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AWARD CELEBRATION
Short Film Competition
The 16th Festival International Signes de Nuit
April 7 - 9, 2018
Berlin / Germany
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Short film Competition
Main Award
Bonobo
Zoel Aeschbacher
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Zoel Aeschbacher
Switzerland
2015 | 0:35:00
2017 | 0:19:00
A mosaic of interrelated characters living in the same social housing project and all in search of happiness, forgiveness and meaning.
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Jury Statement :
In this outstanding and brilliantly composed short connecting three storylines throughout an empty, broken and dimly lit elevator, everything falls into place: rhythm, music, lightning. The jury especially appreciates the modern and humourous approach that underlines the tragic behind it.
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Special Mention
Gaze
Farmoosh Samadi |
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Farmoosh Samadi
Iran
2017 | 0:14:28
On her way back from work a woman witnesses something happening in the
bus and she has to decide if she reveals it or not. |
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Jury Statement :
.Farmoosh Samadi unravels in this suspenseful short both the immediate and the long-term consequences of a seemingly 'simple' situation. The Jury was also convinced by its cinematography and cast and therefore wants to specially mention this important film on women's situation in Iran and elsewhere.
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Short Film Competition
Signs Award
Retouch
Kaveh Mazaheri
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| The Signs Award honors films, which treat an important subject o in an original, convincing and surprising way. |
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Kaveh Mazaheri
Iran
2017 | 0:20:00
In the corner of the home, Maryam's husband does weight-lifting.
Suddenly, the weight falls on his throat and puts him between life and
death.
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Jury Statement :
In Kaveh Mazaheri's "Retouch" we see the realization of an unplanned scenario. An
Iranian wife escapes her marriage by watching her husband dying rather than helping
him. The jury praises the film for its bold and witty humor, which conveys at the same time an intangible mood of the country, the slow-moving force and anger of women
from Iran and their desire to free themselves from the patriarchal power structures – if necessary with moral guilt.
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Short Film Competition
Special Mention for the Signs Award
Raha
Yeganeh Balouchi |
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Yeganeh Balouchi
Iran
2017 | 0:17:33
Raha is the story of a fifteen years old Iranian girl that
unexpectedly got pergnant and she is trying to find money to take care
of this serious issue. We are joining and following her challenges in
one day in Tehran. This story is happenig in the society that her
problem is still a taboo and yet nobody in the society accepts her
even her own father.
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Jury Statement :
A 15-year-old girl falls in love wherever she lives – the awakening of sexual urges is not place bound. Whether it is in Iran or Amsterdam. Raha represents a universal and modern theme about love and abuse through blackmail with exposure to social media. And despite the steps the protagonist of Raha takes to save herself would not be everywhere the same, the film tackles a universal theme. It is the ending that gives a true insight into how different the same situation can unfold according to your place in the world. The end rinses the film back into your brain and you start to reflect on all the scenes again, now with this newly acquired knowledge. Therefore, Raha becomes very close and at the same time, indescribably far away.
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Director Statement:
:I am honoured to have a chance to participate in such a festival. I believe it is a necessity to explore and investigate women’s concerns and their stories especially in traditional societies like of Iran. I am more than happy that subject caught the eyes of the audience.
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Short Film Competition
Special Mention for the Signs Award
I Have Nothing To Say
Ying Liang |
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Ying Liang
Taiiwan
2017 | 0:25:30
A trip to Taiwan has molded a Chinese mother after she met with her
exiled daughter from Hong Kong. This short film is directed by Ying
Liang, who was the director of the Best Live Action Short Film awarded
by the Golden Horse Awards in 2016. According to his personal
experience in living in exile, he tells a moving story of a mother and
her daughter, and the secrets hidden behind the mother, subtly
depicting the political dilemma of Taiwan, Hong Kong and China.
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Jury Statement :
A Chinese mother is being visited by the authorities because her daughter, a dissident filmmaker, makes problematic films in Hong Kong. At the expense of the government, she shall visit her daughter and bring her to reason. Ying Liang draws in his short film “I have nothing to say” a sensitive story of alienation between daughter and mother. A combined discussion of politics and dysfunctional relationships.
