Editor

Main awards all go to first films

This Saturday evening, Georgian director George Ovashvili received the CHF 30.000 prize from the hands of jury president Hanna Schygulla. THE OTHER BANK also won the Audience Award. The prestigious "Talent Tape Award" worth CHF 23.000 in non-cash benefit was handed to Iranian director Nader T. Homayoun for his film TEHROUN.

The Special Jury Award was presented to the Mexican contribution NORTEADO by Rigoberto Perezcano. Today's award ceremony brought a successful conclusion to the 24th Fribourg Film Festival: this year's edition welcomed more than 30'000 admissions - a figure that confirms the growing popularity of the Festival.

During eight days, the public and industry professionals enjoyed the opportunity of discovering films from regions of the world which are rarely screened here - the majority were Swiss or European premieres. Two of the screened films have a Swiss distributor and will soon be shown in cinemas throughout the country: the Romanian film POLICE, ADJECTIVE by Corneliu Porumboiu (distributed by Look Now), and Philippine LOLA by Brillante Mendoza (distributed by Trigon).

This year, the Forum@FIFF took a new direction and opened up for the first time to the public: during these events, professionals and a captivated audience discussed TV series from the Near East. More than 150 participants attended the three Forum days.

The 25th edition of the Fribourg International Film Festival will take place from March 19-26, 2011.

Pictures of the winners and the awards ceremony, as well as film stills are available on the Festival Website at http://www.fiff.ch/. 

All awards of the 24th edition of the Fribourg International Film Festival as follows:

PALMARES

AWARDS OF THE INTERNATIONAL JURY

The members of the International Jury of the 24rd Fribourg International Film Festival are.

Hanna Schygulla (President), Rakhshan Bani Etemad, Michel Ciment, Patrick Ferla, Igor Minaiev.

Beforehand, the International Jury pronounces a special mention for the film LOLA (Philippines, 2009), thus confirming the extraordinary talent of director Brillante Mendoza.

Furthermore, the Jury is delighted that its three favourite contributions are all first films.

GRAND PRIX «LE REGARD D'OR»

The "Regard d'Or" (Golden Gaze) or Grand Prix of the Fribourg International Film Festival, consists of CHF 30,000, the State of Fribourg contributing CHF 20,000 and the Municipality of Fribourg, CHF 10,000. This award is conferred on the director (CHF 20,000) and the producer (CHF 10,000) of the winning film designated by the International Jury.

The "Regard d'Or" goes to:

THE OTHER BANK by George Ovashvili, Georgia/Kazakhstan 2009.

«For the poetry and the humanity of the gaze he casts upon a child and the discovery of life in times of war.»

TALENT TAPE PREIS GRANTED BY EGLI FILM AG UND KODAK SA

Egli Film AG and Kodak SA are sponsoring this award worth CHF 23,000 going to a director with particular talent in cinematic composition. It consists of a tape-to-film transfer for the duration of 90 minutes. The transfer from video tape on Kodak film in cinema standard will be made in the laboratory of Egli Film AG in Zurich.

This award goes to:

Nader T. Homayoun for the film TEHROUN, Iran 2009.

"The director draws inspiration from the film noir tradition to depict a contemporary social crisis in a brave, realistic and ironic manner."

SPECIAL JURY AWARD GRANTED BY THE SSA AND SUISSIMAGE

This award (CHF 7,000) is conferred by the Swiss Authors Society (Société Suisse des Auteurs - SSA) and Suissimage on the director of the winning film designated by the International Jury for inventiveness in script and directing, for renewal of cinematographic language or for thematic and formal audacity.

This award goes to:

Rigoberto Perezcano for the film NORTEADO, Mexico/Spain 2009.

"For his original and humorous approach of illegal immigration."

AUDIENCE AWARD

This award (CHF 5,000) is bestowed by the Fribourg International Film Festival and goes to the director of the film selected by the audience.

This award goes to:

THE OTHER BANK by George Ovashvili, Georgien/Kazakhstan 2009.

THE FIPRESCI JURY AWARD

Conferred by the representatives of the International Federation of the Cinematographic Press, this award aims to promote cinema as an art and encourage new, young cinematographers.

The members of the FIPRESCI Jury of the 24th Fribourg International Film Festival are

Anzhelika Artyukh, Stéphane Gobbo, Caroline M. Buck.

This award goes unanimously to:

SAHMAN / BORDER by Harutyun Khachatryan, Armenia/Netherlands 2009.

"Our award-winning film combines elements of fiction and documentary. The main character finds herself in a no-man's-land, trapped between ruins in a storm of bombs where everybody attempts to survive as best as they can. She is one of the most expressive figures we have met this week - her passionate search for freedom is a perfect symbol for the absurdity of war and borders. Furthermore, she is a cow."

ECUMENICAL JURY AWARD

This award (CHF 5,000) is conferred jointly by two organisations of development, «Action de Carême» (Catholic) and «Pain pour le Prochain» (Protestant), to the director whose film best reflects the values of these two organisations. The Ecumenical Jury is composed of a representative of the two associations, and a representative each of the Swiss Catholic Media Agency and the Protestant Cinema Agency:

Vesna Andanovic, Beat Dietschy, Arielle Domon, Valérie Lange.

This award goes to:

Brillante Mendoza for the film LOLA, Philippines 2009.

"In Manila, the fates of two grandmothers cross paths: the grandson of one of the women has murdered the grandson of the other. While the victim's grandmother seeks justice and struggles to scratch together money for his funeral, the culprit's grandmother fights to have him freed through an extrajudicial financial agreement.

Even through the limits between good and evil, victims and perpetrators are well-defined, both grandmothers are united in their struggle for the survival of their families in everyday life.

With a documentary precision, the filmmaker transports us into a context that embraces the reality of death, justice, poverty and the quest for honor."

E-CHANGER AWARD

Conferred by E-CHANGER, a Fribourg-based agency of North-South co-operation, this award (CHF 5,000) is bestowed by the Youth Jury. Its aim is to encourage the younger people to express themselves at the festival, but also to give preference to a film that takes into account the problems they encounter in today's world. The members of the E-CHANGER Jury of the 24rd Fribourg International Film Festival are:

Malena Demierre, Zoé Deuel, Stefanie Gander, Nicolas Jutzet, Carine Magnin, Noémie Zürcher, Cyril Brebion.

The award goes to:

EL VUELCO DEL CANGREJO by Oscar Ruíz Navia, Kolumbien/Frankreich 2009.

"With our choice, we would like to reward the first feature film of a young and highly promising director. The film tells a subtle and complex tale that touched us through its unique sense of aesthetics. Through beautiful images and a pleasant narrative pace, the director sketches out the unknown territory of the social context of an Afro-Colombian village."

„DON QUIJOTE" - AWARD OF THE FICC-JURY

The members of the IFFS (International Federation of the Film Societies) Jury are:

Geza Csakvari, Christian Heinzel, Eric Schaer.

The award goes to:

LOLA by Brillante Mendoza

"In emphatic tones, transported by the personal drama of the two grandmothers, "Lola" illustrates the way life functions in Manila: the police, the courtrooms, the prisons, etc. What is a human life worth in the 21st century? Money in an envelope, handed over in a restaurant."

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