29th IYAFF Ale Kino!
The Jury's verdicts:
••• INTERNATIONAL JURY FOR LIVE–ACTION FILMS
Golden Goats for Best Live-action Film for Children: Totally True Love
The jury picked this film as the story of falling in love was so believable and the message very positive. We liked the strong female leads whose characters made mistakes which we then watched being painfully resolved. In the words of the leading character “it felt real to me”.
Golden Goats for Best Live-action Film for Young People: Breathing
The brilliant design, acting, and cinematography were amongst the qualities which made us pick this film. The script was unpredictable, and the story revealed in layers. It looked at a very serious problem of how a socially dead, institutionalised teenager can come back to life; and in this story it used a state undertakers business as the backdrop to very great effect.
Special Mention for Short Film: The Extraordinary Life of Rocky
This film was a very funny execution of an original idea involving the role of fate. It was a confident film with a rounded and neat narrative which was only meant to entertain. The design of the film had tremendous attention to detail which added to the freshness of the ripping yarn.
Jury Special Mention: Tomorrow Will be Better
This was a beautiful work of art with some of the best performances of the festival. This film’s simplicity and authenticity told the story of an important topic with an astonishingly light hand. Its naturalism depicted children surviving in the wild forming their own rules and moral compass in the perfect way. It was a film the Jury constantly talked and debated about throughout the week.
••• INTERNATIONAL JURY FOR ANIMATED FILMS
Golden Goats for Best Animated Film for Children: A Cat in Paris
The Professional International Animated Film Jury gives the Golden Goats for Best Animated Film for Children to a film of high-quality design and clear story, which contains elements of entertainment, action, suspense and humour. This magic film is attractive for the whole family. It is A Cat in Paris, directed by Alain Gagnol and Jean Loup Felicioli, made in 2011 in co-production between France, the Netherlands, Belgium and Switzerland.
Golden Goats for Best Animated Film for Young People: Swimming Pool
The Professional International Animated Film Jury gives the Golden Goats for Best Animated Film for Young People to a short, simple and yet complex film, which uses fresh animation. The film is Swimming Pool, directed by Alexandra Hetmerová from the Czech Republic
The Professional International Animated Film Jury decided to give the Award of the Polish Filmmakers Association for Best Polish Animation of High Artistic and Educational Value to Looking for Lailonia directed by Jacek Adamczak.
Special mention: The Last Norwegian Troll
The Professional International Animated Film Jury decided to give a special mention to the film The Last Norwegian Troll, directed by Pjotr Sapegin from Norway, for its artistic, emotional and poetic way of conveying an important message.
Highlight: Tigers and Tattoos
The Professional International Animated Film Jury would also like to highlight the film Tigers and Tattoos directed by Karla Bengtson from Denmark. For technical reasons the film did not take part in the competition. It tells a story from a precise kid’s point of view, stressing the important role of the family. It is a brilliant combination of a story, animation and design.
••• YOUNG PEOPLE’S JURY FOR LIVE–ACTION FILMS
Marcin Prize for The Best Live-Action Film for Young People: Dusk
It’s a chilly night. You go to the cinema though you realize how many other things you might do at the same time. You sink into an armchair and wait for the lights to go off. Slowly, you are drawn into a story that becomes more and more captivating. Each scene turns out important. As you watch, something strange is going on. The scenes you see are seemingly the same, yet quite different. That’s because you have a chance to see the same events from the perspectives of different characters, and to notice many different aspects of the same events. A deceptively simple story turns out fascinating. You can’t hear any music, yet you feel the tension and chill oozing out of the screen. As a result, you can’t take your eyes off the screen.
The screening ends. The lights go on. You still sit with your eyes fixed on the screen and keep asking yourself: Why did they do it? What was the point? You are struck by the pointlessness of the crime. After a while, a shiver goes down your spine as you remember the note “film based on a true story”.
The Jury of the 29th International Young Audience Film Festival Ale Kino! having watched 7 full-length and 12 short films, decided to award the Marcin prize for The Best Live-Action Film for Young People to the film Dusk directed by HANRO SMITSMAN.
Moreover, the Jury would like to award an honourable mention to the film Land of the Heroes directed by SAHIM OMAR KALIFA for:
- its unconventional presentation of the subject of conflict
- the intelligent, witty play with the cinemagoers and with humour
- the masterly use of space
- the apt metaphor of a box
- solid acting of the young stars
- vividness of the visual imagery combined with the natural severeness
- the emotions.
••• YOUNG PEOPLE’S JURY FOR ANIMATED FILMS
Marcin Prize for The Best Animation for Young People: The Rabbi’s Cat
We would like to point out that we liked all the animated movies presented during this festival, but as a Jury we were obliged to choose only one. The Marcin Prize for The Best Animation for Young People goes to The Rabbi’s Cat by Antoine Delesvaux and Joanne Sfar. We were enchanted by its witty and clever dialogues and enthralling, vivid and very detailed animation, which shows the beauty and richness of the culture of this part of the world. This place remains mysterious and full of magic and unicorns.
We appreciated the educational value of the movie, which touches on problems such as tolerance and religious fanaticism, still relevant in the present world.
Congratulations.
••• CHILDREN’S JURY FOR LIVE–ACTION FILMS
Marcinek Prize: Tomorrow Will Be Better
This is certainly a film to remember. Brilliant acting makes it very realistic, and the music accompanying the scenes further enriches the content. The story carries a universal message, and its clear and simple form tugs at our heartstrings. The film shows various values, such as the family, readiness to sacrifice for the sake of friendship; and the more mundane ones such as having a roof over one’s head and satisfying one’s hunger. One important message is the importance of keeping your hopes high in the constant fight for a better tomorrow. We award the Marcinek prize to the film Tomorrow Will Be Better directed by Dorota Kędzierzawska.
Special Mention: Ways to Live Forever
You must have wondered about the meaning of life and death. Have you ever found a satisfactory answer? Has anyone ever ventured to try and answer it?
As we were watching this film, we were overcome by conflicting emotions. It is a beautiful, deeply moving story of two boys with leukemia. It shows the joy and simplicity of the heroes’ lives. It is a story full of brilliant, original animations and fragments of a video diary of a boy who wants to be like others. Few film directors undertake to touch upon such a difficult subject and succeed in presenting it in an equally simple, light-hearted and clear way.
It is a film for everyone, a film with a number of universal values. And the ultimate and most important answers are provided in the film we decided to award with our special mention: Ways to Live Forever, directed by Gustavo Ron.
••• CHILDREN’S JURY FOR ANIMATED FILMS
Marcinek Prize: A Cat in Paris
The Children’s Animated Film Jury after a long and heated debate, decided to award the film, in which the power of child’s wishes turned evil into good.
The Marcinek prize goes to the makers of the film A Cat in Paris directed by Alain Gagnol and Jean Loup Felicioli.
Special Mention: Private Eyes
The Jury also decided to give special mention to the film which opens our eyes to the world perceived by all the senses except sight.
The special mention goes to the makers of Private Eyes directed by Nicola Lemay.
••• POLISH FILMMAKERS ASSOCIATION
The Award of the Polish Filmmakers Association for Best Live-action Film of High Artistic and Educational Value: Gimme Some Respect, dir. Pekka Karjalainen
A tale involving tolerance and education which was at times extraordinarily moving. It skilfully told the story of how all people in society have the right to be fully loved. It dealt with the rights of the disabled without stereotyping or mawkishness in a new and entertaining way.
The Professional International Animated Film Jury decided to give the Award of the Polish Filmmakers Association for Best Polish Animation of High Artistic and Educational Value to Looking for Lailonia directed by Jacek Adamczak