Diagonale Prize Sounddesign ’24

Best Sounddesign Feature Film from the Austrian Sound Recordists Association – Filmton Austria

Matz Müller, Tobias Fleig
Des Teufels Bad

Excerpt from the jury statement: The babbling of a brook, the singing of birds, the rustling of treetops: rarely has silence been experienced in such a rich and varied way in a film as in The Devil’s Bath. We were very impressed by the contribution that the soundtrack makes to creating an intense atmosphere and a moving film experience. At the centre of the film is a woman who gradually escapes from a hostile world in which her desires violently bounce off the boundaries of rigid structures. It is a turning away from a society in which she cannot find her role, her place, her home. The way the soundtrack emphasises this movement of withdrawal into the protagonist’s inner world and makes it impressively tangible is remarkable. From absolute silence to a powerful sound explosion, the entire spectrum is masterfully covered. The contrasting of sensual soundscapes – from the submerged humming of beautiful melodies to the protagonist’s breathing and the sweet whistling of songbirds – with violent, destructive sounds – the abrupt barking, the crying of babies – emphasises the anxiety, the unease, the lurking danger, the horror of a hostile world.

Best Sounddesign Documentary Film  from the Austrian Sound Recordists Association – Filmton Austria

Florian Kofler
Vista Mare

Jury statement: The fact that mankind is lost in the masses is made impressively tangible by the enraptured sound of the teeming crowds on the Adriatic beach. Words are interchangeable building blocks of the PR machinery, songsonly there to keep everything going. The buzzing and humming, the clicking and clicking, the humming and hissing subtly announce a short break at a holiday destination.

Jury feature film:
Ortrun Bauer (cinematographer, editor, AT)
Elena Meilicke (film critic, DE)
Silvan Zürcher (director, CH)

Documentary film jury:
Dunja Bialas (film publicist, festival director, DE)
Tsveta Dobreva (Festival Director, FR)
Cem Kaya (Director, DE)