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Director Statement :
I'm so thrilled to learn that this piece of creation can resonate with the audiences in Berlin! This makes me confident to say: a personal expression can come across in film and be comprehended in different cultural contexts, and achieve even more communications that beyond author's expectation.
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Short Film Competition
Night Award
Permanent Resident
Nicole Midori Woodford
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| The Night Award honors films, which are able to balance ambiguity and
complexity characterized by enigmatic mysteriousness and subtleness,
which keeps mind and consideration moving. |
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Nicole Midori Woodford
Singapur
2017 | 0:20:00
A woman, her son and her mother reside near a quarry named "Little
Guilin" after a famous landmark in China. She pretends to be a buyer
who views condominiums, stealing from each family that resides in
them. Glimpsing the quarry through various homes, her obsession
culminates in an excursion to Guilin.
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Jury Statement :
Midori Woodford's intriguing short successfully conveys the feeling of being misplaced. Poignant images render intimate insights into a character that nonetheless stays mysterious and distant. The spectator is being thus drawn into a foreign story like its protagonist is being drawn into the lake.
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Director Statement:
Permanent Resident is a film that I made to reflect the impermanence of my country's identity during this time in its history. The physical existence of the residents living in Singapore is manifested in the thriving real estate landscape of the country but the identity that transcends concrete and space is sacrificed too easily in eternal pursuit of economic progress. As a result, the Singaporean identity is something that shifts constantly, and goes through several labels and acronyms. I'm glad to be able to show my film at Signes De Nuit this year and thank you for giving the Night Award to my short film!
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Short Film Competition
Special Mention for the Night Award
Ondes noires
Ismael Joffroy Chandoutis |
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Ismael Joffroy Chandoutis
France
2017 | 0:20:00
In an ultra-connected society where electromagnetic waves have invaded
almost every space, three people suffering from electromagnetic
hypersensitivity talk about survival in a world that seems
increasingly inaccessible to them.
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Jury Statement :
Ondes Noires exposes an experience, the pain of an implosion in your head, an unavoidable inner-destruction, invisible to others. The lives of the characters seem to be told not to explain how difficult it is to live with electromagnetic waves, but to create a landscape in which the experience takes place. It is not the narrative what sticks but the distortion of perception, form and sound. Calm, serene and disturbing at the same time. This is what makes this film a remarkable visual and sound experience.
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Short Film Competition
Special Mention for the Night Award
The Sound
Anthony Petrou |
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Antony Petrou
Great Britain
2017 | 0:15:00
Beth lives a quiet rural life with her parents, on their secluded
family farm. When her fragile mother begins to hear a mystery sound
that nobody else can hear, the family are unsure what to make of it.
Soon, the sound becomes a source of frustration and pain and it drives
Beth’s mother to the brink. Desperate to alleviate her mother's
suffering, Beth becomes obsessed with finding and stopping the mystery
of the strange sound.
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Jury Statement :
A young girl named Beth gets distressed by the psychosomatic illness of her fragile mother. To alleviate her suffering she is obsessed with finding the secret source of the strange noise that only her mother can hear pushing her to the brink and finally leading to her suicide. It is the film's merit that we experience this sensitive story through the eyes of the girl. A beautiful audiovisual approach with atmospheric pictures that make the quiet, isolated nature in which the family lives palpably. We embark on an enigmatic search for clues to something invisible, intangible.
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Short Film Competition
Jury Awardy:
Potenciality Award
Everything is Far Away
Emanuel Pârvu
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Emanuel Pârvu
Romania
2018 | 0:15:00
A 40th birthday surprise visit from mum. A compassionate story about
20 family ties, the desire to get close and the (valid) reasons to stay away.
Rotterdam / B / sceening file kommt, kam aber nicht /
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Jury Statement :
.Effortless Pârvu tells the story of a dysfunctional family building his characters throughout carefully laid out places and the movement in between: strangers meet at home, family members at an anonymous bus station. The dialogues are dominated by a meaningful economy: no word is superfluous. The credible storyline furthermore makes a promising foundation for a profound feature film. |
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