INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION:

THE INTERNATIONAL JURY:

Sally Berger (curator MOMA, USA), Fernand Melgar (filmmaker, Switzerland), Hollman Morris (journaliste, Colombia), awards the following prizes:

Grand Prix La Poste Suisse – Visions du Réel CHF 20'000.- to:  

L’ENCERCLEMENT – LA DEMOCRATIE DANS LES RETS DU NEOLIBERALISME by Richard Brouillette, Canada
    
Today, we face worldwide economic crises. People everywhere crave explanation for this vast phenomenon that adversely reaches inside every nation and into every individual life.
Now we have not a book, not a lecture, but a film that resides somewhere between art and intellect. It is made up of a series of succinct and carefully chosen interviews with specialists -- all shot on black and white film, divided into chapters, and punctuated by archival film and dramatic music - that masterfully build upon one another to create a comprehensive narrative on how neo-liberalism shapes our times.  Developed over 12 years, the film, L’ Encerclement: La démocratie dans les rets du néolibéralisme by Richard Brouillette has arrived at this critical moment to enlighten us and therefore to earn The Grand Prix La Poste Suisse – Visions du Réel.

SRG SSR idée suisse-Award CHF 10'000.- to:

DIE FRAU MIT DEN 5 ELEFANTEN by Vadim Jendreyko, Switzerland/Germany   

The film chosen for the Prix Special SRG SSR idée suisse – Visions du Réel is impressive in the way literary translation becomes a metaphor for life itself. This brilliant biographical portrait tells the story of a young girl who survives many trials during the Second World War, and through her love of reading and knowledge of languages goes to great creative heights.
This insightful woman’s deep connection to Dostoyevsky’s novels is eloquently revealed through the film’s close observation of how Svetlana Geier enters into the poetics of each story in order to translate from Russian into German. Die Frau mit den 5 Elefanten receives the Prix Spécial SRG SSR idée suisse – Visions du Réel, for the extraordinary way it explores the moral contradictions raised in war times and asks what we would do if confronted by similar situations.

THE AUDIENCE-JURY:

Sergio Antrilli, Martine Bovon-Dumoulin, Jacob Lachat, awards the

Audience-Award of the City of Nyon, CHF 10'000.- to:

LES DAMNES DE LA MER by Jawad Rhalib, Belgium/Morocco

Men in wait, aimlessly gazing out at the horizon, their small gestures endlessly underscoring time suspended. At open sea, big trawlers flaunt a dying world. Two worlds in combat: the fishermen prohibited from exercising their trade against the powerful fish industry. Their own government has stripped the Moroccans of their natural resources on behalf of international business concerns.
Impressed by the film’s construction, the quality of its images and the subtlety of its editing, the Audience Jury has decided to award its prize to The Damned of the Sea by Jawad Rhalib—a film that, addressing the basic issues of globalisation, reveals the different strata of enslavement: economic, political and cultural.

THE INTERRELIGIOUS JURY:

Herz Frank (Israel), Saida Keller-Messahli (Tunisia/Switzerland), Marie-Thérèse Mäder (Switzerland), Mikael Mogren (Sweden), awards the

Prize of the Interreligious Jury, CHF 5'000.-

Of the Swiss Catholic Curch and the Conférence des Eglises protestantes de Romandie (CER), to

MENTAL by Kazuhiro Soda, Japan/USA

The focus of this film set in Japan are people who have been diagnosed as mentally ill. They give us insight into their inner world and show us that there is no clear-cut dividing line between healthy and sick. The film conveys a respectful image of human integrity.

and a special mention to:
DIE FRAU MIT DEN 5 ELEFANTEN by Vadim Jendreyko, Switzerland/Germany

The Interreligious Jury gives a special mention on the poetic and loving portrait of translator Swetlana Geier who, despite being buffeted by fate, retains her humanity.

THE JURY OF THE YOUNG-AUDIENCE:

Sara Azzara, Chloé Démétriadès, Camille Kaiser, Kiri Santer, Florence Winteler, awards the

Young-Audience-Award of the Côte-Hôtel-Association, CHF 3'000.- to

PETROPOLIS – AERIAL PERSPECTIVES ON THE ALBERTA TAR SANDS by Peter Mettler, Canada

The trip gets underway in the lushly green setting of an idyllic world. We drift along, letting ourselves be carried away by the flow of the river. The forest stretches endlessly into the distance, as if nothing else exists. Time seems suspended. How breathtaking to reach the ends of the earth, here where man seeks cover to commit the unthinkable. Here where the earth’s muted heartbeat makes itself heard, where its very lamentations seem to come across. During this, a moment of utter intimacy, the earth – ravished by man, shamelessly exploited – reveals its wounds to us...

and a special mention to:

TWENTY SHOW LE FILM by Godefroy Fouray and François Vautier, France

An assortment of young people who share their loneliness on the Internet, inviting us into their private sphere in all simplicity. To partake of their daily impressions of the world in which they live is an emotional experience. They take us on an unforeseen journey marked by doubts and humour. The idea of mixing fiction and real life by means of video blogs, without coming into contact with their authors, was a bold stroke. It represents a highly contemporary approach to the subject.

