Award Winners 2014

Here are the winners of the various categories:

VIKTOR DOK.international 2014 sponsored by Sky, 10.000 Euro:

SEE NO EVIL by Jos de Putter

Jury statement:
“A haunting film with an intelligent, experimental structure in both sound and imagery. A brilliant piece of filmmaking that puts people in the background but speaks volumes about humankind. For the innovative use of non-fiction cinema, the jury awards the Viktor DOK.international to See No Evil by Jos de Putter.”

Jury:
Melissa Lindgren (Head Programmer, Tempo Documentary Festival Stockholm), Veton Nurkollari (Artistic Director DokuFest, International Documentary and Short Film Festival Prizren), Ulla Simonen (Artistic Director, DocPoint - Helsinki Documentary Film Festival)

VIKTOR DOK.horizonte 2014 sponsored by ARTE, 3.000 Euro:

CANTOS by Charlie Petersmann

Jury statement:
"A poetic film about ordinary but exceptional people battling with everyday life. Protagonists struggle for food, medicine, and the freedom of speech. Four different stories are carefully brought together, always critical of the political environment in Cuba. The winner of the Viktor DOK.horizonte is Cantos by Charlie Petersmann."

Jury:
Prof. Dr. Frank Heidemann (Professor of Ethnology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich), Hana Kulhánková (Director One World International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival Prague), Ewa Szab?owska (Programmer New Horizons International Film Festival Wroc?aw)

VIKTOR DOK.deutsch 2014 sponsored by Bayerischer Rundfunk, 5.000 Euro:

NIRGENDLAND by Helen Simon

Jury statement:
NIRGENDLAND is a cinematic reconstruction of a court case in which a daughter and granddaughter accuse their father/grandfather of abuse. Helen Simon assembles together the testimony of the daughter with the trial testimony of the granddaughter, who took her own life after the acquittal of the accused. The author succeeds in showing the mechanisms of abuse as it continues into the next generation. Her film uncovers the tragedy of innocence and guilt and exposes a scandalous verdict of the court. For the courage to take on this difficult issue and its emphatically objective implementation, this film earns the prize of Jury DOK.deutsch.

OMU-Price of the Subtitles-Workshop Münster 2014, 2.500 Euro:

DAS LEBEN NACH DEM TOD AM MEER by Martin Rieck

Jury statement:
Martin Rieck was lucky. With the undertaker couple Anna and Philip he achieves closeness to a subject that our society would rather have disappear alltogether: dealing with the dead. DAS LEBEN NACH DEM TOD AM MEER links observations of the everyday life and relationship of the two with free-associated sequences of images and an original soundtrack. Elegance, dignity, poetry, and irony are the emotional undertones of this film about an unusual life in a small north German town.

FFF-Advancement Award Documentary 2014 sponsored by FilmFernsehFonds Bayern, 5.000 Euro:

IM SCHATTEN DER COPACABANA by Denize Galiao

Jury statement:
IM SCHATTEN DER COPACABANA is a touching homage to an individual in a one-man struggle. Denize Galiao’s film offers a visually powerful portrayal, not of a superhero, but of a human protagonist with rough edges – and without resorting to clichés of Brazil.

Jury:
Klaus Blanc (Head of the Film and Literature department at Münchner Volkshochschule), Rainer Gansera (Editor, film critic), Ina Rossow (Festival Manager, Deckert Distribution GmbH Leipzig)

DOK.fest Price SOS-Kinderdörfer worldwide 2014 sponsored by B.O.A Videofilmkunst GmbH, 3.000 Euro:

NEULAND by Anna Thommen

Jury statement:
The documentary film NEULAND by the Swiss filmmaker Anna Thommen tackles one of the most relevant issues in European society – migration. The filmmaker accompanies young migrants in Switzerland and paints an impressive portrait of their dedicated teacher who strives emphatically to get these young people on the right track in a foreign country. For a period of nearly two years, Anna Thommen and her cinematographer Gabriela Betschart accompany the refugees with a delicately operated hand-camera. They succeed in creating an inconspicuous, yet highly intensive portrayal of a group and the struggle for recognition and a new start. NEULAND is an important film that offers a ray of hope and opens our eyes to the issue of integration in Europe, which has long since been one of our most crucial societal challenges.

Jury:
Prof. Dr. Heribert Prantl (Leiter Ressort Innenpolitik bei der Süddeutschen Zeitung), Dr. Katja Wildermuth (Redaktionsleiterin Geschichte und Gesellschaft MDR), Margret Köhler (Film- und TV-Journalistin), Daniel Sponsel (Künstlerischer Leiter des DOK.fest), Dr. Wilfried Vyslozil (Vorstand der SOS-Kinderdörfer weltweit), Christine Kehrer (Leitung TV/Video Kommunikation) und Sebastian Spaleck (Leitung Online, beide SOS-Kinderdörfer weltweit)

The megaherz filmschool award 2014
(worth 3.000 EUR, sponsored by megaherz), 1st prize for the best student film:

SCOUTS AT THE CROSSROADS by Sjoerd Niekamp

Jury statement:
Sometimes paths split in two directions. The scout Jasper wants to see the world; his best friend Teun stays back in Gouda. With a sharp eye for the fleeting moment, director Sjoerd Niekamp succeeds in allowing the affinity of his protagonists to be felt. A humorous parable about friendship and goodbyes in life.

Jury:

Melanie Jilg, HfG Karlsruhe
Susanne Meures, ZHdK Zürich
Christoph Miera, HFF »Konrad Wolf«
Laurentia Genske, KHM Köln
Vera Drude, HFF München
Laura Reichwald, HfbK Hamburg

Special Mention megaherz filmschool award 2014:

IK by Jona Honer

Jury statement:
Is the ego located in the head? Is it affected by a tumor that has to be removed? Jona Honer’s Film IK asks this question with the main character Peter and his wife Annette. Seemingly mundane situations such as dinner at home collide with highly technological moments in surgery. Through a powerful dramaturgic reduction this film opens up
a distinct room for thought – and in our heads as well.

The ARRI pitch award 2014 (resources worth 5.000 EUR, sponsored by ARRI): 1st prize for the best new talent concept:

LEO LÖWE by Benedikt Schwarzer

Jury:

Petra Felber BR
Jutta Krug WDR
Fidelis Mager megaherz
Türkan Schirmer ZDF / ARTE
Anita Hugi SRF
Milena Bonse ZDF
Monika Schäfer ARTE /
NDR
Franz Grabner ORF
Ralph Wieser Mischief Films
Catherine Le Goff, ARTE

Documentary Film Music Award 2014
worth 2,500 Euro dotiert, sponsored by Förder- und Hilfsfonds des Deutschen Komponistenverbands:

Ulrike Haage and the music for MERET OPPENHEIM – EINE SURREALISTIN AUF EIGENEN WEGEN