The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced that Jan Eric Mack’s FACING MECCA is awarded with this year’s Student Academy Award. The ceremony for the 44th Student Academy Award will be held on October 12 at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills.
With this Award, but also the one the short drama won at the 23rd Palm Springs International ShortFest in June, it is eligible for the 90th Academy Awards’ Shortlist.
We thank the Jury for awarding the film and for sending us on this magical journey. We would also like to express very special thanks and gratitude towards our cast, crew and partners for helping us create this wonderful project.
FACING MECCA tells the story of a Swiss pensioner who helps a Syrian refugee to bury his wife according to Muslim rites while fighting against the windmills of Swiss bureaucracy. David Ansen, Film Critic, Writer, and Jury President of the 23rd Palm Springs International ShortFest called it a „moving and penetrating film“ and named Jan-Eric Mack a „young filmmaker in total control of his craft“.
The film has been written by Anna Schinz together with director Jan-Eric Mack. Dschoint Ventschr producer Joël Jent headed production in coproduction with ZHdK Zurich University of the Arts and SRF Swiss Radio and Television.
The film has been supported by Swiss Ministry of Culture, Zurich Film Fund, SRF Swiss Radio and Television and the Swiss Regional Fund of Glarus.
→ Student Academy Award Winners 
