| Diagonale Awards Sound Design 2025 |

| BEST SOUND DESIGN FEATURE FILM |
| from the Austrian Sound Recordists Association – Filmton Austria |

Benedikt Palier
Bluish

Jury Statement:
The sound in Bluish serves as a vehicle to playfully transcend boundaries: between the enclosed spaces inhabited by its characters and the outside world; between the film space and the cinema hall. At one point, the sound moves from a character’s phone speaker to the surround sound in the theater, leading to a collective meditation exercise. With his subtle sound design, Benedikt Palier reminds us: Cinema is a fleeting experience of darkness, light, and sound – and precisely because of this, there are no limits to cinematic storytelling.

and

| BEST SOUND DESIGN DOCUMENTARY FILM |
| from the Austrian Sound Recordists Association – Filmton Austria |

Mariia Nesterenko und Andrii Rogachov
Dear Beautiful Beloved

Jury Statement:
“We still need to turn on the music.” Otherwise, the scene wouldn’t be as it should be. A moment of pause is requested before the coffin is carried out of the morgue. It is the first and only moment towards the end where music appears. Sound is never used as an emotional amplifier. Sirens in the distance warn of impending danger. The young passenger in the funeral transport speaks of the folk dance group. Music as a reminder of a time before the war. The intensity on the visual level is met by the sound design with restraint, sensitizing us to the sounds of the spaces and the voices of the people. Only during the credits does a melody emerge from the gently layered tones.

Jury Feature Film
Hans Broich (Director, Producer, DE)
Malika Rabahallah (Festival Director, Producer, DE/FR)
Nele Wohlatz (Director, DE)

Jury Documentary Film
Annett Busch (Curator, Writer, DE)
Stefan Neuberger (Cinematographer, DE)
Christof Schertenleib (Editor, Director, CH)