festival’s, http://www.festival-esff.com/page.php?pg=6. Membership is free but required for viewing.