Krakow FF Awards Intl. Doc Competition

… and Fipresci Award

Having watched all the competitive films the International Documentary Jury of the 60th Krakow Film Festival consisting of: Łukasz Żal – chairman (Poland), Renata Santoro (Italy), Tod Lending (USA), Eva Mulvad (Denmark), Martin Horyna (Czech Republic) has decided to award the following prizes:

 

THE GOLDEN HORN for the director of the best film – Radu Ciorniciuc for Acasa, My Home (Romania, Finland, Germany)

‘Acasa, My Home’, is awarded the The Golden Horn for its remarkable and complex storytelling that is presented from the children’s perspective of a Roma family. This extraordinarily intimate and authentic film artfully captures the multiple layers of the social, emotional and political realities the family wrestles with as they struggle to maintain their way of life, dignity, sense of self-determination and cultural identity. It is highly unusual when a single documentary film, such as this one, is able to successfully examine and explore so many important aspects of the human condition within one beautifully crafted story. 

THE SILVER HORN for the director of the film with high artistic value – Maciej Cuske for The Whale from Lorino (Poland)

‘The Whale of Lorino’ is awarded The Silver Horn for its immersive experience where metaphorical imagery and sound let us plunge into the reality of a native Siberian village located in a distant, forgotten corner of Russia. The film at times makes us uncomfortable and disturbed, while at other times we feel deeply connected. The director uses a circular narrative structure that challenges the audience to interpret their experience of the community and confront their own prejudices. In the end, this extraordinary film beautifully captures the cultural relationship between man and the environment, and paradoxically shows us that the men who hunt endangered whales for subsistence, are also living lives that are on the edge of extinction. 

THE SILVER HORN for the director of the film on social issues – Mehrdad Oskouei for Sunless Shadows (Iran, Norway)

‘Sunless Shadows’ is awarded the Silver Horn for being an outstanding cinematic piece of work on an important social issue. With precision, authenticity, sensitivity and creative elegance the director presents dramatic stories of domestic violence, hidden traumas, and the collective responsibility of a patriarchal society for the crimes committed by its young female individuals who are in prison for having committed murder. As great art often finds a way to combine the laughter and the tears, we find ourselves both crying and laughing in the company of these remarkable girls who courageously face death sentences while living in an Iranian prison. 

SPECIAL MENTION for Hey! Teachers! directed by Yulia Vishnevets (Russia)

For the richness of a multi-faceted story set in a seemingly ordinary backdrop, and for the insightful, bitterly ironical take on how the Russian public education system can sometimes break down the idealism of certain teachers whose altruistic goal is to educate and improve the lives of their students. 

The FIPRESCI (International Federation of Film Critics) Jury consisting of: Jan Storø (Norway), Jihane Bougrine (Maroko), Nachum Mochiach (Israel) has decided to award the International Film Critics Prize to Margreth Olin, Katja Hogset, Espen Wallin for The Self Portrait (Norway)

‘The Self Portrait’ is the kind of movies that hits you from the beginning and stays with you. It’s a perfect example of real-life cinema boasting both authenticity and aesthetic vision. Heart-breaking and relevant, both brave and emotional, it is a powerful documentary about illness and art where photography can change our vision of life.

The Krakow Film Festival recommendation to the European Film Award in a documentary category: 
The Self Portrait, dir. Margreth Olin, Katja Hogset, Espen Wallin (Norway) that also got the AUDIENCE AWARD.
Punta Sacra, dir. Francesca Mazzoleni (Italy)

More awards read

https://www.krakowfilmfestival.pl/en/60th-kff/awards/

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Tue Steen Müller
Tue Steen Müller

Müller, Tue Steen
Documentary Consultant and Critic, DENMARK

Worked with documentary films for more than 20 years at the Danish Film Board, as press officer, festival representative and film consultant/commissioner. Co-founder of Balticum Film and TV Festival, Filmkontakt Nord, Documentary of the EU and EDN (European Documentary Network).
Awards: 2004 the Danish Roos Prize for his contribution to the Danish and European documentary culture. 2006 an award for promoting Portuguese documentaries. 2014 he received the EDN Award “for an outstanding contribution to the development of the European documentary culture”. 2016 The Cross of the Knight of the Order for Merits to Lithuania. 2019 a Big Stamp at the 15th edition of ZagrebDox. 2021 receipt of the highest state decoration, Order of the Three Stars, Fourth Class, for the significant contribution to the development and promotion of Latvian documentary cinema outside Latvia. In 2022 he received an honorary award at DocsBarcelona’s 25th edition having served as organizer and programmer since the start of the festival.
From 1996 until 2005 he was the first director of EDN (European Documentary Network). From 2006 a freelance consultant and teacher in workshops like Ex Oriente, DocsBarcelona, Archidoc, Documentary Campus, Storydoc, Baltic Sea Forum, Black Sea DocStories, Caucadoc, CinéDOC Tbilisi, Docudays Kiev, Dealing With the Past Sarajevo FF as well as programme consultant for the festivals Magnificent7 in Belgrade, DOCSBarcelona, Verzio Budapest, Message2Man in St. Petersburg and DOKLeipzig. Teaches at the Zelig Documentary School in Bolzano Italy.

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