Austin, Texas, USA - this is the home of the radio and internet programme, "The Atheist Experience." Ralf Bücheler introduces the presenters of the programme, who are in a minority as they doggedly tackle religious fanaticism in America. In a seemingly incidental manner, the film reveals the alarming dominance of ultraconservative Christianity here in the bible belt. The arms lobby meets Tea Party supporters and simple patriotism. The director has succeeded in taking an effective and impressive look at a radicalised America that we find terrifying!

Perhaps the most discussed film by the jury: in FANG DEN HAIDER, director Nathalie Borgers takes us on an investigative journey through Haider's Carinthia. This film about insider relationships and mythmaking releases us from an enriching, albeit disturbing state of bewilderment.

We would like to give a special mention to the Columbian film, LA SELVA INFLADA. The director has succeeded in creating a poetic narrative that illustrates young people's conflicting feelings about the jungle and their boarding school. The images he has found evoke mythical forces.

An illuminating film about dreams and reality, which skillfully combines music, dance and scenes of the Roma community's everyday life. A documentary about a compelling character, who, despite her disability, shows a strong passion for life.

90 minutes of total therapy. One room; 26 people. Thoughts are interwoven; sentences become monsters and allow terrible images to emerge in our mind's eye. This is the most formally consistent film that we have seen. NICHT ALLES SCHLUCKEN soberly debates a charged topic. Without exposing the protagonists, the camera focuses on faces, gestures and expressions. Perspectives are interlaced in a gently moderated rhythm of montage. The three directors, Jana Kalms, Piet Stolz and Sebastian Winkels, introduce us to the regime of psychiatry - the medicalised immobilisation of patients - with a precise, earnest, indignant and never blustering approach. A film that campaigns against sadness. A film that demonstrates that every political statement is worthy of its own aesthetic form.

The winning film is a small film from the first moment: a daughter speaks with her mother. The young woman asks herself if her life has been predetermined by the women in her family who all got by without men. With this personal encounter the filmmaker manages to make family structures visible. This self-reflection takes on a political dimension. Charming, playful and creative - the film is a historical exploration and gives us motivation to look for stories on our doorsteps and gives us the desire to make films.

Part historical drama, part love story: this is a film that brings us close to a person who we barely knew but would like to get to know. Peter Brückner was an intellectual with an atypically frank nature. A political human being for whom the label of dissident was an honorary title. A damaged man who knew how to turn his injuries into positives. AUS DEM ABSEITS recalls this forgotten character. And above all, the director Simon Brückner introduces us to his father, who he never got to know properly himself. AUS DEM ABSEITS is sensitive and adept in its use of a wide range of media. A film that recounts the fragmentary essence of memory - and perhaps of documentary per se - its fragility and constructed nature. In this way, he brings Peter Brückner back to life. We want to read his work, find out more about him, and get to know him - the intellectual and the father.

The film begins in the corridor of a psychiatric institution in the Senegal that is illuminated by dazzling white light. A young man is having his head shaved. The director Joris Lachaise integrates us into his space; we cannot escape the distress and uncertainty and there are no clear classifications. Doctors trained in scientific medicine and traditional healers enter into a dialogue. Here symptoms of illnesses are objectively understood to be culturally specific and are dealt with accordingly. Psychopharmaceuticals come up against goat's blood and isolation cells meet Christian fundamentalists. The film, CE QU'IL RESTE DE LA FOLIE positively explodes with its propensity for discourse, takes an unusual formal approach and captivates with its visual strength. An intellectual debate is made tangible. 'Remnants of madness' is an outstandingly crafted piece of art that stunned and convinced us from its very first images.

For a captivating documentary with a remarkable story. For the filmmaker's ongoing commitment over 14 years to the dwellers of Moscow's rubbish dumps. For the special access we are allowed to the protagonists. For the striking images. For placing the audience within the political and social context of Russian society. For incorporating many layers in one piece of art.

Emmy prize-winner Alexander Nanau has succeeded in creating a wonderful observational documentary with his film TOTO AND HIS SISTERS, which has a narrative that allows its viewers an uncompromising and profound insight into a disturbing living environment. It is a film that tells of the great suffering, infinite courage and astonishing strength of a child. 10-year old Toto lives with his family on the fringes of Romanian society. His mother is in prison; his older sister, Ana (17), takes heroin and the second sister, Andrea (15), is always escaping her so-called family. Little Toto struggles day in day out to maintain his dignity within this incomprehensively hard environment. He takes small steps to free himself from this milieu, accompanied by an adult friend, by learning to dance, read and write. The film relentlessly shows what it means to children to be confronted by the reality that drug addiction destroys family ties. Sometimes for children, "family" is the most dangerous place in the world. This film's biggest achievement lies in the closeness with its protagonists and the intensity with which it immerses its audience in this world. A touching and shocking film, but also a courageous and optimistic one, that broaches the issue of child independence.

The director takes us to the streets of post-revolutionary Cairo. We get to know Abdo, a young Egyptian who has lived a turbulent existence between bloody street fighting, fanatical football violence, chilling and the hopelessness of today's youth in North Africa. We were impressed by the intensity of the images, the likes of which we have never seen before. We look forward to Jakob Gross' next work with great anticipation