02/12/2024 - The jury of the official section deliberated in front of the audience at the Canary Islands competition, deciding that Kamal Aljafari's film deserved the award for Best Feature Film

Director Kamal Aljafari, winner of the Lanzarote Film Festival for A Fidai Film, surrounded by the jury (© Muestra de Cine de Lanzarote)

There is no other film festival quite like Lanzarote Film Festival, whose 14th edition was held on the Canary Island between 21 November and 1 December. Its official section consists of just seven feature films, and its different sections are screened alongside activities such as workshops, walks and excursions (including sailing and snorkelling). Additionally, the jury openly deliberates in front of the public, discussing the pros and cons of the films competing for the award for the Best Feature Film of the official section.

The latter took place on Saturday morning on the Canary Island. In four hours the three members of the jury (Tenerife writer Melchor López, film researcher Claire Allouche and Cineteca Madrid programmer Vicente Monroy) explained in detail why A Fidai Film [+see also:
film review
interview: Kamal Aljafari
film profile] finally deserved the award.

Kamal Aljafari's film was crowned over its most serious rivals: 7 Walks with Mark Brown [+see also:
film review
film profile], directed by Vincent Barré and Pierre Creton –which won a special mention– and the production shot in Congo, Rising Up at Night [+see also:
film review
interview: Nelson Makengo
film profile] by Nelson Makengo. The jury's arguments for the winning documentary are that “it is an important film at this historical moment and that it preserves memory as something physical,” in the words of Claire Allouche. Vicente Monroy stated that “it is a complicated and complex film that exceeds everything imaginable, something new and out of the ordinary, a work of nature that surpasses the intellectual; a tremendously challenging film.” Finally, Melchor López emphasized its “terrible, renewable images, as the film does not fall into pamphleteering while speaking in a revolutionary way, and leaves me with an aftertaste of absolute hopelessness.”

In the Cruce de Caminos section, the short film De interés insular won, directed by Marta Torrecilla. It shows the many studies highlighting one of the great issues that humanity will face in the coming decades will be related to access to water. Very different places on the planet are undergoing desertification at an accelerated rate and, along with this drying process, local economies based on agriculture and livestock are also collapsing. This is forcing communities to change their production systems or, in many cases, to emigrate. As the water shortage intensifies, also due to the disastrous state of the distribution systems, a question arises: is this precious resource being used in the best way?

The Young Jury also awarded a special mention to the French film 7  Walks with Mark Brown, and finally decided that the best film was the Peruvian production Kinra, directed by Marco Panatonic.

Finally, the 2024 Honorary Award, which is given to agents, institutions or companies that make it possible for the audiovisual industry to exist as a high-quality art form - and which do not belong to the more visible professions, such as acting or directing - was awarded to a company that has managed to strike an extraordinary balance between these two aspects: Filmin, the pioneering online film distributor in Spain.

The list of winners:

Best Film
A Fidai Film [+see also:
film review
interview: Kamal Aljafari
film profile] - Kamal Aljafari (Palestine/Germany/Qatar/Brazil/France)
Special Mention
7 Walks with Mark Brown [+see also:
film review
film profile] - Vincent Barré, Pierre Creton (France)

Young Jury Prize
Kinra - Marco Panatonic (Peru)
Special Mention
7 promenades avec Mark Brown – Vincent Barré, Pierre Creton

Best Short Film Cruce de caminos: Cineastas canarios
De interés insular – Marta Torrecilla (Spain)

Honorary Award
Filmin

(Translated from Spanish by Vicky York)