IFFR 2015 Awards Announced

 

IFFR Tiger Awards

IFFR 2015 Hivos Tiger Awards winners with Festival director Rutger Wolfson. Photo by Felix Kalkman

Hivos Tiger Awards, Fipresci Award, Big Screen Award, KNF Award, NETPAC Award, MovieZone IFFR Award handed out to 8 different filmmakers from across the world

Hosted by Festival director Rutger Wolfson, the IFFR 2015 Awards Ceremony was held this evening at IFFR’s main venue de Doelen. The three winners of the Hivos Tiger Award Competition prize were LA OBRA DEL SIGLO by Carlos M. Quintela,VANISHING POINT by Jakrawal Nilthamrong and VIDEOPHILIA (AND OTHER VIRAL SYNDROMES) by Juan Daniel F. Molero. Each was awarded a cash prize of €15,000. The FIPRESCI Award went to Isabelle Tollenaere for BATTLES. The Big Screen Award of €10,000 went to SECOND COMING by Debbie Tucker. The cash prize will go towards the costs of distribution in Benelux. The KNF Award went to Michael Noer for KEY HOUSE MIRROR. The NETPAC Award for the best Asian feature film screening in Official Selection went to POET ON A BUSINESS TRIP by Ju Anqi. The MovieZone IFFR Award chosen by the young people’s MovieZone jury from EYE went to James Napier Robertson for THE DARK HORSE.
On announcing the awards Wolfson commented “There were so many intriguing, thought provoking, passionate films in our selection this year. We hoped and expected much healthy discussion around the line-up and we weren’t disappointed. Congratulations to the winners and just as importantly congratulations to all films in our Official Selection this year. We are proud to boast you were part IFFR 2015.”
HIVOS TIGER AWARDS 
The Hivos Tiger Awards Competition jury was comprised of writer, director and producer Rolf de Heer, producer Ichiyama Shozo, director Maja Miloš, art photographer and director of Spanish Film Archive Jose Maria Prado Garcia and actress Johanna ter Steege. On making their decision they commented “In dealing with both living and broken dreams, LA OBRA DEL SIGLO (Carlos M. Quintela) confronts themes both intimate and epic. With its wonderful performances, with its humour and poignancy and boldness of execution, the film resonates with history.” “VANISHING POINT (Jakrawal Nilthamrong) combines and juxtaposes image and sound to create a powerful style. It grapples with ideas and story-telling in a provoking and different way, making it a visceral cinematic experience.” “Juan Daniel F. Molero’s VIDEOPHILIA (AND OTHER VIRAL SYNDROMES) explores the relationship between the young and the rapidly changing world with unflinching truth. Its anarchy and visual flair reflect its subject matter. The film dives deep into disturbing, necessary waters.”
FIPRESCI AWARD
The IFFR 2015 FIPRESCI Award is given to a filmmaker with a World Premiere in the Bright Future section by a jury comprised of five international journalists and members of the FIPRESCI  (International Federation of Film Critics). Jury president Roger Koza, (Argentina), Caroline Weidner (Germany), Anita Piotrowska (Poland), Tara Judah (Australia) and Jan Pieter Ekker (The Netherlands) on making their decision commented “BATTLES is a unique visual essay that blends elements of fiction with a more traditionally structural documentary style. Each chapter builds upon the last without being prescriptive. The ambiguity, universality and performance elements lend the film a powerful, lasting effect. Tollenaere’s original examination of the traces of war and persistence of the past create a striking imaginary landscape. With its piercing sound design and impressive cinematography, the film offers a fresh perspective on the naturalisation of the culture of war. A strong debut, Tollenaere’s well-crafted mise-en-scene displays a clear talent for cinematic language and she definitely has a bright future.” The three winners of the Hivos Tiger Awards 2015 were supported by the Hubert Bals Fund.
BIG SCREEN AWARD
Nominated for this prize are ten films with no Benelux distributor confirmed at the time of its selection to screen at the Festival, the winner is selected by an audience jury comprised of experienced and passionate film enthusiasts. Ten fresh discoveries from the festival’s main sections Spectrum and Bright Future compete for both The Big Screen Award and the KNF Jury Prize. On selecting Debbie Tucker for SECOND COMING the jury commented “SECOND COMING shows the daily life of a middle-class Jamaican family in London, focusing on life as it is. Daily happiness combined with daily problems. The viewer gets the feeling that he is part of the family, the way of life of this family is recognizable to everyone. The house is furnished in a way we see around 

IFFR 2015 Audience Awards Announced
James Napier Robertson wins second IFFR Award for THE DARK HORSE and LOS HONGOS collects HBF Dioraphte Award

