The City of Gorlitz is the Best European Film Location of the Decade 2007-2017
The 10th anniversary of EUFCN – the European Film Commissions Network started on November 7th, inside and in collaboration with the European Parliament, with the assignment of the first European Film Location Award of the Decade, powered in collaboration with Cineuropa.
The City of Gorlitz has been chosen among 40 European film locations as the best film location of the decade, for playing the title role in Wes Anderson’s film “The Grand Budapest Hotel”.
The City of Gorlitz
The award has been delivered to the managing director of Europastadt GörlitzZgorzelec GmbH (EGZ), Ms. Andrea Behr, representing the city of Görlitz and to the MDM film commission representatives, who hardily worked to promote the city and his appeal all around the world.
Claas Danielsen, Managing Director of Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung GmbH, says: “Congratulations to Görlitz on this wonderful feat you and the region have accomplished together. Boasting an unparalleled wealth of shooting locations, ‘Görliwood’ has made a name for itself with producers and audiences the world over and will continue to lure international film crews to the town on the Neisse River”.
Since the 1950s, Görlitz, the easternmost town of Germany, has regularly served as a film set. Numerous Hollywood productions have been drawn to Görlitz, including “Around the World in 80 Days” by Jackie Chan, Stephen Daldrys’ “The Reader”, starring Kate Winslet, and most recently, “The Captain” by Robert Schwentke.
Wes Anderson spent 40 days in Görlitz shooting his award-winning masterpiece “The Grand Budapest Hotel”, which starred Ralph Fiennes, Jude Law, and Bill Murray in the leading roles. The main place of action was an art-nouveau shopping mall from 1913, which was transformed into the film’s eponymous hotel. “The Grand Budapest Hotel” scooped up four Oscars®, including the one for Best Production Design.
The winner has been chosen after a long contest started in June 2017, when each Film Commission member of the EUFCN had the opportunity to candidate a film location (a specific place used in films or TV Series). Secondly a group of experts and movie critics from Cineuropa selected a final shortlist, made up of 11 wonderful European locations, which hosted renowned cinema or TV projects, emphasizing the beauty and the variety of European landscapes.
The locations in shortlist have been voted on the Cineuropa website by about 15.000 European citizens, and among them EUFCN and Cineuropa selected one lucky winner, who won a trip to the city of Gorlitz.
“Locations represent the soul of each Film Commission”, comments Eufcn’s President Truls Konty. “When we discussed for the first time about the Location Award we could not imagine such a participation and success. It was a real and unexpected surprise to discover that locations of films and TV series are so important in the collective consciousness. ”
