04/02/2019 - Ena Sendijarević has received the Special Jury Award for Take Me Somewhere Nice, while documentaries conquered both Bright Future and Big Screen in an all-female winners’ list

The team behind Take Me Somewhere Nice with their Special Jury Award (© Jeroen Mooijman)

After running for 12 days and screening 539 films, the 48^th International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) came to a close on Friday 1 February by unveiling the award winners across the myriad sections of the gathering. The festival director, Bero Beyer, stated: “These filmmakers don’t just show that independent cinema is alive and kicking, but that they are able to explore new cinematic grounds. We thank them for their courage and passion.”

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In the main Tiger Competition, the prestigious €40,000 Tiger Award was bestowed upon Zhu Shengze and her documentary Present.Perfect. According to the jury, comprising Alfredo Jaar, Daniela Michel, Susanna Nicchiarelli, Pimpaka Towira and Katriel Schory, this is “a daring film that takes us to places we have never been, and brings to light characters that want and need to be seen, expanding the language of cinema to a new grammar, using the new-found footage of this millennium”. The Special Jury Award, worth €10,000, was given to Ena Sendijarević for her debut feature, Take Me Somewhere Nice [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ena Sendijarević
film profile], for “portraying a journey through a unique and very precise personal vision with humour and a deep sense of history”.

Two personal documentaries by debutant filmmakers caught the attention of the Bright Future jury, which included Sata Cissokho, Beatrice Fiorentino and Christoph Friedel. The €10,000 Bright Future Award went to Around the World When You Were My Age [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Portuguese director Aya Koretzky, thanks to its “strong cinematic approach to an intimate and poetic journey, with a superb sound design merging perfectly with the images at every single moment”. The jury’s Special Mention was given to Story of My Name by Chilean filmmaker Karin Cuyul.

As always, the IFFR’s audience, which totalled 327,000 visits this year, also plays an important role in the awards decisions. The VPRO Big Screen Award was won by Swedish documentary Transnistra [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Anna Eborn, “a beautiful, intimate portrait”. The Oscar-nominated Capernaum [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], directed by Nadine Labaki, received the IFFR Audience Award, while the second part of the 868-minute-long La Flor, directed by Mariano Llinás, was the winner of the Hubert Bals Fund Audience Award.

Here is the complete list of award winners at the 48^th IFFR:

Tiger Competition

Tiger Award
Present.Perfect. - Zhu Shengze (USA/Hong Kong)

Special Jury Award
Ena Sendijarević - Take Me Somewhere Nice [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ena Sendijarević
film profile] (Netherlands/Bosnia and Herzegovina) 

Bright Future Competition

Bright Future Award
Around the World When You Were My Age [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Aya Koretzky (Portugal)

Special Mention
Story of My Name - Karin Cuyul (Chile/Brazil) 

VPRO Big Screen Award
Transnistra [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Anna Eborn (Sweden/Denmark/Belgium)

IFFR Audience Award
Capernaum [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Nadine Labaki (Lebanon/France)

Hubert Bals Fund Audience Award
La Flor (Part 2) - Mariano Llinás (Argentina) 

FIPRESCI Award
End of Season [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Elmar Imanov (Germany/Azerbaijan/Georgia)

KNF (Circle of Dutch Film Journalists) Award
Too Late to Die Young [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Dominga Sotomayor (Chile/Brazil/Argentina/Netherlands/Qatar)

NETPAC Award for Best Asian Feature Film
Last Night I Saw You Smiling [+see also:
trailer
film profile] - Kavich Neang (Cambodia/France)

IFFR Youth Jury Award
Happy as Lazzaro [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Alice Rohrwacher
film profile] - Alice Rohrwacher (Italy/Switzerland/France/Germany)

Found Footage Award
Kodak - Andrew Norman Wilson (USA)

Voices Short Audience Award
House of Glass - Filipe Martins (Portugal)