Director Burman awarded Vatican film prize

By · September 3, 2008

The Argentine Jewish film director Daniel Burman received a prestigious prize from the Vatican at the current Venice film festival.

Burman on Tuesday received the Bresson Prize, awarded by the Vatican to filmmakers whose
work shows the spiritual meaning of life. Filmmakers such as Giuseppe Tornatore and Wim Wenders have previously received this honor.

Monsignor Claudio Mari Celli, president of the Vatican’s Social Communication Council, said Burman was not awarded the prize for a specific film, but for his brilliant trajectory.

Burmans’ films take an in-depth look at Argentine Jewish life. His works include “A Lost Embrace,” which received the prestigious Silver Bear award at the 2004 Berlin Film Festival; “Waiting for the Messiah,” which won several international awards; and “The Empty Nest.”

The Vatican newspaper, the Osservatore Romano, called the 35 year-old father of two boys, “probably the South American Woody Allen.”