A trip around the entire world through the Rotterdam awards
- China’s The Widowed Witch has taken home the Hivos Tiger Award, while the European titles Nina and The Guilty also won big
The 47th International Film Festival Rotterdam came to a close on Friday 2 February by unveiling the award winners across the many sections of the gathering.
The main award in the Hivos Tiger Competition went to China. Described by the jury, which included Valeska Grisebach, as “a film of epic dimensions with a narrative that is greater than one person or moment”, The Widowed Witch, directed by Cai Chengjie, received the €40,000 Hivos Tiger Award. A Special Jury Award was given to the screenplay of the Palestinian-Dutch-German-Mexican co-production The Reports on Sarah and Saleem [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], written by Rami Alayan and directed by Muayad Alayan, which also won the Hubert Bals Fund Audience Award.
Once again this year, the IFFR awards list turned out to be a perfect cross section of the most diverse film industries in the world, among which Europe also stood out. The VPRO Big Screen Competition was won by the Polish title Nina [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], directed by Olga Chajdas, “a universal story about love, identity and hope, about internalising society's expectations and struggling to break free and be true to yourself”. Denmark’s The Guilty [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Gustav Möller
film profile], directed by Gustav Möller and already a Sundance winner, received the Audience Award and the Youth Jury Award. Furthermore, another Danish title, The Return [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Malene Choi Jensen, received a Special Mention in the Bright Future Competition.
Here is the complete list of award winners:
Hivos Tiger Competition
Hivos Tiger Award
The Widowed Witch - Cai Chengjie (China)
Special Jury Award (for Best Screenplay)
Rami Alayan - The Reports on Sarah and Saleem [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (Palestine/Netherlands/Germany/Mexico)
Bright Future Competition
Bright Future Award
Azougue Nazareth - Tiago Melo (Brazil)
Special Mention
The Return [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Malene Choi Jensen (Denmark)
VPRO Big Screen Competition
VPRO Big Screen Award
Nina [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Olga Chajdas (Poland)
Other awards
IFFR Audience Award
The Guilty [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Gustav Möller
film profile] - Gustav Möller (Denmark)
Hubert Bals Fund Audience Award
The Reports on Sarah and Saleem - Muayad Alayan
FIPRESCI Award
Balekempa - Ere Gowda (India)
KNF (Circle of Dutch Film Journalists) Award
Zama [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Lucrecia Martel
film profile] - Lucrecia Martel (Argentina/Brazil/Spain/France/Mexico/Netherlands/Portugal/USA/Lebanon)
NETPAC Award for Best Asian Feature Film
Nervous Translation - Shireen Seno (Philippines)
IFFR Youth Jury Award
The Guilty - Gustav Möller
Found Footage Award
Newsreel 63 – The Train of Shadows - Nika Autor (Slovenia) (medium-length film)
Voices Short Audience Award
Joy in People - Oscar Hudson (UK/France)
Ammodo Tiger Short Competition
Mountain Plain Mountain - Araki Yu, Daniel Jacoby (Spain/Japan/Netherlands)
Rose Gold - Sara Cwynar (USA)
Painting With History in a Room Filled with People with Funny Names 4 - Korakrit Arunanondchai (Thailand/South Africa/UK)
Ammodo Tiger Short Competition – EFA nomination
What’s the Damage - Heather Phillipson (UK)
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