Turkish director Mahmut Fazil Coskun’s Wrong Rosary has won the European Competition at the 6th Crossing Europe Film Festival in Linz.

It is the first time a male-directed film has received the award.

The drama about a muezzin (the man chosen by a mosque to lead the call to prayer) who falls in love with a Catholic nurse also won a Tiger at this year’s International Film Festival Rotterdam. The director scooped $13,000 (Euros 10,000 Euros) in prize money.

Swedish director Robert Ostlund received a special mention for his film Involuntary, which won the Golden Iris at the Brussels European Film Festival, while Unmade Beds by Alexis Dos Santos won the $6,550 (Euros 5,000) Audience Award.  The Local Artist award was shared by Upper Austrian films Drauf by Martin Music and Dropping Furniture by Harald Hund and Paul Horn.

The festival recorded its highest attendance to date with 18,000 admissions sold.

Topics