DokLeipzig ends with prizes to Still Born and Escort
The 57th International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and International Film closed on Saturday with a number of prizes for documentary and animated shorts amongst its feature prizes. The festival remains one of the oldest and renowned film festivals in the world and welcomed 42’000 audience members between 27th October and 2nd November this year. Whilst chiefly concentrating on documentary, the festival has also traditionally celebrated the art of animation with a large animation competition.
The International Jury for Animated Films awards for Animated Films and Videos awarded a Golden Dove along with € 5 000 to Swedish filmmaker Åsa Sandzén for the film Still Born, a moving examination of still birth. It’s the latest in a long series of awards for the film with it winning Best Swedish short at Uppsala and a special mention at the recent Nordisk Panorama.
The International Jury for Best Animated Film, made up of Ron Diamond (USA), Otto Alder (Switzerland) and Špela Čadež (Slovenia), said about the film:
“The film asks the viewer, when does life begin? Heartfelt in its first person point of view, it artfully carries the viewer through a beautifully crafted emotional and touching journey.”
A Silver Dove along with € 2 000 went to The Bigger Picture (Dir. Daisy Jacobs, United Kingdom). The jury said:
“The Bigger Picture considers sex, death and “shuffling along the line” with an inventive mix of animation as it grapples with eerie truths in conflicted family dynamics.”
Special mentions went to Anomalies (Dir. Atsushi Wada, Japan/United Kingdom) for the film and Man On The Chair (Dir. Dahee Jeong, France)
The International Jury for Animated Documentaries, consisting of Otto Alder (Switzerland), Christoph Faulhaber (Germany), Lise Saxtrup (Denmark) and Jean-Gabriel Périot (France), gave a Golden Dove along with € 3 000 to Muerte blanca [White Death] (Dir.Roberto Collío, Chile). The film depicts a ghostly walk among the place where 44 young soldiers and one sergeant were thrown to their deaths in the mountainous region of Antuco, Chile.
“It is a great achievement to make a film about a massive snowstorm without any snow at all, and use only light effects, sound design and white paper. What stays in mind is the wind that takes away the soldiers.”
An Honorary Mention went to T’s World: The Over-identification of Terry Thompson (Dir. Ramon Bloomberg, United Kingdom/France/USA)
The International Jury for Short Documentary Films, made up of Christoph Faulhaber (Germany), Lise Saxtrup (Denmark) and Michael Stewart (United Kingdom), awarded a Golden Dove along with € 3 000 granted by TELEPOOL GmbH to Escort (Dir. Guido Hendrix, Netherlands), which sees inexperienced members of the Dutch Border Patrol undergo an intensive training on escorting refused asylum seekers to their ‘country of origin’. The jury said it was:
“A complex ethical film that shows the border police interpreting the idea of humanity in an inhumane situation. “
An Honorary Mention went to T’s World: The Over-identification of Terry Thompson (Dir. Ramon Bloomberg, United Kingdom/France/USA)
Winners in the feature documentary section included Golden Dove winner Les règles du jeu [Rules of the Game] (Dir. Claudine Bories and Patrice Chagnard, France) and Ed Snowden documentary CITIZENFOUR (Dir. Laura Poitras, USA/Germany)
The full list of winners is available here.
03 November 2014, by Laurence Boyce
