Patronage Prize CHF 30 000.-
The Patronage Prize of the Zürcher Kantonalbank is awarded annually to an artist or a company working in independent theatre, dance theatre or performance art, who have distinguished themselves and shown innovation in the creation of new work. The aim of this prize is to support the chosen recipient in their future projects. The criteria for candidates is that the significant work for which the award is actually given has had its premiere within the past two years. The festival board nominates five to seven productions from the festival's current programme. Precedence is given to artists who the board feel have yet to receive a level of public recognition that is commensurate with their achievements. Former winners of the prize are excluded from nomination.

Acknowledgement Prize CHF 5,000.-
The Acknowledgment Prize allows for additional recognition and support of a nominee whose work is considered to be outstanding. It is awarded to a company or an artist for extraordinary achievement in such areas as choreography, dramaturgy, audience participation or acting.

The festival board nominates five to seven productions from the festival's current programme. Precedence is given to artists who the board feel have yet to receive a level of public recognition that is commensurate with their achievements. Former winners of the prize are excluded from nomination. This year are nominated:

• Faustin Linyekula & Studios Kabako, Congo: More, more, more … future
• En viaje - Artistas de circo, Chile: Rueda
• Kassys, Netherlands: Good Cop Bad Cop
• Gintersdorfer/Klassen, Germany / Côte d‘Ivoire: Betrügen
• Laura Kalauz & Martin Schick, Switzerland: Title
• Claudio Tolcachir & Timbre 4, Argentina: Tercer Cuerpo

Mahmoud Aboudoma, Egypt
Born 1953 in Cairo. Studied drama at the Alexandria University. In 1989, he founded the «Alternative Theatre Group», one of Egypt’s first independent theatre companies, for which he directed a number of shows. In 2004, he founded the International Association for Creation and Training (I-act), which he has since managed (www.iact-eg.org). He is the programming director of the Arts Center Bibliotheca Alexandrina and organises the annual Creative Forum for Independent Theatre Groups (Europe-Mediterranean), an independent theatre festival in Alexandria.

Zuleikha Chadhari, India
Studied stage direction and light design at the National School of Drama in Delhi and at the Motley Theatre Design School in London and graduated in Vermont (USA) in 1995. Since the early 90s, she has directed various performances and investigated the works of Heiner Müller.  Her more recent creations, site-specific installations based on texts by Haruki Murakami, Shakespeare and Roland Schimmelpfennig, were presented at international festivals. In 2008, she was artist in residence at the Kunstenfestivaldesarts in Brussels.

Enrique Diaz, Brazil
Director, film and theatre actor, born 1969 in Peru. In 1990, he founded the independent theatre company Companhia dos Atores (www.ciadosatores.com.br) in Rio de Janeiro. For 12 years, he was its artistic director and continues to collaborate with the company. He is one of Brazil’s most sought-after directors and his award-winning productions are gaining critical acclaim in Europe. In 2006, he opened the Brazil festival of the theatre «Hebbel am Ufer» in Berlin with the Shakespeare adaptation «Ensaio. Hamlet», which was subsequently awarded with the critics’ prize for best foreign production in France.

Klaus Hersche, Switzerland
Born 1950 in Appenzell, Switzerland. In 1983, he co-founded the Festival Belluard Bollwerk International in Fribourg and acted as programme director until 2000. For three years, he directed the cultural centre Les Subsistances in Lyon, France. From 2003-2008, he was project manager at the Centre culturel suisse in Paris. Since 2008, he has been a delegate of the cultural foundation of the canton of Thurgau and has realised various theatre project with the Atelier de Gestes in Fribourg.

Simone Anne von Büren, Switzerland
Studied English and American literature, child and adolescent psychology at the University of Berne and drama at the Dartington College of Art, England. After working as a music theatre dramaturge at the Theater Biel Solothurn until 2002, she has since contributed as a dramaturge to numerous theatre and music theatre productions and has been a freelance writer for various publications such as Theater der Zeit and Musik&Theater. Furthermore she teaches at the Swiss Literature Institute at the Berne University of the Arts.

The ZKB Patronage Prize and the Acknowledgement Prize 2009 will be awarded on SAT 29 August. The jury's decision will be published at around 18:00 hrs on www.theaterspektakel.ch >News