31-10-2016

FNE at Jihlava IDFF 2016: Accolades for CEE Docs at Jihlava’s 20th Anniversary

By
    FC Roma by Rozalie Kohoutova and Tomas Bojar FC Roma by Rozalie Kohoutova and Tomas Bojar

    JIHLAVA: The prizes at the closing ceremony spanned Europe, but the biggest prize of the 20th anniversary of the Jihlava International Documentary Film Festival should go to the festival itself. Under the direction and forward-thinking quest of founder Marek Hovorka, the festival has been quietly shattering expectations, coalescing this year in a festival that not only looked back on its first 20 years, but used the occasion to look ahead to the next 20 years.

    For a first-time visitor to Jihlava it can be difficult to navigate the many concurrently running programmes, that go beyond the films in the several competition sections and expected accompanying events. There’s the parallel East Silver Market, which gives its own awards in three categories, two training and networking platforms (Ex Oriente, which works with specific projects, and Emerging Producers, which works with younger producers), a whole programme for festival directors, and series of lectures and panels with a philosophical bent. The combination attracted over 1,000 industry representatives and another 3,000 audience members to a festival in a provincial town in the darkening days of late October.

    Normal Autistic Film by Miroslav JanekAs a sort of compensation for last year’s jury decision not to give any award in the Czech film competition, this year two Czech films shared the prize of the Czech Joy section at Jihlava IDFF, which concluded on 30 October 2016. Films from Georgia and Lithuania picked up awards in the Between the Seas category, Poland and Slovakia took home prizes from the East Silver Market, and Drahomira Vihanova, one of the first female Czech directors, received the Contribution to World Cinema Award for her work and her unwillingness to submit to the Communist regime.

    In a mock US election, Jihlava fest voters overwhelmingly threw their support behind another woman breaking through the male bastions of power, with 83% casting a vote for the Democrats, in support of Hillary Clinton’s candidacy. The festival screened a special section of films on the American elections.

    Normal Autistic Film by Miroslav Janek, which was acquired by Taskovski Films, shared the Czech Joy award with another film about tolerance, FC Roma by Rozalie Kohoutova and Tomas Bojar. The competition section of CEE films Between the Seas was won by the Georgian film The Dazzling Light of Sunset directed by Salome Jashi. The film also won the Best Debut award. The dynamic Polish production company Otter Films picked up the top award of the East Silver documentary market competition for Anna Zemecka’s full-length film Communion.

    The list of winners follows:

    Opus Bonum

    Spectres Are Haunting Europe (France)
    Directed by Marta Kourkouta, Niki Giannari

    Special Mention: Smiling on the Phone (Netherlands, Spain, US)
    Directed by Aitziber Olaskoaga

    Between the Seas

    The Dazzling Light of Sunset (Georgia, Germany)
    Directed by Salome Jashi
    Produced by Sacdoc Film and inselfilm production

    Special Mention: Dialogue with Joseph (Lithuania, France)
    Directed by Elzbieta Josade
    The Dazzling Light of Sunset by Salomé JashiProduced by Just a Moment

    Best Debut: The Dazzling Light of Sunset (Georgia, Germany)
    Directed by Salome Jashi

    Special Mention: Sea Tomorrow (Kazakhstan, Germany)
    Directed by Katerina Suvorova

    Czech Joy (ex aequo)
    Normal Autistic Film (Czech Republic)
    Directed by Miroslav Janek
    Produced by Mimesis Film

    FC Roma (Czech Republic)
    Directed by Tomas Bojar and Rozalie Kohoutova
    Produced by nutprodukce, HBO Europe

    Short Joy
    Ten Meter Tower (Sweden)
    Directed by Maximilien Van Aertryck and Axel Danielson

    Student Jury

    Normal Autistic Film (Czech Republic)
    Directed by Miroslav Janek

    The Things (Georgia)
    Directed by Nino Gogua
    Produced by CineMark
    Supported by Georgian National Film Centre (GNFC)

    Best Experimental Film
    Engram of Returning (Canada)
    Directed by Daichi Saito

    Best Czech Experimental Film
    De Potentia Dei (Czech Republic)
    Directed by Ondrej Vavrecka
    Produced by Ondrej Vavrecka

    Audience Award
    Love Me If You Can (Czech Republic)
    Directed by Dagmar Smrzova
    Produced by Czech Television

    East Silver Docs Silver Eye Awards

    Best Full-length film: Communion (Poland)
    Directed by Anna Zamecka
    Produced by Otter Films, Wajda Studio, HBO Europe

    Best Mid-length film: 5 October (Slovakia, Czech Republic)
    5 October by Martin KollarDirected by Martin Kollar
    Produced by Punkchart
    Coproduced by HBO Europe, endorfilm, 71 km

    Special Mention: My Own Private War (Netherlands)
    Directed by Lidija Zelovic

    Best Short Film: Pulse (Hungary, Belgium, Portugal)
    Directed by Robin Petré