The European Film Academy'sdocumentary Prix Arte will be awarded to Philip Groening's Into GreatSilence (Die Grosse Stille).

The jury for the award wascomprised of director/producer Adela Peeva from Bulgaria, director ThomasRiedelsheimer from Germany and producer Dorota Roszkowska from Poland.

The jury said: "PhilipGroening's thoughtful film touches on the mystic quality of belief and our needfor stillness and silence in contrast to modern life. It appears that thedirector, with a lot of patience, gained the trust of this enclosed communityand returned with amazing images and sounds. Into Great Silence is a great film about humanity and our sharedEuropean background."

European channel Arte backsthe EFA award, which recognizes an outstanding achievement in documentaryfilm-making. The prize is presented at the European Film Awards in Warsaw onDec 2.

The other nominees were 37Uses For A Dead Sheep by BenHopkins, Dreaming By Numbers byAnna Bucchetti, Grandmother's House (La Casa De Mi Abuela) by Adan Aliaga, Maradona, The Golden Kid(Maradona, Un Gamin En Or) byJean-Christophe Rose, The Cemetery Club (Moadon Beit Hakvarot) by Tali Shemesh, The Fisherman And The DancingGirl (Rybak I Tantsovshitsa) byValeriy Solomin, and Our Daily Bread (Unser Taglich Brot) by Nikolaus Geyrhalter.