The awards, as voted for by the public audience attending the Festival, were announced this evening at the IFFR 2015 Closing Night Ceremony, hosted by Festival Director, Rutger Wolfson and Managing Director, Janneke Staarink. James Napier Robertson was awarded the IFFR Audience Award 2015 of €10,000 for his film THE DARK HORSE. The award is Napier’s second of the Festival following the MovieZone IFFR Award which was presented on Friday, January 30th at the IFFR Awards Ceremony. The Hubert Bals Fund Dioraphte Award, also of €10,000, presented to the most popular film which received support from the Hubert Bals Fund (HBF) went to Oscar Ruiz Navia for LOS HONGOS, an autobiographical drama centering on the youth culture of Cali, Colombia.

ROT

THE DARK HORSE                                                               LOS HONGOS 

On the announcement of the IFFR Audience Award 2015 Wolfson commented “The audiences who come from all over the Netherlands and around the world to participate in the Festival and explore our diverse, thought provoking programme are integral to IFFR. It would not be the special Festival it is without them so we would like to thank all who joined us in celebrating cinema this year and of course congratulations to James who created a wonderful, personal film.”

On the announcement of the Hubert Bals Fund Dioraphte Award, Manager of the Hubert Bals Fund, Iwana Chronis commented “I am thrilled with the reception the HBF supported films received throughout the twelve days of the Festival. Oscar Ruiz Navia is a talented filmmaker with a long and successful career ahead of him, this recognition is fully deserved, we are so pleased to have been a part of helping getting this film to the big screen.”

A highly acclaimed drama, THE DARK HORSE tells the true and moving story of Genesis Potini, who fought for the future of disadvantaged children in New Zealand until his death in 2011. In spite of his own bipolar disorder, he taught them to play chess and fight for opportunities. THE DARK HORSE is both amusing and raw, and above all intensely moving. Born in New Zealand, director James Napier Robertson made a name for himself in the world of television before switching to cinema. He appeared as an actor in the series THE TRIBE and SHORTLAND STREET. He directed his first feature film I’M NOT HARRY JENSON in 2009.

Directed by Oscar Ruiz Navia, LOS HONGOS is an autobiographically inspired drama based around two skater friends who are at the heart of the colorful, noisy street and youth culture of Cali, Colombia. With a warm heart, Ruiz tells the story of Ras and Calvin, who are looking for their own voice, a stage and of course freedom, love and fun. Born in Colombia, Oscar Ruiz Navia’s debut film CRAB TRAP won a Fipresci Award at the Berlinale in 2010. Prior to that he was focused on the development and production of independent cinema in Colombia and founded the production company Contravia Films having previously studied Social Communications and Journalism.

Top 5 Audience Award IFFR 2015
1. THE DARK HORSE
2. THE FAREWELL PARTY
3. LOIN DES HOMMES
4. LA VIE DE JEAN-MARIE
5. ALICE CARES
Top 5 HBF Dioraphte Award 2015
1. LOS HONGOS
2. LA MUJER DE LOS PERROS (DOG LADY)
3. NN
4. COURT
5. THE TRIBE
The full list can be found on the Festival’s website:
www.iffr.com/professionals/iffr-2015/iffr-audience-award-2015

The Hubert Bals Fund (HBF) is an initiative of International Film Festival Rotterdam. The Fund has been designed to offer financial support to remarkable and unique feature films by talented filmmakers from Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and parts of Eastern Europe. Since its creation 26 years ago, over 1,000 projects from over 100 countries have received support from the HBF. As of 2015, the HBF provides support in the following funding categories:
• HBF Script and Project Development (max. €10,000)
• HBF Postproduction (max. € 20,000)
• NFF+HBF – A minority co-production programme for Dutch producers- in collaboration with the Netherlands Film Fund (€ 50,000)
• HBF+Europe – Minority co-production support (€ 55,000)
• HBF+Europe – Distribution support for international co-productions (€ 20,000)
The HBF is funded by the Creative Europe – MEDIA programme of the European Union, the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Hivos, the Dioraphte Foundation, the Tiger Friends Foundation and the Lions Club Rotterdam: L’Esprit du Temps. Information about the Fund and the application procedures can be found via
www.iffr.com/professionals/hubert_bals_fund

International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) offers a high quality line-up of carefully selected fiction and documentary feature films, short films and media art. The festival’s Tiger Awards Competitions, Bright Future, Spectrum and Limelight sections contain new work by auteurs from all over the world including many World Premieres. In the Signals section, IFFR presents retrospectives and themed programmes. IFFR actively supports new and adventurous filmmaking talent through numerous industry initiatives including co-production market CineMart, its Hubert Bals Fund and Rotterdam Lab.