'Oh Boy' Scores Three for Three at Oldenburg Film Fest

OLDENBURG – Jan Ole Gerster’s Berlin-based comedy Oh Boy wowed the jury at this year’s Oldenburg International Film Festival, scoring not only the German Independence Award for the best local film, but also beating out a number of highly praised international titles – including Marshall Lewy’s Robert-Carlyle-starrer California Solo and Joseph Rezwin’s documentary Gazzara - for its audience award.

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In addition, the black-and-white, Berlin-based comedy won its leading actor, Tom Schilling, this year’s inaugural Seymour Cassel Best Actor award – an honor that Cassel reportedly would have loved to present, had his current schedule not kept him on Robert Saitzyk’s set for The Last Beat.

Jury prices were decided by an international, all-female team, comprised of Academy Award winner Mira Sorvino, director Tamar Simon Hoffs (Pound of Flesh), Canadian actress Gabrielle Miller (TV’s Corner Gas), film-historian/producer Lana Morgan (Conversations with Hollywood) and horror-icon/writer Debbie Rochon.

This triple-crown win is a first for Oldenburg and should serve as quite a push for director Gerster, whose efforts went unrecognized at this year’s Munich Film Festival, where the film premiered.