The best European film chosen this year by the ecumenical jury of the Templeton Prize (awarded by the US-based foundation of the same name) is “The Return”, by the Russian director Andrey Zvyagintsev. The prize-giving ceremony the prize consists of a cheque for 10,000 Swiss francs will take place during the Berlin Film Festival (at the Church of St. Matthew) on 8 February. The ecumenical jury was given the task of selecting a film of “great artistic merit”, that expresses a “human point of view in conformity with the message of Scriptures and able to stimulate a debate”, and that “may raise the public’s awareness of spiritual and social values”. “The Return” also honoured with the award of the Leone d’oro and the Signis Prize at the Venice Film Festival and by the ecumenical jury of the Festival of Eastern European films in 2003 at Cottbus was chosen because “it may be interpreted from a psychological, social and archetypal point of view”. The screenplay tells the story of a father who returns to his two sons after twelve years’ absence, with all the conflicting reactions that are its consequence. The only memory his sons have of their father is an old photo kept in an illustrated Bible, between the pages that speak of the sacrifice of Isaac by his father Abraham. The ecumenical jury also expressed its appreciation of the aesthetics and sensibility of the film. The director explained that it had not been his intention to tell “an ordinary social story”, but to present “a mythological vision of human life”. The Templeton European Prize is judged on behalf of the Templeton Foundation by the international organization “Interfilm” (International Interchurch Film Organisation) and the Conference of European Churches (CEC).
