Still from Inhebbek Hedi (Photo: courtesy of Berlinale 2016)
Inhebbek Hedi (Hedi) by Tunisian director and scriptwriter Mohamed Ben Attia was announced winner of the Best First Feature Award.
Majd Mastoura won the Silver Bear for Best Actor.
The awards were announced at the Closing Gala which took place on 20 February at the Berlinale Palast.
The Best Feature Award is one of the major awards of the Berlin International Film Festival.
According to the Berlinale's website: “The award is endowed with 50,000 Euros, funded by GWFF (Gesellschaft zur Wahrnehmung von Film- und Fernsehrecht), a society dedicated to safeguarding film and television rights. The prize money is to be split between the producer and the director of the winning film. Additionally, the director is awarded with a high-quality viewfinder as both a useful instrument and memorable trophy that should accompany them on their future road to success.”
Starring Majd Mastoura, Rym Ben Messaoud, Sabah Bouzouita, Hakim Boumessoudi and Omnia Ben Ghali, the film follows a young man named Hedi, who is indifferent to everything around him as his authoritarian mother arranges his marriage to Khedija.
While the wedding preparations are underway, he meets Reem. Finding himself in love, he is forced to make choices.
Born in 1976 in Tunis (Tunisia), Mohamed Ben Attia studied Audiovisual Communication at the University of Valenciennes in France. He directed several short films. Inhebbek Hedi is his first feature film.
The jury of this year Berlinale's International Competition was headed by American actress and three-time Academy Award winner Meryl Streep. She was joined by a number of international filmmakers; actor Lars Eidinger (Germany), film critic Nick James (United Kingdom), photographer Brigitte Lacombe (France), actor Clive Owen (United Kingdom), actress Alba Rohrwacher (Italy) and director Małgorzata Szumowska (Poland).
The 66th Berlin International Film Festival runs between 11 and 21 February.
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