This year’s Prix Geneva Europe has been was awarded to German screenwriter Stefan Weigl for 'Zeit de Kannibalen (Age of Cannibals)' (watch the trailer).

The prize for the Best TV Fiction Script written by a new writer and produced or commissioned by a national broadcaster was presented during the annual Prix Europa Festival in Berlin by the European Alliance for Television & Culture (EATC) under the auspices of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). The alliance includes EBU Members ARD and ZDF (Germany), NPO (The Netherlands), SRG-SSR (Switzerland), and YLE (Finland) and the city & canton of Geneva.

The film, which screened publicly earlier this year, tells the story of two ruthless business consultants hoping for a promotion are obliged to contend with a feisty female colleague. Although the characters fly around the world, the view from the hotel-room windows where all of the action is set never changes. The skyline consists of generic gray blocks that look as if they have been imported from a theatre or opera production.

Presenting the prize, the jury praised Mr Weigl’s ability to slide from high-stakes drama into wry satire that exploits the trio’s ruthless ambition and personal problems.

“Mr Weigl demonstrated great courage by putting ‘chamber-play’ back onto the TV-screen,” said Bettina Brinkman, EBU TV Manager and Jury representative. “The jury was captivated to see three arrogant characters fighting over promotions in luxurious hotel-rooms around the globe. Witty dialogue combined with black humor provided a critical and claustrophobic glimpse of our western, over-materialistic society.”

The European Alliance for Television and Culture aims to discover new talent in the field of European television fiction writing, to treasure the singularity and originality of the fiction works while at the same time affirming a strong identity within all our European cultural diversity.