An excellent work that encourages mutual understanding between nations and races or contributes to cultural exchange.
*The Japan Foundation is an independent administrative institution which aims at more comprehensive and effective development of international cultural exchange programs and which undertakes many cultural exchange projects.
It is a great honour to receive the Japan Foundation President’s Prize for 2010. We feel this is both a recognition of our work and an incentive to continue developing forms of history documentary that convey knowledge and insight in vivid and entertaining ways. In this film, the use of sophisticated CGI helped us bring to life the madness of an attempt to imprison an entire people.
We would like to thank everyone who made this film possible-they all deserve a share of this award-but we especially want to acknowledge those men and women who risked their lives for their freedom. Their urge for freedom repeatedly brought the injustice of the division of Germany to the world’s attention. Their part in tearing down the Berlin Wall and abolishing the Inner-German border cannot be stressed enough. We offer them our thanks and our admiration. This film is their story.
(Oliver Halmburger, Loopfilm Film)