REGARDS NEUFS:

THE REGARDS NEUFS-JURY:

Boris Despodov (filmmaker, Bulgaria), Ricardo Iscar (filmmaker, Spain), Vincent Pluss (filmmaker, Switzerland), Guillaume Sylvestre (filmmaker, Canada),
has unanimously decided to award these two REGARDS NEUFS prizes to films that leave aside a formal framework and the search for narcissistic aestheticism to take an interest in the other person with honesty, sensitivity and originality. That is, to films that tell a story in images and that build a living relationship with their characters, an approach which in their view is the very definition of film, be it documentary or fiction.

THE REGARDS NEUFS-JURY awards the following prizes:

Two Prizes of the canton Vaud, each CHF 5’000.- to

CASH AND MARRY by Georgiev Atanas, Austria/Macedonia

For having succeeded in treating a fundamental political subject in an original, refreshing and unpretentious manner, and for its unusual narrative structure, its sense of humour, honesty and boldness.

BABAJI, AN INDIAN LOVE STORY by Jiska Rickels, Netherlands

We are also awarding the REGARDS NEUFS prize to a film with a specific architecture which has succeeded in skilfully visualizing the past through present-day images and a production that leaves plenty of room for emotion and the characters. It tenderly and humorously tells a love story that is both powerful and eternal

and a special mention to:

18 ANS by Frédérique Pollet Rouyer, France/Belgium

We wish to honour a powerful film that reveals a genuine filmmaker’s talent and testifies to exceptional mastery, while displaying a real concern to capture the human soul with empathy, respect and intelligence.

CINEMA SUISSE:

THE SWISS-FILM-JURY:

Margit Eschenbach (Head of the film department of the ZHdK, Switzerland), Wilbur Leguebe (Head of the documentary unit RTBF, Belgium), Doris Metz (filmmaker and author, Germany), awards the

Prize of the George Foundation for the best Newcomer-Film, CHF 10'000.- to

FAMILIENTREFFEN – MARTHALER THEATER IM GRAND HOTEL by Sarah Derendinger, Switzerland

It is an invitation to a strange family celebration. In a magic and worrying decor, we participate in a ritual that will never take place again. The poetry of film blends with that of theatre and singing. It is not a personal account of the preparation of a show, but a creation in itself, driven by that of Marthaler and his ensemble.

Prize of Suissimage and the Society of Swiss Writers SSA for the most innovative Swiss film, CHF 10'000.- to

DIE FRAU MIT DEN 5 ELEFANTEN by Vadim Jendreyko, Switzerland/Germany

The search for the secret behind words and texts, as well as for their inner rhythms is her spiritual fountain which has enabled her to survive two dictatorships. Everything, even simple everyday matters, is relevant in her life. It is always about the essence of things and their inner harmony - be it onions or the texts by Dostoyevsky. A cinematic space is opened up emphatically, a space in which this fascinating protagonist and her vision of the world can be represented in an impressive way. The film director has succeeded in creating a complex and moving portrait of great cinematographic impact which gives his protagonist the dimension of a total art work. The act of translation as an almost spiritual attitude characterises both Swetlana Geier’s work and that of the cinematic approach used.

ALL SECTIONS:

THE JURY «REGARDS SUR LE CRIME»:

Jean-Luc Bourgeois (philosopher), Thomas Krompecher (professor, forensic doctor), Uzma Khamis Vannini (lawyer), awards

«Regards sur le crime»-Award offered by a group of lawyers from Geneva and from the canton of Vaud, CHF 5’000.- to

THE SOLDIER’S TALE by Penny Allen, France

The Jury was impressed by this unforeseen encounter with a traumatized soldier, a victim of the lies of war. The filmmaker achieves a feat bereft of any ideology in an improvised dialogue by making use of a double eye: the one which reveals the violence inflicted on the victims and the one that latches onto the lonely distress of the killer racked by his own nightmares. Thanks to the narrative, photographs and the extremely violent video films he has brought back from Irak like trophies, the film elevates the message about crime amid war to the status of a pacifist manifesto.

THE JURY BUYENS-CHAGOLL:

(A new prize for a film with humanist values which highlights stories giving trust in the future of mankind).
Lydia Chagoll (filmmaker, Brussels), Luciano Rigolini (producer and photographer), Paris - Lugano), Jenny Billeter (member of the Cercle de Travail of Visions du Réel, Zürich), Jean Perret (director of Visions du Réel, Nyon), awards

Prix «Buyens-Chagoll», CHF 5’000.- to

EL OLVIDO by Heddy Honigmann, Netherlands/Germany

All four members of the jury enthusiastically acclaimed this documentary’s construction, its rhythm, editing, direction, music, photography and camera angles.
The film sheds light on social, economic and political issues, which are beautifully defined by means of humour, satire and irony.
The film director’s approach is imbued with remarkable dignity and respect for her fellow human beings.
Without dwelling on the sordid side, this film gazes straight out at reality and the difference between those with and those without the right to lead a life in dignity.