During the Closing Ceremony, which was televised live on ČT24, the awards of the 15th Jihlava International Documentary Film Festival were presented.

CZECH JOY

2011 Best Czech Documentary Film

The jury recognized the film Solar Eclipse (Czech Republic, 2011) by Martin Mareček for "its surprising and impressive capturing of the Czech development help to Zambian people".

FilmAFRICA follows two Central Europeans on an adventure to Zambia to repair village‘s solar panels. They are aware of the value of their work, whose purpose they see in helping the villagers - these, however, are not satisfied with their lives. Black and white mindsets subtly, humorously, and touchingly collide.

- synopsis from the Jihlava IDFF 2011 catalog

The jury also gave a special mention to the film 31 Beginnings / 31 Endings (Czech Republic, 2011) by Rafani for "the innovative approach to the documentary film".

FilmCOLLECTIVE was realized by the Rafani art group known for their diverse works including photography, video and public event. The film treatise has the structure of a city, following the direction from the periphery to the centre, which is perceived as the centre of power, hegemony and normativity. Each part of the city/film introduces a representative of Czech art or Czech thinking.

- synopsis from the Jihlava IDFF 2011 catalog

Jurors:

Josef Pazderka / Journalist and commentator (Czech Republic)

Ondřej Provazník / Director, screenwriter, and journalist (Czech Republic)

Martin Dušek / Director (Czech Republic)

Terezie Pokorná /Editor and Journalist (Czech Republic)

Jiří David / Painter, photographer, and writer (Czech Republic)

OPUS BONUM

2011 Best International Documentary Film

James T. Hong as the single jury of this section chose the film Lost Land (Territoire perdu, Belgium, 2011) by Pierre-Yves Vandeweerd.

FilmSAND, with its rough 8mm texture, exists on the boundary between art-house meditation, philosophical-ethical reflection, and social documentary listening to the people of the Western Sahara, whose difficult life on this contested piece of Africa, partially ruled by Morocco and partially controlled by rebels, is marked by struggle, kidnapping, and refugee camps.

- synopsis from the Jihlava IDFF 2011 catalog

Juror commented on his decision: "Lost Land's simple cinematic gestures express a fleeting beauty infused with a knowing sadness - that questions our own ignorance of the Sahrawi situation. Its political resistance isn't overtly propagandized, but rather modestly presented as a lost series of profoundly beautiful images and scenes, which lead the viewer closer and closer to an almost imaginary but all-too-physical wall. To me, Lost Land is an urgent, aestheticized work of mourning - a lost memory of a lost people in a lost landscape filmed in a lost format."

Juror:

James T. Hong/Director (U.S.A.)

BETWEEN THE SEAS

2011 Best Central and Eastern European Documentary Film

The jury of the Between the Seas section awarded the film Bakhmaro (Bakhmaro, Georgia, 2011) by Salome Jashi for its respect, artistry and quest for surprise.

FilmAPATHY uses a restaurant in the western Georgian town of Chokhatauri to symbolize the decline of the southern Caucasus and the people's weariness from economic failure and political ills. The owners are patient, but there are few guests. Election posters and TV ads promise a better life, but it looks like nothing can change.

- synopsis from the Jihlava IDFF 2011 catalog

The jurors commented that "with an attentive and personal approach the filmmaker transforms an ordinary microcosm into a unique narrative and playful visual experience. Through an effective and assured cinematic language this film reveals the mood and the spirit of a society struggling with its internal hopes and contradictions."

Film New Europe Visegrad Prix 2011

For its rhapsodic effort to expand the responsibilities of filmmaking the award for Best Central & Eastern Co-production goes to Obscurantist and His Lineage or the Pyramids' Tearful Valleys (Tmář a jeho rod aneb Slzavé údolí pyramid, Czech Republic, 2011) by Karel Vachek.

FilmNOVEL about extraterrestrial civilization living not only in space but also on Earth. The film by the classic of Czech documentary opens by quotations from the famous operetta Mam'zelle Nitouche which is confronted with environment of a convent, theatre, and barracks. The director, too, enters these to discover and define the thin border between internal faith in God and institutionalized religion.

- synopsis from the Jihlava IDFF 2011 catalog

Statement by the Jury: "By engaging enduring philosophical themes and by constantly tinkering with the crafts of cinema the filmmaker courageously demonstrates how cinema can contribute and enrich the modes of human perception and thinking. The film reveals an uncompromising faith in humanity - especially when recognizing its innumerable failings - and an enthusiastic personal belief in cinema as an inexhaustible form of expression and experience."

Jurors:

Paolo Benzi / Producer (Italy)

Pavel Jech / Screenwriter and Dramaturgist (Czech Republic)

Necati Sönmez / Director of a documentary film festival in Istanbul (Turkey)

Aida Vallejo / Film historian (Spain)

FASCINATIONS

2011 Best Experimental Documentary Film

The jury recognized the film Endeavour (Endeavour, Austria, 2010) by Johann Lurf.

FilmCOSMOS playfully and ingeniously edits NASA footage in order to take a look at America's last space shuttle. \hallucinatory images of daytime and nighttime launches and flights become a brutal attack on the viewer's attention and perception, thus giving audiences a chance to study the universe of their visual perceptions.

