Grbavica Gets Templeton Award

After the Golden Bear award, “Grbavica” gets the “Templeton” award

The film “Grbavica”, by Bosnian director Jasmila Zbanic, won the Templeton award for 2006. According to the Bosnian Federation television, six other films competed for the prestigious award. The panel of judges was ecumenical.

The criteria for the award, apart from artistic value, was also a humane viewpoint with a biblical message that sensitises the audience to spiritual and social problems.

In the opinion of the judges, “Grbavica” reflects real dilemmas that are known to occur after conflicts, financial problems facing single parents and social divisions that still exist, as well as the inseverable love between parents and children, the Sarajevo-x.com portal writes.

The award will be presented to Zbanic in Berlin on February 11. She was awarded the Golden bear award at the Berlin film festival last year.

The Templeton Award was established in 1972 by John Templeton, an investment banker at the time. He founded the awards in response to the Nobel awards, which did not have the category of religious revelations.

The award is given out each year for particular contributions in the area of religion and spirituality. The Templeton award is, thus, considered the Nobel prize of the field of religion and spirituality.