Aussie documentary Wolfe has won the Crystal Bear for Best Short Film in the youth-focused Generation 14Plus program of the Berlin International Film Festival.
Director-producer Claire Randall, a recent graduate of Griffith Film School, made the film with fellow students Shannen Tunnicliffe, producer, and Lachlan Morton, cinematographer and animator.
Using animation as well as live-action, Wolfe explores a young man’s journey through adolescence with undiagnosed schizophrenia and his relationship with an imaginary friend, Mister Wolfe.
“By means of its authentic narrative and tactful approach to a sensitive subject, this documentary manages to demystify a taboo without sentimentality or judgment," said the jury.
"With impressive honesty and intimacy, the protagonist discloses his experiences of psychological illness, accompanied by lovingly animated memory sequences. We thank the filmmaker for this factually informative and deeply moving work."
The prize was awarded members of the Generation 14Plus jury: Rosa Ehrlich, Oscar R. Franck, Hannah Kähler, Luka Kowalewsky, Marie Kühn, Quinten Samrotzki and Rosa Schaefer Bastian.