- synopsis from the Jihlava IDFF 2011 catalog

"We were most fascinated by the film Endeavour which regularly combines the scenes from six cameras placed in a space shuttle. The resulting film is similar to the functioning of the human brain which also interconnects the functioning of the left and right hemisphere into a single whole. Although the film was made by a machine and shows primarily the machine, it is most telling of mankind as such. At the beginning, the spectator watches the camera images, however, the regular rhythm of image and sound provides space for reflection," said the jury about their decision.

Jurors:

Alice Růžičková / Filmaker, teacher, and projectionist (Czech Republic)

Jan Růžička/Entomologist (Czech Republic)

Vítek Růžička / Student (Czech Republic)

Kajetán Růžička (Czech Republic)

AUDIENCE AWARD

The Audience Award (awarded under the auspices of the general manager of Czech Television) was presented by Czech Television's programming director Martin Fridrich to Solar Eclipse (Czech Republic, 2011) by Martin Mareček.

CONTRIBUTION TO WORLD CINEMA AWARD

The Contribution to World Cinema Award went to Vittorio de Seta, one of the Italian cinema's great imaginative realists of the sixties.

Most beautiful 2011 festival poster

Toronto Hot Docs festival's poster from 2010 was chosen by the participants of the workshop Festival Identity.

Spectators' Prize for most beautiful 2011 festival poster

Brno 16 was selected by visitors for the prize of The Most Beautiful 2011 Festival Poster.

THE INDUSTRY PROGRAMME IN JIHLAVA ORGANIZED BY INSTITUTE OF DOCUMENTARY FILM

The awards to the documentaries presented in Jihlava by the Institute of Documentary Film were announced at the festival closing ceremony.

Silver Eye Award for the best documentary from Central and Eastern Europe finished in 2010 or 2011 was obtained by three out of 250 films from East Silver Market.

The winners are: the feature-length Solar Eclipse (Pod sluncem tma), Martin Mareček, Czech Republic 2011, the mid-length Crulic - the Path to Beyond (Crulic - Drumul spre dincolo), Anca Damian, Rumania, Poland 2011 and the short documentary I Will Forget This Day (Ya zabudu etot den), Alina Rudnitskaya, Russia 2011. All three of them are getting 1 500 Euro and the East Silver Caravan festival service - an assistance with the submission to prestigious documentary festivals and markets throughout the year.

Awards also go to unfinished documentaries. The IDFA Award and the submission to the Amsterdam pitching in November goes to Croatian - Rumanian project Gangster of Love. "It's real surprise. We didn't succeed ourselves getting to Amsterdam. And now we will be there anyway," said the director Nebojša Slijepčevič.

Golden Funnel Award for the best-developing project goes to Bells of Happiness from Marek Šulík and Jana Bučka, Slovak Republic. It's a story from a poor Roma settlement in Eastern Slovakia. Pregnant Mariena and her cousin remake a famous song from Czechoslovak pop stars Karel Gott and Dara Rolins. The two filmmakers will get a special service from the Institute of Documentary Film throughout the year.

Marek Hovorka / Festival Director / This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Katarina Holubcová / Executive Director / 774 101 655 / This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Festival Supported By:

Ministry of Culture Czech Republic

State Fund for Support and Development of Czech Cinematography

City of Jihlava

Media Programme

Vysočina Region

European Commission Representation in the Czech Republic

ROP South-East

Embassy of the USA

Embassy of Spain

Embassy of the Netherlands

The Royal Norwegian Embassy

Embassy of France

Embassy of Canada

Embassy of Portugal

Slovak Institute

Polish Institute

Czech Centres

"Support us" Partner:

Volksbank

Official Festival Car:

Chevrolet

Regional Partners:

Bosch

Kronospan

PSJ

Yashica

Media Partners:

Advojka

aktuálně.cz

Cinema

Cinepur

Film a doba

His voice

Plakát s.r.o

Rádio 1

Revolver Revue

Regional Media Partners:

Jihlavské listy

Deník Vysočina

Jihlavský expres

SNIP & CO

Foreign Media Partners:

Film New Europe

Kino Ikon

Kinečko

Partner of Inspiration Forum:

OKD Foundation

Main Media Partners:

Czech Television

Czech Radio

Lidove noviny

Respekt

Co-organizer of the Industry Section:

Institute of Documentary Film

Partner Project:

Doc Alliance Films

Festival Partners:

Gordic

Jihlavské terasy

Lobkowicz

Official Shipping Partner:

TNT Express

Official Airline Partner:

Brussels Airlines

Toner supplier

Tonera

Official suppliers:

Biofarma Sasov

Cinestar

Easytalk

elvia pro

exit 112

Hot AV servis

ICOM transport

Messenger

Model Obaly

M-soft

net-profi

Palet Pro

Porta Design

Skori

Svaz výrobců vlnitých lepenek

Vinárna Vinové

Media Co-operation:

25fps

H_aluza

kult.cz

Metropolis

Nový prostor

Sedmá generace

Xantypa