Moscow Intl. Film Festival/ Doc Winners
The Russian festival ended last night, I was not there in persona but if I had been you would have seen a happy man, who so many times have been at award ceremonies without having seen the winner(s). This time I had seen and written about the winners.
The jury decided to give the Best Documentary Award to “Mrs.B – A North Korean Woman”, directed by Jero Yun, a fascinating, unbelievable story shot over several years with a strong main character. What a life she has had, from North Korea to China to South Korea, involved in smuggling, being smuggled herself, accused of being a spy for North Korea when in the South…
And… take a look at the picture… I was not the only one, who loved “24 Snows” by Mikhail Barynin. It got the audience award that, according to my contact at the festival Georgy Molodtsov “is measured over all films in doc competition and free thought programs”. Well done as competitiors were Gianfranco Rosi, Wojciech Staron and Michael Moore!
Furthermore, Molodtsov tells me, that famous “Sonita” by Rokhsareh Ghaem Maghami received an award from the NETPAC jury (they were watching all Asian and Pacific Ocean films in all programs of the festival).
