| Grand Diagonale Award 2026 |
| of the Province of Styria |

| FOR BEST FEATURE FILM |

Angela Summereder
B wie Bartleby

Jury Statement:
The film connects the personal with the collective and, with remarkable lightness, creates a generous cinematic space. The words from Melville’s Bartleby, the Scrivener — “I would prefer not to” — are cast in a new light through the conditions of our present.

We see people speaking of refusal, yet through this film they become all the more visible. In its playful treatment of bodies, voices, and characters, the film shows that stories belong to no one, but can be passed on, left behind, and shared with one another.

Jury Feature:
Ulrike Müller (Casting Director, DE)
Ivan Salatić (Director & Screenwriter, ME)
Cyril Schäublin (Director & Screenwriter, CH)*

*Cyril Schäublin stepped in at short notice for Faraz Fesharaki (director & cinematographer, DE/IR), who unfortunately cannot attend the Diagonale due to the current situation in Iran.