DOK.FEST 2003 - Awards

International Competition

International Jury:

• Libuse Hofmanová, Chech Republic
• Anne Marie Kürstein, Denmark
• Kristians Luhaers, Lettland
• Renate Stegmüller, Germany
• David Teigeler, Netherlands

Concerning the nominations for the competition, which are "Flashback", "Fresko", "The Day I Will Never Forget", "Tehora" and "Tishe", the jury paid special attention to the following criteria: That the use of images, the dramaturgic work, narrative rythm and the filmlength was adequate to the film's content. This means that the authors/directors of the films found an extraordinary language for their film's stories.

All five films nominated by the jury stands out considerably against the other films running in the competition. Following long discussions the jury unanimously decides on both films.

Documentary Film Festival Munich, The Special Documentary

"Tehora", Writer and Director Anat Zuria

The festival award for the "Special Documentary" (2.500 EUR) goes to the film "Tehora" by Anat Zuria from Israel.

The jury explains its decision as follows:

Many viewers might find the ritual washing of the "mikwe" archaic. The film manages to take the protagonists and their religious belief as seriously as the great problems and fears that are the result of the inability or difficulty to renounce tradition. An extremely intimate topic is treated with great discretion and remarkable opennes at onece. The strength of the film lies not only in its choice of protagonists and in the proximity that the director achieved in her work with them, but also in the remarkable camera work. In the images also, the difficult balance of discretion and opennes has been achieved.

Documentary Film Award Bavarian Television (BR)

"Tishe!" Writer, Director, Director of Photography and Editor: Victor Kossakowsky

The documentary film award of the Bavarian Television (10.000 EUR) goes to the film Tishe! by Victor Kossakowsky from Russia.

The jury explains its decision as follows:

To see beauty in the every-day things that surround us. To turn asphalt into a starli sky, to discover the absurd poetry of a street corner; earth, water, fire, air; love and resignation; and the world that slowly seems to be disappearing into a black hole; a silent with great sound... and finally a quiet cry: Hush! - Tishe!

All this is found in the film that the jury has selected for the BR Documentary Film Award 2003. Director Victor Kossakowsky has created the most original, creative, entertainig and poetic film in the competition. This was the unanimous opinion of the jury.