ASTRA FILM GRAND PRIZE
offered by ICR (Romanian Cultural Institut)
Z32 | Avi Mograbi, Israel
JURY'S MOTIVATION
A film that deals with fundamental questions about the human capacity for cruelty and violence as well as the search for understanding. Avi Mograbi takes a witty, lively and unconventional approach to a killing. In this film, the humour sharpens our view of the tragedy of individuals caught up in a system in which they are enmeshed. In masking his characters, including himself, the director points to questions of responsibility, shame and moral ambivalence; also involving us, the audience in the problem. We saw this as an experience that only cinema could provide and for this achievement Z32 deserves the Grand prize awarded by the combined juries of this festival. |
THE EXCELLENCY AWARD FOR FEMALE FILMMAKER CAMPAIGNING FOR THE FUTURE OF OUR PLANET
oferred by „The One” magazine
Tracy Worcester (Pig Business)
JURY'S MOTIVATION
ASTRA FILM AWARD, INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION
offered by Primaria Municipiului Sibiu
Songs from the Nickel | Alina Skrzeszewska, Germany
JURY'S MOTIVATION
Songs from the Nickel is an honest and heartfelt film which manages to bring to life a community as diverse as it is unknown. The filmmaker, Alina Skrzeszewska, has immerged herself in a medium that is difficult to acknowledge, but beautiful nevertheless, that of people living in forgotten cheap downtown LA hotels. It’s not despair or dejection that makes it fascinating, but the sense of freedom and self worth that underlines the presence of each character. For the honesty that defines the whole project and the love with which she portrays this community, Alina deserves the International Jury Prize.
AWARD FOR THE BEST DOCUMENTARY IN THE INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION
offered by HBO
I Shot My Love | Tomer Heymann, Israel
JURY'S MOTIVATION
While taking a very personal point of view, just by making the camera another subject in the room, the film places the spectator in the middle of an interplay of gazes. Walking on a tightrope the author talks about love without bringing Romeo and Juliet into the picture. |
AWARD FOR BEST DOCUMENTARY, COMPETITION EUROPE
offered by Fundatia Ratiu
Check Check Poto | Julia Varga, France
JURY'S MOTIVATION
Thy jury was impressed by the freshness of this film compared with the over-polished and cosmetic approach of many so-called documentaries. Apparently simple and artless it is actually carefully positioned and cinematically sophisticated. It is a film that allows the viewers to look and ponder always conscious of the importance of what is shown and what is off screen. The decision to limit itself to the interior of the day centre is a considered and courageous one, allowing our understanding to develop through the nuances of the children’s talk, gestures and interactions. |
The film shows respect for the audience by allowing the complexities of the children’s individual personalities and the larger social context to emerge without resorting to manipulation or didactic exposition.
AWARD FOR BEST DOCUMENTARY FILM FROM/ON EASTERN EUROPE
offered by The Deventer Filmaward
Village Without Women | Srdjan Sarenac, Croatia
JURY'S MOTIVATION
The jury appreciated that a serious issue was viewed with great humour, tact and warmth. There are many films in the festival about the gap between the village and the city in Europe and in this film we see it played out through the central character as he deals with bureaucratic hurdles and unscrupulous intermediaries. This film is a contemporary tragi-comedy of loneliness and a frustrated search for companionship.
ASTRA FILM AWARD FOR THE ROMANIAN COMPETITION
offered by Kodak
Teodora Sinner | Anca Hirte, France
JURY'S MOTIVATION
A beautifully observed film with a strong narrative structure by a filmmaker who uses the technical capabilities of sound and image to enhance and deepen our understanding and empathy for an orthodox Christian nun. It gives us a sense of deep human trust and shared confidence in a hidden and private reality dominated by masculine authority that gently builds to a climax and giving the audience space and intellectual freedom to resolve the dilemmas of a nun’s inner spiritual motives. |
AWARD FOR BEST ROMANIAN DOCUMENTARY
offered by TVR (Romanian National Television)
Crulic – The Path To Beyond | Anca Damian, Romania
JURY'S MOTIVATION
Using a brilliant mixed technique, as visual artists will do in their own field, the filmmaker puts on display the disturbing and tragic journey of an ordinary man trying to escape his social conditions to find a better life through exile. The originality of this movie is also based on mixing documentary material, strong animation, reconstruction, editing and the storytelling of a character telling us his story from beyond. It is a very dark fable of life in a place that is ineluctably closing, viz Europe, despite the promise of eldorado. For these reasons, the jury decided to award the prize to Anca Damian, « CRULIC – PATH TO BEYOND ».
SPECIAL AWARD FOR ROMANIAN DOCUMENTARY
granted by Formula As
Off The Beaten Track | Dieter Auner, Romania
JURY'S MOTIVATION
Formula AS Magazine awards this prize toi an extraordinary film. With deep sensitivity and tenderness, this documentary invites us to reflect on our own identity, and on the destiny of Romanian traditions.
ASTRA FILM AWARD FOR STUDENT COMPETITION
offered by SONY
Anything But Black | Ausra Linkeviciute, Luthuania
JURY'S MOTIVATION
An alternative view of fashion. Like the ancient Egyptians, these women pay attention to how they will be dressed for their last journey. This student film manages to deal with the subject of death in a witty and touching way. In this film a young film maker connects with women of a much older generation. |
AWARD FOR THE BEST DOCUMENTARY IN THE STUDENT COMPETITION
offered by Centrul National al Cinematografiei
Berlinskaya Fuga | Denes Nagy, Hungary
JURY'S MOTIVATION
We found this short film especially powerful because of the poetic and revelatory power of its images. Shooting on film, the director shows great sensitivity to the quality of light. This intimate portrait of a family world, in which the father is forced to leave to seek work in other countries, is never one-dimensional. The ending forces a reinterpretation of what has gone before.
Mention, STUDENT COMPETITION
Women on Canvas | Otilia Babara, Romania
JURY'S MOTIVATION
Honourable mention for Women on Canvas, as an encouragement for a young Romanian filmmaker who paid attention to the life of people we tend to overlook.