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AWARD CELEBRATION
Short Film Competition
Wednesday June 29 / 8.30 pm
Filmhaus
Saarbrücken, Germany
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Main Award :
Ferris Wheel
Phuttiphong Aroonpheng |
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Ferris Wheel
Phuttiphong Aroonpheng
Thailand
2015 / 0:24:00
A stateless woman crosses the river between Thailand and Myanmar with her 5-year-old son to find a job in the city. On their journey, they meet a mysterious monkey mascot who takes them to an unexpected destination with a colourful ferris wheel.
Extrait :
https://youtu.be/MyQObSOG2Ng
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Jury Statement :
Ferris Wheel has convinced us for its way of treating a complex and
not well-known political situation through a sensitive human
perspective. The aesthetic form supports the content and offers a
universal dimension to the movie. We liked how the identification to
the strong female character is driven by a simple non-manipulative
tone, while the encounter between drama, symbols and irony is
well-balanced. The ending scene, as a gallery of intense human
portraits both imprisoned and in motion, is powerfully-staged,
beautifully-shot, and invites us to reflect on the actual immigration
issues the whole word is facing. |
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Main Award :
Special Mention
Father
Davit Pirtskhalava |
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Father
Davit Pirtskhalava
Georgia
2015 | 0:25:00
Lado is nineteen when his father comes back home unexpectedly after a very long absence. The young man tries desperately to get some answers from his parent, but in vain. When his father leaves again, Lado goes back to his life of crime, together with his younger brother. He is left to answer the questions their father would not hear.
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Jury Statement :
Father breaks with the conventional ideas of masculine representations
in film. The movie opens with a series of stereotypes (the Taxi
Driver-like scene in front of the mirror, the use gun, the street
nocturnal high-speed pursuit) which are gradually counterbalanced,
complexifie, questioned and humanized throughout the film. The
psychology of the characters is full of ambiguities and humanity and
is enhanced by the quality of strong and sensitive performances. A
powerful tale on the complexity of male dignity and heroism. |
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Signs Award :
Symbolic Threats
Matthias Wermke, Lutz Henke, Mischa Leinkauf |
| The Signs Award is attributed to films treating an important subject
in an original, convincing and surprising way. |
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Symbolic Threats
Matthias Wermke, Lutz Henke, Mischa Leinkauf
Germany
2015 / 0:15:00
Poetry or threat? An act of surrender or perhaps art? These were the theories that New York puzzled over last summer. How can one incident be interpreted in so many ways? By means of press reports, Symbolic Threats allows the public at large to express their extreme disparity of interpretation. Inspired by the heated debate over the two „White American Flags“ that suddenly appeared on the towers of New York City’s iconic Brooklyn Bridge, the film asks what kind of societal scope art has in the present day. What happens when threatened freedom reinstates art with the element of danger? Who or what makes it into a threat? Are we safe in the city? What is next?
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Jury Statement :
Symbolic threats is a brilliant piece of filmic performance, which
ingeniously puts into perspective diverse media footage and personal
captures of the same moment. It questions the way a simple element (a
white flag floating over a bridge) can be perceived, received, filmed
in a context of fear and paranoia. This experiment brilliantly
interrogates the role and freedom of the artist in a post- 9/11
society, and exposes the relationship between the mechanisms of media
and of terrorism. |
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Night Award :
American Reflexxx
Ali Coates, Signe Pierce |
| 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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American Reflexxx
Ali Coates, Signe Pierce
United States
2014 / 0:14:00
American Reflexxx is a short film documenting a social experiment that took place in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Director Alli Coates captured performance artist Signe Pierce as she strutted down a busy oceanside street in stripper garb and a reflective mask. The pair agreed not to communicate until the experiment was completed, but never anticipated the horror that would unfold in under an hour. The result is a heart wrenching technicolor spectacle that raises questions about gender perception, mob mentality, and violence in America.
Extrait :
http://www.nylon.com/articles/american-reflexxx-video
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Jury statement :
The trashy, glossy, aggressive form of this filmic performance
perfectly and dramatically reflects the violence of human reactions
towards "the other". |
Director Statement :
We particularly liked the way the surrealistic Maya Deren-like
character dealt with the primitive judgement, curiosity and violence
expressed by the people in the street. A strong movie about dignity
and acceptance. |
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Night Award :
Special Mention
A Woman and her Car
Loïc Darses
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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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A Woman and her Car
Loïc Darses
Canada
2015 / 0:18:00
On 31 December 2003, Lucie Tremblay decided to write to the man who abused her between ages eight and twelve. She is determined to personally deliver the letter. She films her journey to gain closure for the trauma that has haunted her whole life. When her son finds the footage well over a decade later, he decides to turn it into a film. An intimate homage to the courage of an exceptional woman who decided to stand up for herself and a savage condemnation of the bastards who abuse the innocence of others and think they can get away with it.
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Jury Statement :
The director of Woman offers a loving and sensitive appropriation of a
story which is not his but that he somehow inherited from. The
transition from the mother's therapeutic filmic journey into the son's
art piece is respectful, well-constructed, and acts as a symbol of
transmission. |
Director Statement :
A touching and sincere homage to the bravery of a strong female character. |
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Edward Snowden Award :
Over
Jorn Threlfall |
| The Edward Snowden Award honors films, which offer sensible (mostly)
unknown informations, facts and phenomenons of eminent importance, for
which the festival wishes a wide proliferation in the future. |
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Over
Jorn Threlfall
Great Britain
2015 | 0:14:00
Over presents a crime scene. During the course of 9 wide shots told in reverse order, we watch an intriguing story unfold. What has happened in this quiet neighbourhood? A murder, a hit-and-run, an accident? The reality is both profound, and deeply unexpected.
Extrait :
http://jornthrelfall.com/over/
https://vimeo.com/121667533
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Jury Statement :
With its distant and objective perspective of a real and barely known
incident, Over creates a poignant dispositive to denounce a global
dramatic situation. By nourishing a mystery around the death and
identity of a man, by building at strong gradual tension, and
unexpectedly revealing a tragic ending, Over creates a sophisticated,
unconventional and powerful storytelling mechanism which sticks to our
minds. |
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