During the official Awards Ceremony on Friday 5 February 2016, the awards of IFFR 2016 were handed out. And the winners are…
HIVOS TIGER AWARDS
Winner: Radio Dreams
The winner of the Hivos Tiger Award 2016 is Radio Dreams by Babak Jalali. In the prestigious Hivos Tiger Awards Competition it is not about the well-known names, but about upcoming talent who get a chance to shine on the world stage. As of 2016, eight films will compete in the Hivos Tiger Awards Competition for a single Hivos Tiger Award worth €40,000, to be shared by director and producer. The jury on the winner: “For its subtle and humorous reflection on displacement and alienation of a group of misfits in a foreign culture.”
In addition, a special jury award worth €10,000 will be presented to an exceptional artistic achievement within the competition. The winner of the Special Jury Award is La última tierra by Pablo Lamar, for exceptional artistic achievement in sound design.
WARSTEINER AUDIENCE AWARD
Winner: Land of Mine by Martin Zandvliet
The Warsteiner Audience Award went to audience favourite Land of Mine by Martin Zandvliet. Visitors of IFFR determine through a voting system which film is the audience favourite. The film with the highest average vote in the audience poll wins the Warsteiner Audience Award. The award includes a cash prize of €10,000.
HUBERT BALS FUND DIORAPHTE AWARD
Winner: El abrazo de la serpiente by Ciro Guerra
The winner of the Hubert Bals Fund Dioraphte Award 2016 is El abrazo de la serpiente by Ciro Guerra. This award goes to the Hubert Bals Fund-supported film receiving the highest votes from the festival audience. The award includes a cash prize of €10,000.
MOVIEZONE AWARD
The young people’s MovieZone jury from EYE and IFFR have chosen Land of Mine by Martin Zandvliet as winner of the MovieZone Award 2016. The jury on the winner: “A nerve-racking film which will keep you in its grip from beginning to end. While living in constant fear of death, small acts of tenderness and humanity steers the film into an emotional direction. The cast’s small but intense acting will leave you watching with a lump in your throat.”
VPRO BIG SCREEN AWARD
Winner: Les ogres by Léa Fehner
This competition, consisting of eight films that have their international premieres at IFFR, will be judged by a jury of audience members, who will decide which film will assisted in distribution in the Netherlands. The award is worth €30,000. The jury about Les ogres: “The film showed us a very dynamic interaction between the remarkable characters, they interacted very passionately and very pure, as if they had no boundaries; with all its mostly humorous consequences. The film almost invites and warns you at the same time to really feel and to live full of passion. The film makes a very powerful appearance and it kept us intrigued until the end. We enjoyed its energetic filmic qualities and joyful music. The film is an ode to theatre and to its people who seem to belong nowhere else.”
BRIGHT FUTURE AWARD
Winner: Las lindas by Melisa Liebenthal
From the 2016 edition onward, filmmakers presenting films in the main and thematic programme of IFFR’s section Bright Future, will be celebrated with a new award: the Bright Future Award. The award consists of €10,000, to be spent on the development of a next film project. Filmmakers presenting the international or world premiere of their first feature length are eligible. The winner of IFFR 2016 is Las lindas by Melisa Liebenthal. The jury on the winner: “The winning film convinced us by its playful, endearing and candid way of speaking about a generation, by using an impressive range of creative means. We are extremely curious to see what the director will do next.”
FIPRESCI AWARD
Winner: Bodkin Ras by Kaweh Modiri
The FIPRESCI Award is given to the filmmaker of the best film in Bright Future by the jury of the Fédération Internationale de la Presse Cinématographique (FIPRESCI). Bright Future films that have their world premiere during IFFR and are not included in a competition, qualify for this award. In 2016, the winning film is Bodkin Ras by Kaweh Modiri. The jury on the winner: “Bodkin Ras, by writer-director Kaweh Modiri, throws an actor – portraying a mysterious foreigner – into the real environment of a small Scottish town. This fascinating hybrid of documentary and fiction is filled with unforgettable characters, a strong sense of place and an urgency that turns the experiment into a thrilling and humanistic film.”
Netpac Award
The NETPAC Award is awarded to the best Asian feature film by a jury from the Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema. This year, they granted the award to The Plague at the Karatas Village by Adilkhan Yerzhanov. The jury: “A film that is highly original in its cinematic form, while treating topics that are specific to the director’s country but universal at the same time. A story of corruption, the abuse of power and inertia are given an absurdist, Brechtian treatment. The director creates a totally unique universe, somewhere between Ionesco, Kafka and David Lynch.”
KNF AWARD
Winner: De waarneming by Frank Scheffer
The KNF Award, awarded by The Circle of the Dutch Film Journalists, goes to a Dutch production or a co-production with a world premiere at IFFR. The winner of the KNF Award 2016 is De waarneming by Frank Scheffer. The jury on the winner: “This year we reflected on Dutch productions and co-productions through fifteen films of great variety: from the wordless mourning in the jungle of La última tierra, to the stream of digital misinformation of The Sprawl (Propaganda About Propaganda). We saw a Dutch stranger integrating in Scotland and a geography student struggling to survive in Norway. We saw other people struggling with their music, with their hearts, their consciousness and with their words. Some of these struggles were captured in striking, innovative and artistic manners that pleased the jury greatly. But there was one film that captured an on-going struggle like no other, a struggle not necessarily with the bigger meaning of art, but with the universal power of images themselves. What makes this film so great is that it is a work of art in its own right: a beautiful portrait about the pursuit of beauty.”
CANON TIGER AWARDS FOR SHORT FILMS
On Sunday 31 January, the jury for the Tiger Awards Competition for Short Films has announced Dream English Kid 1964-1999 AD by Mark Leckey, Faux départ by Yto Barrada and Engram of Returning by Daïchi Saïto as the winners of the Canon Tiger Awards for Short Films 2016.