Best Directing Award to A Bastard Child
At the International Documentary Film Festival CRONOGRAF A Bastard Child and Knutte Wester was given an award for best directing. (Wester was in New York and participated on Video Link)
The winners of the XIVth edition of the IDFF CRONOGRAF
The International Documentary Film Festival CRONOGRAF has announced its winners at the closing ceremony of its XIVth edition. The Closing Gala has taken place on May 30th at the Cultural Center “Odeon”.
In the competition participated 16 feature documentaries and 5 short films in the Main Section, 12 films in the cadRO Section and 9 documentaries from Republic of Moldova in the Local Productions Section. In the A LIKE for a Documentary Section, dedicated to teenagers and youngsters, 10 documentaries were screened.
“A Marriage History”, a Czech production directed by Helena Trestikova, with David Cysar, Vlastimil Hamernik as directors of photography, has taken home the Grand Trophy of the Festival, of a total of 2,500 euros offered by the The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation.
“The film is awarded for its representation of changes that happen in the modern world, seen through the eyes of a single family”, the jury of the Main Section motivated their choice. The Czech director Helena Trestikova has taken the Grand Prizes for the second time at the IDFF CRONOGRAF, the first trophy being taken in 2008 for the documentary “Marcela”.
The documentary “A Bastard Child”, a Swedish-Norwegian production, directed by Knutte Wester, and Knutte Wester, Maja Dennhag, Fredrik Oskarsson and Simon Ohman Jonsson as directors of photography, had taken the Best Directing Award of 1,000 USD, offered by the National Center of Cinematography of Republic of Moldova. The documentary was awarded for its originality and artistic maturity when talking on personal subjects.
The Award for Best Cinematography, of 1,000 USD and offered by TV5 MONDE, was given to the documentary “Ama-San”, a Portuguese-Swedish production. The documentary was directed by Claudia Varejao and was awarded for its subtle highlighting of the relationships between its characters and the surrounding world.
The Ministry of Culture of Republic of Moldova offered the prize for the Jury’s Special Award, valued at 1,000 euros, for the documentary “Village People”, a Bulgarian production, directed by Tzvetan Dragnev, director of photography- Plamen Gelinov. The film was awarded for the original methods of describing a rural universe on its way to extinction.
The documentary “Bezness as usual” (Netherlands), directed by Alex Pitstra, with Tadeusz Kieniewicz, Alex Pitstra, Rosan Breman as directors of photography, won the Special Mention of the Main Section for the courage it takes to bring to the screen a personal story and for reflecting complex relationships between people belonging to different cultures.
The jury members of the Main Section were the Moldovan actor and the president of the jury Valeriu Andriuță, the Polish director Bartosz Konopka, Zlatinka Rousseva (Belgium), documentary filmmaker and programmer at the International Documentary Film Festival “Millenium”, Artur Vardikyan, film critic and festival organizer of the Yerevan International Film Festival, and Taalaibek Kulmendeevis, film director, producer and president of the Filmmakers Union of Kyrgysztan.
The award for the best short film was given to “The PE Teacher, The Gold and the River”, (Kyrgysztan), directed by Amanbek Azhymat, for the promotion of universal human values, of family and resistance to harsh life conditions. The jury members of the Short Film category of the Main Section were Pavel Balan (Moldova), image director and photographer, Zinaida Timofti (Moldova), actress and image director Ruben Agadjanean (Moldova).
The Public’s Choice Award of the Main Section went to the Austrian production, directed by Pavel Cuzuioc, “SECONDO ME”.
The cadRO Section was judged by Ciprian Mega, filmmaker, writer and Orthodox priest from Cyprus, Anatol Durbala, film director and actor from Republic Moldova and Robert Adam, cultural manager from Romania.
The cadRo Trophy and the first prize, valued at 3,000 Romanian lei and offered by The Ministry for Romanians Abroad has gone to the documentary “In Search of a Lost Father” (Romania), directed by Ionut Teianu, for its dramatic construction, for tracking with discretion and objectivity the evolution of the main character and his journey of initiation.
The 2nd Award of the same section, valued at 10,000 Moldovan lei and offered by the Union of Filmmakers, went to the documentary “Camera Obscura” (Romania), directed by Gheorghe Preda and Liviu Marghidan as the director of photography. The film was selected for its laborious research of the subject, coherent construction and the perfect integration of a medley material into a total unity.
The Victor Bucataru award, valued at 7,000 lei, was offered to the film that has taken the 3rd prize of the cadRO Section - “A Failed Life” (Romania), directed Eugeniu Bocancea, director of photography- Doru Ihnatiuc. The film was awarded for approaching a complex historical subject and also as a form of encouragement at the beginning of his career.
The Special mention of the cadRO Section was given to “The Manakia Brothers. Diary of a Long Look Back” (Romania), directed by Eliza Zdru. Paula Onet was the director of photography of the film.
The Public’s Choice award from the cadRO Section went to “When Time Loses Patience”, a Dutch-Romanian production by Andreea Dumitriu, director of photography- Jesse Tuenter.
The quality and professionalism of the films in the Local Production Section were decided by the three members of the jury - Max T. Ciorba, filmmaker, Moldova, Corina Ceausescu, journalist from Romania and Andrei Matu, journalist and audio director from Moldova.
The first prize and the Trophy of the Local Production Section, valued at 7,000 Moldovan lei, offered by MoldCinema, was awarded to the documentary “Who Loves and Leaves”, directed by Victor Galușca, Andrei Moraru – director of photography. The film was selected for the inspired use of music and the professional combination of photography and editing in order to create an artistic essay.
“The Bunker”, by Eugenia Pogor, won the 2nd Prize at the Local Production Section, valued at 3.000 Moldovan lei offered by the tourism agency Stil Tur. The award was given for creating a correct document that was filmed and edited well and that presents the history of a long gone era.
The 3rd prize, offered by Arc Publishing House, was awarded to the film “A Life, Three Countries, Ten Children”, directed by Alexandru Popescu. The award was offered for a portrait documentary and the use of all the elements specific to the documentary film. The film presents a destiny that deserves to be seen and heard.
A LIKE for Documentary Section, dedicated to the teenage audience, was judged by a jury composed of 5 high school students. The main prize was offered to the “Lo Ves?” (Spain) documentary, directed by Patty Bonet, director of photography - Miguel Camino. The jury argumented that the film represents a new and authentic vision of young people on the documentary film. The Ministry of Youth and Sports of Moldova offered a prize, valued at 10,000 Moldovan lei.
For the second year in a row, UN Women offers a Special Prize, valued at 544 euro, to support the films that approach subjects which deal with women’s rights and gender equality. The winning documentary was “Women+”, directed by Nastia Kuzyakova, director of photography - Oleg Tolmachov.
IDFF CRONOGRAF, the largest film event in Republic of Moldova and an important festival in the circuits of the East European festivals, is organized since 2001 by the OWH Studio NGO.