Award Recipients: Jury Comments
Prizes for the International Competition
Jury:
Sai Yoichi (President), Dominique Auvray,
Jia Zhangke, Wu Yii-feng
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Commentary
- This year’s International Competition was notably characterized by vivid images of a world that is not dominated by a singular set of values, showing that the mixing of varied perspectives and world views is a means by which reality and individuals can sincerely come face to face, and is also a way for people to engage with and become aware of themselves and others. In other words, it could be said that the definition and role of documentary film cannot be discussed solely in terms of social potency, and that these films have shown that they do not exist merely for the sake of their conclusions. We are convinced that in Yamagata, both then and now, a collection of films deeply penetrated our collective conscious with human memories, as befits our complex and troubled age.
The Robert and Frances Flaherty Prize (The Grand Prize)
Before the Flood- CHINA / 2004 / Chinese / Color / Video / 143 min
Dir: Li Yifan, Yan Yu
A nation in focus, from the details of daily life to that which lies beyond. This work, in a non-vociferous manner, proves the strength found the viewpoint of the humanely concerned directors.
The Mayor’s Prize (Prize of Excellence)
Route 181—Fragments of a Journey in Palestine-Israel- BELGIUM, FRANCE, UK, GERMANY / 2003 / Arabic, Hebrew / Color, B&W / Video / 270 min
Dir: Michel Khleifi, Eyal Sivan
Appreciated as a film of unfulfilled dreams and never-ending journeys. Its story of these highly sensitive people, brought into being by the straightforward emotions of the filmmakers, continues into the present.
Special Jury Prize
Darwin’s Nightmare- AUSTRIA, BELGIUM, FRANCE / 2004 / English, Russian, Swahili / Color / 35mm / 107 min
Dir: Hubert Sauper
A calm yet powerful depiction of an ever polarizing world. The director’s ability to show the importance of the theme and the grandeur of the images speak of a reality that belongs not only to a ‘distant world.’
Award of Excellence
Foreland- THE NETHERLANDS / 2005 / Dutch / Color, B&W / 35mm / 70 min
Dir: Albert Elings, Eugenie Jansen
Its images that seem to trap time standing still and time in motion, and the observant eye of the restrained filmmaker, are incisive. Also, the melancholy scenery paradoxically speaks beautiful tales of human life.
Award of Excellence
About a Farm- FINLAND / 2005 / Finnish / Color / Video / 54 min
Dir: Mervi Junkkonen
An actuality film intended to preserve a small family’s memories of their daily lives that change gradually with the flow of time. The bearing of the filmmaker who is treated as a member of the family and the depth of the ties that emerge from the father’s 8mm film footage are striking.
New Asian Currents Awards
Jury: Murayama Kyoichiro, Pimpaka Towira
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Ogawa Shinsuke Prize
The Cheese & The Worms - JAPAN / 2005 / Japanese / Color / Video / 98 min
Dir: Kato Haruyo
This is a personal film where the filmmaker confronts the death of her mother, but the way in which it maintains a distance from its subject without falling into sentimentalism as it adroitly takes shape is wonderful.
The combination of its poetically woven words and images make the viewer open their eyes wider, and the creation of a cinematic world that transcends the relationship between the filmmaker and the subject provides a fresh and unaffected feel. Even though the death of a parent is something that would bring out the sentimental side in us all, we become moved by that which is born of the world of the film itself.
Award of Excellence
President Mir Qanbar- IRAN / 2005 / Persian / Color / Video / 70 min
Dir: Mohammad Shirvani
An elderly gentleman from the country, who has repeatedly run and lost as a candidate in presidential elections. By presenting this serious and unaffected figure whilst maintaining an objective distance, the aspects and emotions of people living on the fringes of Iranian society are evoked with a touch of irony. The opening scene with its distant view is stunning, and the closing showing the bond between the couple is also brilliant. The filmmaker and his respect for his subjects, the atmosphere of their surroundings, and their rhythms, leave an indelible impression.
Award of Excellence
Garden- ISRAEL / 2003 / Hebrew, Arabic / Color / Video / 85 min
Dir: Ruthie Shatz, Adi Barash
This film follows the lives of homeless teenagers in the streets of Tel Aviv, and its two young protagonists are superb. Its encounters with such subjects and the time invested in its filming are obvious pointers to the aptitude of its makers. While entering their lives and deftly eliciting their emotions, it takes an alternative approach in its lively depiction of Israeli society (which is more often than not viewed through a politicized lens), and becomes all the more stimulating for it.
Special Mention
Dear Pyongyang- JAPAN / 2005 / Japanese, Korean / Color / Video / 107 min
Dir: Yang Yonghi
This is a personal film that examines both the filmmaker’s relationship with her father as well as the bonds of her family from the unavoidable perspective of her upbringing as an ethnic Korean in Japan or “Zainichi,” and is also an ambitious work that superimposes Zainichi history and personal history. The director shows an awareness of different modes of expression through images, and skillfully employs a variety of elements while questioning her own way of life in a provocative composition. One can palpably sense her desire to capture a certain something via the camera.
Special Mention
The Spirit of 8- TAIWAN / 2003 / Chinese / Color / Video / 60 min
Dir: Li Chia-hua
This is a personal work where the filmmaker, tormented by the trauma of a childhood incident, uses the camera to reexamine his own inner being on a journey of self-discovery. Much is expressed through words, but even so it is the manner in which the camera investigates without explaining its images that is admirable. Reopening the wounds of one’s heart is a trying experience, and the pain and sadness that exudes from fissures in this wall of images hits the viewer like a deluge.
Citizens’ Prize
- In the Shadow of the Palms—Iraq
- AUSTRALIA / 2005 / Arabic, English / Color, B&W / Video / 90 min
Dir: Wayne Coles-Janess
FIPRESCI Prizes
- The Cheese & The Worms
- JAPAN / 2005 / Japanese / Color / Video / 98 min
Dir: Kato Haruyo
The Cheese and the Worms is a very impressive work for many reasons. It is a work of the most powerful emotion, a film that it is impossible to watch without feeling deeply moved. Furthermore, the filmmaker has worked with great sensitivity, skill, and intelligence to produce an important statement on memory, perception, and the place of the art work in human life.
FIPRESCI Best Short Film
Keep the Change- TURKEY / 2003 / Turkish / Color, B&W / Video / 27 min
Dir: Ceren Bayar, Dilek Iyigün, Elif Karadenizli, Özge Kendirci, Savas Ilhan
KEEP THE CHANGE is the powerful recreation of a past incident that took place in Turkey prisons in 2000, in subtle cinematic terms with wit and brevity. It raises many questions on the dilemma of the Turkish society in the aftermath of a series of political oppression. In fact the film challenges even the meaning of ‘history’ in the present context of the safe and practical stand of the Turkish people who wish to wipe off their past for ever.
Community Cinema Award
- Darwin’s Nightmare
- AUSTRIA, BELGIUM, FRANCE / 2004 / English, Russian, Swahili / Color / 35mm / 107 min
Dir: Hubert Sauper
This work harnesses the power of cinema to show us truths that are deeply connected to our daily lives, and furthermore, those that we would usually avoid looking at.
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